A Day in the Life of a Team Leader at Domestic & General

Mark Beddoe is Team Leader of the Customer Support department at Domestic & General’s Brighton office. He first joined the company almost 10 years ago as a Contact Centre Agent and now manages a team of 12-15 people. Here he shares what he gets up to on a typical working day.

Morning

I get up and go about my usual morning routine of a healthy breakfast and a cup of tea. Most mornings will see me at the gym before work, making the most of our corporate discount. I live in Kemp Town and can walk into work, it’s only 15 minutes right through the heart of Brighton, which is really handy.

I arrive at work for 9am and the first thing I do is spend time with my team. I’ll chat with them to get them engaged and ready for a good day, I’ll update our stats board and gain a daily commitment from each of my team members – what they’ll do differently to make their service to our customers even better.

Throughout the morning, I’m in side-by-side coaching, whereby I plug into calls, listen in and advise agents on their performance. We’ll occasionally carry out role-play scenarios where I help agents identify how they can offer better customer service.

To keep me going in the morning I generally raid the supply of free fruit we get in the office, which is delivered three times a week and popular amongst everyone.

Afternoon

At lunch I usually get some sunshine on one of the office balconies. They have great views to the sea and in the recent heatwave they were the most popular place in the office! I’m also a vegan and Brighton is a great place to meet likeminded people and share ideas for recipes and snacks.

Each day after lunch we have a Team Leader ‘huddle’ – it’s an opportunity to collate performance targets and refocus on any areas for improvement, customer feedback we’ve received, or agent training.

Next I’ll have a huddle with my team. We’ll talk about what’s going well, give recognition and set a team incentive for the afternoon. This could be anything as simple as playing Giant Jenga, with the winning team member earning themselves some vouchers or time off of work. I’ve even had a team member recently win a £100 shopping voucher.

I’ll then concentrate on agent development, conducting 1-2-1’s to help agents progress in their roles. Seeing agents develop by building their confidence and helping them move through the business is the thing I love most about my role.

Evening

By 5:30pm my day at work is drawing to a close. Every day I feel satisfied knowing my team have made a difference to the lives of hundreds of customers. Our department is responsible for booking repairs, giving quotes and resolving queries and I’m proud of how we put the customer at the heart of everything we do. I put a lot into my day but can switch off completely once I’ve left the office as D&G promotes a strong work/life balance.

After work you’ll often find me on the football pitch. I’m the captain of the D&G 5-a-side football team, which is funded by the company. It’s great to spend time with colleagues outside of work too, even though we don’t win every week, it’s good fun and great to keep fit!

Then it’s time to switch off and get ready for the next day. At D&G we’re going through a huge transformation journey and investing into doing what’s best for our customers. It’s a great time to be with the business and makes me look forward to getting back in with my team.

For more information on the roles at Domestic & General visit http://careers.domesticandgeneral.com