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

Written by: Domestic & General
Published on: 24 Apr 2017

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

Dillon Goldsmith is Team Leader of the Sky department at Domestic & General’s Brighton office. He first joined the company five years ago as a contact centre agent and now manages a team of 13 people. Here he shares what he gets up to on a typical working day.

Morning

I usually get up at 7.30am and go about my usual morning routine of a healthy breakfast and a strong cup of tea.

I live out of town and drive into work. It takes around an hour door to door but we have a company discount with the nearest car park, which is really handy.

I arrive at work at around 10am, giving me an hour to go through emails before my team arrives at 11am.

I generally give the team 10-15 minutes to settle in, get teas and coffees and catch up on what they got up to over the weekend or the night before.

We then get down to business and have a 10-15 minute ‘huddle’, which involves setting the daily targets, announcing daily incentives, going over the previous day’s performance, successes and areas for improvement. It’s also a good opportunity for the agents to share tips on best practice.

From here on and throughout the day, I’m involved in lots of side-by-side coaching, whereby I plug into calls, listen in and advise agents on their performance. We’ll occasionally take time off the phones to carry our role-play scenarios where I help agents identify how they can offer better customer service and sales advice.

Afternoon

Each day we have a Team Leader ‘huddle’ – it’s an opportunity to collate performance targets and identify any areas for improvement or agent training required.

At 1pm I have a break where I usually get some fresh air and sunshine (weather dependent!) on one of the office balconies. They have great views over the rooftops to the sea and it’s a great way to clear your head and take some time out.

After each break throughout the day it’s my job to ensure the agents come back to their desks motivated and ready to hit the ground running. I’ll often do a quick review of the morning’s performance and use it as a way to encourage competition and motivation among the team.

I’ll then concentrate on training and agent development, conducting 1-2-1’s to help agents progress in their roles.

We take lunch at 3pm. I generally gravitate to my favourite lunch spot, Leon, where I’ll eat in to give myself a proper chance to have a break and recharge. In the summer, if it’s warm I’ll take out and head down to the beach or Pavilion Gardens.

Evening

Between 3.30-4pm I check my emails and then it’s back into full work mode with the team. Often there can be a lull in energy after lunch, so it’s my job to get energy levels up, engaging and motivating the team.

Depending on sales targets from the first half of the day, I may conduct a quick review and refresh targets. I often set sales challenges whereby I’ll jump on the phones and the first agent to beat me to a sale wins a prize. I also give team incentives for things such as a night out, or shopping vouchers for best performing individuals.

A large part of my role is also recruiting for my team. We’re a growing business and our partnership with Sky has grown massively over the years, so we’re often looking for tenacious people to join the sales team. I assist with the interviewing of agent roles – successful candidates will become part of my team, so it’s great to involved early on in their journey.

We clock off at 8pm and with the office located in the middle of Brighton we’re spoilt for choice if we want to go out for a quick drink after work. We generally gravitate to the Western Front as it’s just opposite the office and we can catch the last of the sun on the tables outside.

When I’m home, it’s a time to relax and switch off. I don’t have to worry about work as all the planning is done on the morning of the day ahead. For me, this is one of the best things about working at D&G as I can go back to work in the morning feeling well rested and energised.

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