Sportingbet’s Customer Operations Centre. One day I got this call out of the blue from Ian Mcloughlin (Tipico COO) asking if I would be interested in a move to Malta to head up Tipico’s customer service department. At first I said: ‘Thanks for the call, but I’m happy in Dublin’ – but he was quite persistent and the rest is history. I made my mind up when I met the then CEO Jan Bolz and Ian in London.
WE ARE NEVER SATISFIED. WE HAVE BUILT THE FOUNDATIONS, BUT IT’S NOW ABOUT TAKING OUR OPERATIONS TO THE NEXT LEVEL. WE HAVE A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT COMING UP, SO WATCH THIS SPACE.
How has it been, working for Tipico for the last few years? Exciting and forever changing, but that’s the industry. Tipico moved from being a player in the market to the market leader in Germany in my time there, so with this you obviously get growing pains – but nothing we can’t handle.
How have you adapted to life in Malta and how do you spend your free time? Coming from Dublin where it rains 200 days a year to Malta where it’s sunny 300 days a year, adapting has been quite easy. I like socialising, and coming from Australia – where we have a culture of beaches and water sports – Malta is a perfect fit.
What are the biggest challenges you face in the job? Making sure we are serving our customer to the best of our ability and that we give them a memorable experience.
And what are some of the biggest challenges your team faces in their 24/7 job? Again, consistently serving our customers, making sure the end to end experience is first class.
On the other hand, what are the best moments and rewards in your job – for you, and for the team?
Over the last three years we have seen our customer satisfaction ratings increase from 32 per cent rating our service between nine and 10 out of 10 to 77 per cent. Seeing such an improvement is quite rewarding.
Does Tipico have a CSR-focused strategy that it maintains and follows as part of its operational process? Yes. Three years ago we started a three-year business plan which was in line with our marketing strategy “your bet is in safe hands”, that was to put the customer at the heart of the business.
How does Tipico try and stay ahead of the pack in terms of offering the best customer service in view of the competition in the industry? Two years ago, we joined forces with Salesforce, who work with some of the biggest companies in the world. They have helped us to be innovative and from this we take on board what other industries have learnt and related ideas. We don’t sit still: in order to be successful you need to keep moving.
Are you satisfied with the ratings your department achieves, and are there any areas you feel can be improved? We are never satisfied. We have built the
foundations, but it’s now about taking our operations to the next level. We have a big announcement coming up, so watch this space.
What do you look for in potential new recruits for your department and what qualities should recruits be able to offer Tipico for them to be favourably considered? For us it’s about recruiting the attitude and training the skill. If you have a person with the right attitude, anything is possible.
What are your long-term plans for Tipico s Customer Operations department? To became the best Operations Centre in the industry and across EMEA outside our industry. We recently won a bronze medal in EMEA at the Contact Centre World Awards for Best Customer Service and the plan is to build on this and increase our awareness. Find out more about working at Tipico at www.tipico-careers.com 55