Meet Helen Bloomfield, Customer Adviser

Meet Helen Bloomfield, one of TJ’s Customer Advisers. Helen forms part of TJ’s front line, dealing with customer enquiries, giving them all the information they need and ensuring exceptional customer service is delivered. Outside of work Helen is a keen athletics coach. She used to throw the hammer for Great Britain and now focuses her energies on coaching others to improve their skills at Portsmouth Athletics Club.

What does your role involve?

It’s a customer service role; I answer the phone and respond to emails from customers and answer their queries, take bookings for skip hire, process payments over the phone, issue copy invoices and send out confirmations. I also organise the logistics of the skip hire including arranging for skips to be delivered and be collected. I deal with a range of clients from domestic customers wanting one skip, right up to large companies requiring multiple or regular skips.

Once I’d mastered these tasks, I was asked to take on the additional responsibility of organising the permits for skips that are to be kept on the road. I really enjoy this part of the job and always ensure that we hold the correct licences for skips on the road.

Can you tell us a bit about your career background?

I’ve always worked in customer services and really love it. I left my previous role because it started out as a customer services role, but then it changed and it was no longer customer-facing and I really missed that. In the past I’ve worked for a gas and electric company and the Prison Service so I’ve got some varied experience!

What are the most interesting and challenging elements of your role?

Every day is different and you never know what is going to come your way from one day to the next, which is exciting and the time flies! It’s definitely a ‘learn on the job’ role in that you pick it up as you go along. It’s the best way to learn as you’re getting hands-on experience, cementing the knowledge in your mind.

I joined the company at a very busy time which presented some challenges when trying to learn the ropes, but I truly believe that sometimes it’s best to just be thrown in with the knowledge that your colleagues are around if support is needed. It’s very hard to actively train people on live systems so it really is learn as you go!

What’s your top work achievement?

In one of my previous roles I took on a temporary management role when someone was off. That gave me a great range of new skills and was a really good experience. It allowed me to perfect my time management skills as well as develop my team management skills. I learned the importance of promoting good team working, which is essential to delivering an exceptional service.

What do you like most about working for TJ?

I really enjoy my job and the people I work with have been so helpful during my training, nothing was ever too much them. I’ve had a couple of health issues this year and my manager and colleagues have been incredibly kind and supportive through that time too. Not all employers would have offered such support and for that I’m grateful; it makes me feel valued and confirms to me what a great company TJ are to work for.

Find out more about TJ’s services, including skip hire!