We are looking for an External Liaison Officer to join our hard working and friendly team covering the Bristol area. You will be mobile with the use of a company vehicle to carry out home visits, empty property inspections and represent us at court.
What you'll do You will visit customers in their homes to collect payments, agree payment arrangements and assess circumstances for effective recovery action. This will include exploring sensitive circumstances and assessing suitability for our schemes with financially vulnerable customers.
Giving advice and promoting meter options to help our customers reduce their ongoing charges, taking meter readings and identifying leaks will be crucial to the work you will do.
You will also visit some commercial customer premises to collect debt, arrange suitable payment plans and assess appropriate action for non-payment.
You will carry out empty property inspections, which will include identifying unregistered customers and assisting them with setting up an account and payment plan.
There will also be opportunities to represent the company in defended court cases and to collaborate with the wider business to improve both the customer journey and achieve our collection targets.
This is a busy, challenging, rewarding role working towards targets balancing supporting vulnerable customers and actively impacting the empty property process. You will need to maintain a high standard of compliance with Health and Safety standards and ensure data is collected, stored, and updated in accordance with company policy and Data Protection legislation.
What you'll need We are looking for someone who has considerable experience of providing outstanding customer service and is a professional company representative familiar with a customer facing environment.
You will
- have the ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of people
- demonstrate empathy to others building trust and rapport quickly
- clear written and verbal communication skills
- be an effective negotiator with a persuasive and collaborative manner
- be able to work alone and collaborate as part of a bigger team
- use your own initiative and have sound decision making skills
- be patient, level-headed and remain calm under pressure
- have sound IT skills and confidence in using field based technology
- have excellent attention to detail and accuracy
- recognise the need for confidentiality at all times
- have a valid full and clean driving licence.
What you'll receive We offer a wealth of both financial and non-financial benefits, including:
- 25 days' holiday rising to 28 with length of service
- Up to 20% combined pension contribution
- Use of a company vehicle to facilitate travel to customer visits
- Opportunity to buy or sell holiday
- Pay increments yearly rewarding your first 3 years of service
- Performance related bonus of up to 10%
- Optimise Health Plan supporting you with your healthcare costs
- £1000 'Refer a friend/family' scheme
- Life assurance of up to four times your salary
- Sustainable benefits including electric vehicle and cycle2work schemes
- A range of family friendly policies including enhanced maternity and paternity leave
- Paid community day
- Cashback and discounts from over 3,000 retailers
Who we are Pelican is a multiple award-winning company based in Nailsea just south of Bristol providing customer services for clients including Wessex Water and Bristol Water. From meter reading and billing to collections and customer support.
We pride ourselves on the fact that both our customers and our people are at the heart of everything we do.
We are proud to have won several awards including Best Customer Engagement, Best People Engagement, Best Mental Health in the workplace, 2021 and 2022 South West Contact Centre of the year and have recently been ranked 19th in the Sunday Times Best 100 Companies to work for in the UK.
We pride ourselves on being an inclusive and engaging place to work. Our annual People Promises are based directly on feedback from our team members. Our committees and working groups including Health and Wellbeing, Mental Health First Aiders, Meet4menopause, LGBTQ+ alliance, Carers Network and our Working Parents group are all populated by our own people.
We have signed the Armed Forces Covenant and are a Disability Confident Committed employer. Please let us know if you need any additional support or help to assist you in your application.
All our roles are subject to disclosure and barring screening (DBS) checks and successful candidates will be asked to disclose details of any unspent cautions or convictions. We recognise the contribution that people with criminal records can make, and any information given will be confidential and considered on an individual basis.
All candidates are required to provide us with right to work in the UK documentation and, regretfully, we are not able to offer sponsorship at this time.
We are popular and we may close our advert sooner than it says. We recommend you apply straight away so you don't miss the opportunity to join us!
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