What’s it like to be a Customer Adviser?

When do you work?

I have to be in the branch before it opens at 9am to give me enough time to prepare before the customers arrive. The branch closes at 5pm and we can generally be away shortly after this.

What do you do?

Most people think it’s just dealing with paying money in and out – but it’s not! When a customer comes in, I’ll sit with them in the branch and talk through what they’d like from us and how we can help. We are targeted, but this is on a branch basis – rather than individually. And we’re usually targeted on things like referrals, such as how many investment leads we pass on to Legal and General.  It’s important however that we only promote those products and services to our customers which address their specific needs.

I’m not always behind the counter either. I’ll go into the branch to use a desk to make follow up phone calls to people who’ve made initial enquiries or taken out new products – making sure everything’s okay and offering further help if I can. I’ll also call customers to let them know about any new products they’ll be interested in. Our older customers really appreciate this because they find it hard to get down to the branch regularly.

I’ll also open new accounts, set up standing orders and amend details on existing accounts.

This all adds up to varied responsibilities with no two days being the same.

When you first start, you’ll be on the counter with another member of the team showing you what to do. There’s a lot to take in but you can learn all the processes fairly quickly – the selling takes a bit longer. As part of the training you learn how to process mortgages. Although this generally isn’t part of my day-to-day role, I may be asked to do it from time to time. And it’s an important part of my development. You also get ongoing sales training and this covers subjects such as how to make an introduction to the customer, different ways to approach people, and conversational selling. There’s also a development plan in place for everyone and you get signed off in stages as you progress. We have regular one-to-ones and there’s always someone to help you if you get stuck.

I really enjoy talking to customers about what they want from their accounts. You find out a lot about them and feel like you’ve built a relationship. It’s nice when they come back to the branch and ask for you by name. I also really like the fact I’m learning all the time and there’s plenty of variety.

There are opportunities for me to move on from the branch if I wanted. And it’s good to know I can keep my career with Yorkshire Building Society if I choose.