Customer Care Representative

Full time & part time positions available:

• 40 hours per week – Monday to Friday, plus some early evening and weekend working
• 20 hours per week – 4-hour evening shifts across 5 days

We are seeking full time Customer Care Agents to join our Customer Hub team in Hull. The Customer Hub takes inbound customer calls relating to repairs, incidents and general housing queries. Sanctuary has around 125,000 properties ranging from General Rented Housing, Housing for older people, Homeownership, Student accommodation, Care & Supported sites and Commercial properties.

Being on the front line isn’t always easy! Our Customer Hub team handles calls from minor water leaks to more urgent repairs such as no heating or hot water in a full block of flats for example. We also handle calls from customers who are looking for a property with Sanctuary, assisting with tenancy-related issues and answering any housing-related queries including Anti-Social Behaviour, so understandably our callers may be unhappy. We are looking for a particular type of person to be good at resolving complex customer queries and complaints. Confidence, communication, emotional resilience and empathy – this is what it takes to be a great Customer Care Agent. With these skills, you can understand and respond well to the different ways that our customers can react, ensuring that they have a positive customer service journey.

Although this job can be challenging, every day is different and there is no better buzz than helping our customers by turning dissatisfaction into satisfaction.

The role of Customer Care Agent - Housing will include:

• Managing high volumes of both calls and emails and providing excellent customer service by concentrating on resolving the issues on the first contact where possible
• Liaising closely with our housing and maintenance teams to ensure that issues are resolved in a professional manner
• Having empathy and understanding when our customers may be upset or angry
• Listening out for wellbeing cues, to identify vulnerable customers and escalate to our regional teams or the welfare services, as/when appropriate
• Communicating with residents, staff and external agencies to investigate housing and maintenance related queries and complaints and provide a positive experience
• Ability to work to deadline and hit KPI’s
• Ability to spot potential for improvements and confidence to make suggestions
• Evening and weekend working include offering an out of hours emergency service

Skills and experiences:

• Previous experience in a customer service or contact centre role is essential, ideally handling inbound calls and emails
• You must also have a professional telephone manner and the ability to cope with a high volume of calls whilst remaining calm under pressure. If you’ve worked as an emergency call handler, you’ll have this down to a tee
• You must be able to handle different types of calls and email enquiries, adapting your style to our customers’ needs and be able to navigate computer systems
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise your own workload, as well as working as part of a team towards shared targets and KPIs
• A positive attitude, a can-do approach and great communication skills
• Experience of managing a variety of complex enquiries

Why work for us?

We are a not-for-profit housing association, and own and manage around 125,000 homes. We foster a diverse and inclusive culture, and nurture and reward talent. Our customers are at the heart of all we do, and colleagues help make a real difference to people’s lives.

As part of our commitment to making Sanctuary a great place to work, where your wellbeing is of genuine importance, we have developed an attractive employment package. The package recognises your contribution, supports your physical, mental and financial health and gives you the flexibility to tailor your employee benefits by offering:

• 25 days annual leave (rising to a maximum of 30 days) plus public holidays (pro rata)
• A pension scheme with employer contributions from Sanctuary
• Life Assurance
• Employee Advice Service including counselling
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Voluntary health plans
• Wellbeing support and tools
• Staff Networks, with a shared interest in inclusion, and who provide invaluable support to colleagues