.png)
Introduce yourselves, what are your roles?
Florence: I’m an Operation Manager for WeMaintain where I manage technical experts and two engineers. My team are responsible for a diverse portfolio of clients.
Linda: I’m in the operations team, where I work as an Operation Manager alongside Florence in Paris. My role involves working with and managing engineers for my client portfolio.
How long have you worked at WeMaintain and how did you come to join the team?
Florence: I started at Wemaintain on July 1st, 2021 and prior to joining, I was working for an industry incumbent when Wemaintain approached me for the role. I have over 30 years of experience at two of the biggest lift companies and was interested in a change. The prospect of moving to WeMaintain, a scale-up, was exciting and felt good knowing I was joining at a pivotal moment, just after their Series B fundraising.
Linda: I’ve been with WeMaintain for less than a year, having started in May 2022. Florence, with whom I worked at an industry incumbent 15 years ago, told me that WeMaintain was recruiting for operations, so I decided to apply. The interview process consisted of different calls with members of the team, including a ‘culture fit’ interview, where I got to know a number of WeMaintain employees. It was refreshing to see how important company culture was and I felt happy with my choice to join the team of like-minded and motivated people.
How is the team organised?
Florence: The team is made up of Operations Managers, all who of which are managed by our Managing Director, Romain Bordier. I manage a team of engineers for different contracts.
Linda: Each Operation Manager is responsible for a portfolio of customers, which are divided out by Romain. Alongside a portfolio of customers, each Operation Manager is responsible for a team of engineers.
What does a day in the life look like for you?
Florence: I start my morning by calling my team to organise the interventions of the day. I check the stopped lifts. I send quotes to customers and I handle my tickets in Zendesk. Throughout the day, I’ll receive calls from customers and I do my best to answer their inquiries.
Linda: My day consists of working through my priorities, which include organising and resolving any lifts that are broken down and responding to any customer requests.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Florence: What I enjoy the most is working in a team and the relationships I have with my engineers and the customers. My team are very supportive and I really value the relationships I’ve built.
Linda: I love having a customer-facing role and customer contact. I truly enjoy maintaining these relationships of trust by responding to their requests and keeping them updated on their buildings.
What I enjoy the most is working in a team and the relationships I have with my engineers and the customers.
What motivates you the most in your role?
Florence: I’m motivated to create satisfied customers! It feels particularly rewarding to receive positive feedback and confirm I’ve provided a quality service to them. My second motivation is the engineers that I manage. It’s very gratifying to see that they are happy to work with me, and we find a way to work well and productively together.
Linda: My motivation is our customers and providing them with a positive experience. Through collaborating with teams and finding ways that work well for everyone, I keep this motivation in mind.
Why is January 1st important to you?
Florence: It’s the start of the new year and the start of new contracts! I have to onboard 2 engineers for one of the new contracts we’ve acquired, and also onboard lifts, which means going around Paris and adding WeMaintain’s stickers with contact details into each new lift. I’ll make sure to organise meetings with existing customers to discuss the previous year’s operations.
Linda: New contracts begin on January 1st, which are taken care of by the Operations team. This means we deal with all the onboarding of new clients, including quotes and organising meetings, making sure the contracts start well and the customer has all the information they need. As Florence mentioned, this also involves our sticker process and going out on site with the team to onboard all new lifts.
How do you onboard customers in the new year?
Florence: Our team have to organise the distribution of devices to each engineer, provide them with the labels and track the addresses they have visited and registered. Once this is done, I’ll organise the safety audit checks. I will schedule a meeting with the customer to find the best way to work; communication is very important to gain the customer’s trust, build a great relationship and start a new year off the right way!
Linda: After winning a tender to start on January 1st, my client portfolio has grown! This means a lot of communication with the customer to ensure they’re updated on scheduled maintenance and visits. The customer will also be introduced to their dedicated engineer who will be responsible for their units going forward.
..communication is very important to gain the customer’s trust, build a great relationship and start a new year off the right way!
Do you interact much with other teams? What does this look like?
Florence: We work with many different teams within the company, including the Supply, Sales, Product & Engineering teams. For all requests for modernisation or major works, I work with the specialised team to organise this for my clients buildings. They provide me with information on the follow-up of projects for me to relay to the customer.
The Product team keep our data, platform and dashboards running, so anything unusual that we encounter gets reported to them to resolve. Once a week, I take part in a meeting to receive updates on new features and share requests to improve the processes, for example, setting up a new contract onboarding follow-up on the admin system.
We communicate frequently with our Sales team to ensure we are meeting customer expectations, answering requests and maintaining great relationships with the customer.
Finally, we are in constant communication with the Supply team. We consult them to receive updates on delivery times for specific parts so we can keep our customers truly informed on the status of their equipment, as well as obtain pricing information to create accurate quotes.
Interested in joining our team?
For available positions, check out this link.
