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FOCUS on Customer Care

Meet Shelagh Doyle

Tell us about yourself and your career journey?

My very first job from school was as a cashier in a good old-fashioned Building Society where we recorded customer money in and out on ledgers – I know it sounds like something out of a Dickens novel but I promise you it wasn’t quite that long ago.

That started my career in and around Financial Services and I quickly gravitated towards customer care, mediation and dispute resolution. I started as a complaint handler working my way, over time, into Operations Manager and Head of positions.

I’ve been lucky enough to work with a number of different organisations such as Lloyds Banking Group, Barclaycard, Co-op Bank, VWFS and the Financial Ombudsman Service and in a variety of settings from being part of the team that went into Northern Rock immediately after the financial crash in 2007 through large scale redress projects to bespoke investment reviews.

How did you end up at Court Enforcement Services?

I felt that I was at a crossroads in my career and while I could happily have continued on the same path, it seemed to be time for a new challenge. As I’m definitely not brave enough to move to something entirely new, and I still wanted to utilise all my skills and experience, I started my search for a role in a new industry sector.

I was introduced to Court Enforcement Services in February 2020 as they were looking for someone to drive the Customer Care function forward and the rest, as they say, is history.

What is your role in the business?

My role is as Customer Care Manager which means I have quite a wide and varied remit.

Part of the role of my team is as the first point of contact, for all customer and third-party enquiries at any point of the enforcement journey from initial Notice of Enforcement through to Letter of Satisfaction and beyond. This is a very busy and exciting part of my role, leading the team through a high volume of customer enquiries, on a broad range of subjects.

I’m also responsible for our Dispute Resolution function which includes resolution of customer complaints and liaison for escalated cases and legal challenges. It’s an inevitable fact of doing business that complaints and claims do happen, what is most important is how they are dealt with and what you learn from them. Here in Customer Care, we approach each case calmly and factually, we look to always resolve fairly and we routinely cascade learnings and improvement through the business.

What benefits does your role bring to the client and customer journey?

One of the primary benefits my role brings is in the removal of barriers in a fair and consistent way. If you consider the path a case takes from the issue of a High Court Writ, through to being fully satisfied, my role, and that of my team, is to remove any barriers and make that path as quick and as smooth as possible.

The benefit to the client is that they receive payment in full in the quickest possible time and with the minimum of hassle. In an ideal world the client probably isn’t aware of my team and the role we play and that is as it should be, we are resolving the problems they didn’t know they had.

The benefit to the customer is that we help them gain an understanding of what can be a daunting process and support them to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, being mindful of their specific circumstances. You may ask, why would a customer want to deal with a High Court Writ quickly? Because by resolving it they are one step closer to being able to build a better financial future.

What is different about Court Enforcement Services?

We operate in a sector that is extremely well established and, to someone on the outside, might be viewed as harsh and stuck in the same old ways of working. Court Enforcement Services is thriving and growing through innovation and our use of new technologies bringing High Court enforcement into current ways of working.

But it’s not all about apps and gadgets, we are completely focused on people too which is super-important to me and the work that my team undertakes. Our Fairness in Operation Charter is built into everything we do – it wouldn’t be good enough for me if we were only paying lip-service to fairness but we’re not, the framework is baked into all of our daily activities.

Why do you like working at Court Enforcement Services?

What I like most about working at Court Enforcement Services is that it challenges me, in a good way, every single day.
There is a supportive and collaborative style that was so important to me while I got to know the nuances of a new industry sector; to be honest I’m still learning. At the same time, I have been encouraged from day one to draw on my skills and experience to drive improvements to the service we offer.
The overriding ethos is that we are unafraid to learn and improve which is really refreshing and ensures I continue to get the challenge that I joined the organisation to find.

What do you hope the future holds for Court Enforcement Services?

In a way this is a tricky question because it’s not really a hope, it’s more what I know the future holds.
I know the team that we have in place and the combined skills we hold so I also know that we’re going to continue to grow our market share and, importantly, continue to innovate within the industry.

I also know that we will continue to lead by example in terms of how we support clients and customers but for me, as Customer Care Manager, obviously I’ll put customers first on that list.

I suppose my greatest hope is that we can get all of our lovely staff back into the office and get back to “normal” ways of working – we have managed exceptionally well working remotely but there is nothing like seeing the teams faces each day.

Why would you recommend Court Enforcement Services?

In my view, clients are no longer tempted simply by results alone, there is also the need to be transparent about how those results are achieved.
For this reason, I would recommend Court Enforcement Services to a potential client because yes, we certainly do achieve exceptional recovery rates but alongside that comes the assurance that we do so in a compliant and fair way. You can engage with us knowing that I am here with the rest of the team to make sure that your good name and reputation is protected.

And finally, I would recommend Court Enforcement Services to anyone seeking a career within this industry. You will learn a lot, be surrounded and supported by a great team and if you want to make a difference you can do it here.

Shelagh Doyle

Customer Care Manager