Cushman & Wakefield – Formerly DTZ
As the frontline representation for Changi Airport Group, serving as the initial point of contact through the Changi Contact Center. It was the longest I had in my career from 2013 to 2018, where I grew from a normal customer service officer to the team lead in charge of managing a team of 8 in a 24/7 environment, helping people all over the world with their enquiries and feedback about our prestigious airport.
It was a dream come true, and I felt proud to represent it and made me love the airport. I saw how the airport went from demolishing the Budget Terminal for Terminal 4 to the opening Jewel. It was truly a sight to behold. I was once called the encyclopaedia of the airport, where I knew most of the shortcuts, the hidden features around the airport, and the tastiest food. I ate the chicken rice at the T2 staff canteen to the point where I was once the customer, to adding each other’s Facebook and exchanging phone numbers.
In the contact center, I had the privilege to listen to calls as the first line of defence to provide the best experience, guiding passengers around the airport, assisting them in the lost and found, as well as listening to their feedback on how to improve our pride of Singapore. Other than listening to calls, we also manage the emails flowing in, answering to the best of our abilities, and redirecting the rest of the emails to the respective stakeholders within the airport community. We do also assist in monitoring social media, such as Twitter (now known as X), like how we manage emails and calls.
As a team lead, it was part of my role to manage the team, by assigning people to shifts, and acting as the first point of contact for any difficult questions or managing the passengers’ calls that the agent was not able to handle. I was also tasked to conduct random call and email audits, as well as setting an example to the team on how a call should be like, or how an email should be written. Creating and maintaining SOP was part of the role as well, updating and disseminating crucial information across the team on time, making sure everyone knows if there is a change in SOP, or that day has special events and is expecting higher call/email volume.
Across my 5 (almost 6) years of journey in this place, we do face a lot of challenges, as well as a lot of fun. The feeling of getting a written compliment, as well as the special gold, silver, and bronze pins from Changi Airport for recognizing the front-line staff that receives a written compliment. I also had the special opportunity to receive a written compliment that was posted in the local newspaper for assisting in finding a child’s lost teddy bear with huge sentimental value, and the feeling of getting acknowledged was posted countrywide was immense and proud to be part of. Overall, being able to be a part of Changi Airport was why I went for further studies in Aviation Management.
The main reason for leaving was because of wanted to learn more from other contact centers, on how they run the show, and improve myself to be a better customer service representative. Partly, it was because I’m not able to commit to shift work, as I am pursuing my Diploma in Aviation Management as part-time studies.
