Helpline Adviser

Job description

• To provide exemplar information and support to disabled people, their families, and professionals who work with them, covering all issues around disability.
• To manage the donations and manage the issues of donors when setting up regular or one-off donations, cancelling of donations or complaints regarding donations.
• To provide excellent customer service with a friendly and empathetic manner to all of Scope’s internal and external customers.

Main responsibilities

• Provide consistent high-quality responses to enquiries received at Scope’s Helpline via telephone, email, live chat, our online community and social networking channels, within set turnaround times.
• Ensure that customers feel valued and are provided with information that is tailored to meet individual need, is accurate, up to date and accessible to them.
• Become an expert in Scope’s services, so you can make the best recommendation to help customers.
• Provide excellent customer service with a friendly and empathetic manner.
• Continually update your knowledge around disability issues and to share learning across the team, in order to offer an expert service to Scope’s customers.
• Provide excellent customer service when managing donations and dealing with donor enquiries.
• Identify the correct person/department and efficiently transfer calls internally when customers ring with general enquiries.
• Ensure that details of all enquiries are logged accurately on the customer database in a timely manner and that quality data and information is maintained.
• Work within Scope’s policies relating to customer confidentiality and data protection.
• Follow Scope’s policy and process around safeguarding and to make decisions regarding relevant customers as appropriate.
• Promote Scope and its values around equality, inclusion and the social model of disability and to present a positive image of the organisation in all aspects of work.
• Contribute to team meetings and discussions and to proactively contribute to the continued improvement of the service.

Mandatory for all staff

• Work seamlessly across department or team boundaries in a collaborative and constructive manner to implement Scope’s strategic direction.
• Demonstrate a commitment to customer service excellence and deliver against the requirements of Scope’s quality framework.
• Work within Scope’s policies and procedures.

Internal contacts

• CSE senior team
• Helpline manager
• National delivery managers
• Local delivery managers
• Extended customer and strategy team
• Human resources, finance, IT, and other support teams as required
• Corporate and fundraising teams

External contacts

• Customers and third-party contacts
• Organisations - private, public and third sector who can support and enhance the delivery of the National Service

Person specification

Qualifications, knowledge and experience

Essential

• At least two years’ experience working in a telephone-based customer focused environment.
• Demonstrable experience of collecting customer details and data on a database or CRM.
• Experience of communicating difficult and complex information via telephone.
• Ability to handle cross functional enquiries (Helpline, reception, Supporter Care.)
• Emotional resilience and demonstrable experience of handling sensitive and/or safeguarding telephone calls.
• Understanding of the importance and application of Plain English.
• To be flexible with training and rota requirements. Rota is published up to 3 months in advance, subject to change in line with business needs. We will try to give 48 hours’ notice for shift changes.
• Highly Computer literate especially on Microsoft applications.

Desirable

• Lived experience of disability.
• Demonstrable knowledge of more than one of the following areas relating to disabled people: benefits, disability rights, social care, enabled environments, housing, government policy relating to benefits and disability.

Skills

Essential

• Demonstrable understanding of the social model of disability and clarity about the contribution of information and advice to achieving social change.
• Ability to communicate with a wide range of customers with an understanding of different needs and ability to respond to these.
• Effective person-centered listening and probing skills to respond to underlying issues and assist customers to make informed choices.
• Effective interpersonal skills and a positive and collaborative approach to work.
• Ability to be flexible, respond positively to change, work effectively under pressure and deal with conflicting priorities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in order to be able to communicate with customers and colleagues in a clear, meaningful and effective way
• Excellent IT skills particularly Microsoft Office and experience of using databases.
• Ability to organise workload, prioritise effectively and use own initiative.
• Excellent written English, spelling and grammar
• Methodical, with excellent attention to detail

Desirable

• Experience of using social networking platforms to respond to customer enquiries and provide information.