Sales Support Team Member Job Description The Original Cottage Company The Original Cottage Company Limited (TOCC) is one of the major players in the UK selfcatering industry with over 2,900 properties across the UK. From its origins in 1992 as Norfolk Country Cottages, the business has steadily expanded, both through organic growth and an energetic and ongoing programme of judicious acquisition. Our award-winning business is first choice for self-catering properties in many of the UK s favourite holiday locations and now employs over 180 people and comprises fifteen separate agencies across the UK. They are; Norfolk Country Cottages Suffolk Secrets and So Southwold Marsdens Devon Cottages, Marsdens Cornish Cottages, Marsdens Property Management, Looe and Polperro Holidays, Cornish Quay and Cornish Horizons Kent & Sussex Holiday Cottages, Best of Brighton Holiday Cottages Ingrid Flute s Yorkshire Holiday Cottages and Red Rose Holiday Cottages Wales Cottage Holidays Wyke Dorset Cottages The Good Life Cottage Company Each of our brands is locally based, recruiting its own property portfolio, managing relationships with cottage owners, taking bookings, and handling all contact with holidaymakers. A General Manager leads each brand (or group of brands) and has overall responsibility for that brand s sales and marketing. Each brand has its own website which features all its properties, together with its own yearly brochure. The local knowledge, expertise and service provided by each of our brands is at the heart of our business and are without doubt the key to our success to date. Holidaymakers and homeowners alike enjoy a personal and professional service from people who know and love the area in which they live and work. Supporting our local brands, we have teams of dedicated experts in accounts, marketing, IT and Sales Support based at TOCC s Group Services in Reepham, Norfolk. These specialists work closely with the General Managers and their local staff. This company structure gives us the best of both worlds - local presence and personality from the teams around the country paired with professional support services across the group. Our constant quest is to improve our business in terms of the quality and diversity of our offering to the public, the way in which we present it to them, arrange it for them and subsequently manage their whole holiday experience. This extends to internal efficiencies Page 1 of 6
and includes the development of our own comprehensive, state-of-the-art database called tabs which facilitates speedy and reliable access to our UK wide property portfolio for all our brands and operators. It also includes an interactive suite of websites both at brand, and increasingly at group level, so that we can communicate and keep in touch with all our friends and business family through the medium of social networking. We believe in Family-owned and run, we foster universally high standards and take a strongly ethical approach when dealing with our employees. We believe in playing to people's strengths and are proud of our reputation for flexibility and fairness as an employer, providing a professional, innovative and fun place to work. This is reflected in the fact that many of our employees are long-serving and thus very experienced. As an Investors in People award winner we take delight in seeing our employees develop and grow within the business. We are proud to be a true family business with a strong set of values which guide and inform the way we work. We are; Family owned Local Friendly Reliable Customer focussed Honest Innovative Flexible Progressive The Sales Support Team position provides a great opportunity to be part of a fantastic team. Page 2 of 6
The Sales Support Team The Sales Support Team is another exciting innovation aimed at further improving our customer s experience in those first important moments when they contact us to talk to us about their holiday or if they need to speak to a real person about something else connected with it. The team is based at the company s Group Services office in Reepham and operate separately but in close support of all the brands. The purpose of the team is to: a) extend the hours during which customers can contact us, to cover 8am until 8pm Monday to Saturday and 11am until 3pm on Sundays b) to extend the customer service capacity, acting as a catch-all for all telephone calls that may otherwise remain unanswered when the offices of the individual brands are particularly busy c) to provide assistance to any individual brand office that needs help with projects such as major brochure follow-up campaigns d) to provide content for TOCC websites, in particular www.cottageholidays.co.uk, in the form of blogs and copy updates with the objective of supporting the profile of the website in Google search results e) to respond to enquiries from websites and generate customer interaction through social media and networking f) to extend our on-line communication to customers with live chat features and providing a personal shopper service g) to carry out cold-calling campaigns across the UK to increase bookings for the individual brands h) to forge a better range of corporate contacts at group level with a view to improving corporate level bookings The team s performance will be measured on the basis of: calls taken conversions to booked holidays calls made leads generated customer feedback Page 3 of 6
The attitude of this flying squad team will be noticeably energetic, pro-active and enthusiastic, the thinking being that we have a great company and great products so let us help our friends who work for the individual brands to capitalise on this and all be as successful as we possibly can be! The Job Sales Support Team Member Key responsibilities Answering calls from customers. These calls may be about anything; - an initial exploratory enquiry about the company and its products - a potential booking - a query about an on-going or past booking The key here is to listen carefully, rapidly access the correct information and then either take the call right through to a confirmed booking or refer it to the individual brand by passing on accurate details to them for them to follow through. Pro-active cold calling. - following up on those in receipt of brochures - specific cold-calling marketing campaigns - campaigns to forge better corporate links at group level to increase corporate bookings - follow-up on enquiries through the group website These will be positive, enthusiastic, helpful calls aims at helping potential customers to turn their ideas and dreams into reality to help them understand what might be best for them and then assist them through the selection and booking process. Customer interaction through the group websites such as cottageholidays.co.uk. - providing content and refreshing copy with the aim of improving search engine results. - using social networking platform and live chat to provide personal, friendly customer service and interaction. - providing a bespoke personal shopper service helping customers to find the perfect cottage across our national portfolio. Effective use of IT systems/processes - familiarisation with the tabs system and effective use of it - correct, accurate and timely administration and data recording Page 4 of 6
Liaison and communication company-wide The Person - keeping in touch with individual brand employees in a positive helpful way that forges and maintains a good team-work atmosphere - keeping those people informed and providing them with correct and comprehensive information on all joint endeavours - working with other areas of the business to share knowledge and ensure the wider success of the organisation. Eligibility the main requirements to do the job Passionate about customer service Excellent communication skills, both written and oral Several years proven successful experience of customer support or telephone selling in either a product or service sector being promoted to the general public would be desirable An interest in social networking and an ability to write interesting and engaging copy is beneficial Suitability the personality factors that will be important A high level of confidence about contacting people, including corporate clients, if necessary from cold, over the telephone A persuasive, up-beat, enthusiastic telephone manner the will to promote and negotiate with people to reach a mutually agreeable conclusion The ability to grasp information quickly and comprehensively An eye for detail the will to get things right and make sure you have understood the minutiae The ability to handle difficulties with patience and good sense Organisation and order good administration skills with great attention to detail A liking for team-working the spirit of joint endeavour! Page 5 of 6
The outline rewards/conditions package A competitive salary depending on the degree of experience offered. An annual bonus linked to company performance. Up to 2 weeks induction to familiarise yourself with the brands and the people involved your future team mates! In addition, full training on the tabs system will be covered. 22 days holiday per annum plus Bank Holidays pro-rata There is a company contributory pension scheme. The company offers attractive working conditions and a very strong teamworking ethos in which people are encouraged to feel part of the family. In a steadily growing organisation such as this, the career opportunities are there for further advancement into any part of the business promoting from within being a major part of the business philosophy where possible. The service will cover the hours 8am to 8pm Monday to Saturday and 11am to 3pm on Sundays. As such, it is part-time roles that are available and shiftwork may be necessary. To apply email jobs@originalcottages.co.uk with a covering letter and CV if you have one. Page 6 of 6