India Quow, our very own Client Engagement Consultant. India may already be a familiar face to some of you, but for those who haven't had the pleasure of meeting her, we asked her a few questions to get to know what she does and how she is a very important cog in the Paprika wheel.
I work for part of the amazing Client Engagement team at Paprika. I was a keen champion of Paprika in my previous places of work, which means I’m a bit of a ‘jack of all’ as they say. My role generally involves going to see our clients to re-engage with them and see how they’re finding using the system. I speak with them about what they would like to get from Paprika and from there, form a plan and process to get that in place. I am also an Account Manager for quite a few of our clients and go onsite regularly to go through an agenda prepared by them to cover off. This is great as it means my clients get to know me and can let me know how they’re getting on and if they have any issues, which I can then resolve. It’s also a great chance to demo brand new programmes that have just been released or are waiting to be released. I also tend to do quite a bit of training for my current clients, which includes Finance and Project Management. Last but not least I do seminars for Paprika and the odd webinar or three. I have even done a couple of sales pitches in my time here. Like I say, jack of all.
I love meeting new clients and travelling all over to wherever they may be. Forming a good solid relationship is key and definitely the favourite part of my job.
I’m not a huge fan of training to be honest but that’s probably because I know the system inside out. I can get overly excited about Paprika and do like showing people how to use it to its full potential but it can sometimes be repetitive.
Anyone that knows me knows I love working. I really enjoy my job. I do sometimes find it hard to switch off. I clearly suffer from a bad case of FOMO. I often get told off by my boyfriend to stop working. My work phone comes pretty much everywhere with me. However I do know how to have fun and you can often find me at the pub on a Friday after work. No seriously I am much better than I used to be and am now trying to do after work things like choir and in the hotter months I love to get out and do some gardening.
I would like to concentrate more on the consultancy side of things so my role is more streamlined. I also like presenting at seminars and events so wouldn’t mind more of this either. However I do enjoy all parts of my job. At least it never gets boring and there is always something new. I wouldn’t be opposed to more travelling around the world and introducing myself to some of our overseas clients.
There is no such thing as ‘usual’ day for me. I’m rarely in the office all day. I have recently started off my day with some form of exercise and then after the obligatory cup of coffee and a cigarette (naughty smoker I know, I’ll stop one day), then it’s a shower and some sort of smoothie for breakfast. Then I’m usually off to see a client. The visits vary from a couple of hours, to a morning or a whole day. If it’s not the whole day I will usually have another client after to visit. Then it’s writing up the visit notes and action points and formulating a plan. Then finally completing the action points. When I’m not with clients I spend the day working in the London office with my fabulous colleague Natalia, trying to get all the adhoc admin bits done and scheduling all the other work I have in the pipeline. I have clients in various locations in the UK so sometimes I’m travelling up North, down South or even flying over to Asia.
Hmmmm…. Good question. I can’t say that I don’t have any challenges as that would be a lie. I’m going to be honest here! Now infrequent as this may be I can get the odd client that can be quite challenging. Paprika is an amazing system but can sometimes be complex especially if you have no agency experience. However that being said effective communication and training can change that. So even though it can be challenging trying to explain how to do something to a client and why, when they get it you’re winning. It’s great forming bonds with your clients and it’s them that keep me coming back for more.
The most rewarding thing for me is being thanked for doing a good job! So my best days at work are when I’ve exceeded people’s expectations and implemented something that is working well.
I really like being based in London seeing as I live here, so it’s a nice short commute. It’s a great location, which means it’s easy to get to clients based in London and even to the clients up North from one of the many main London train stations. Plus there are endless places to eat and socialise! However, it can sometimes be a bit quiet as it’s only Natalia and me that work in the London office from Paprika. From time to time we have other colleagues that grace us with their presence, mainly the MD Nick when he pops in in between meetings. It is always nice to catch up with him. Paprika HQ down in Hadlow are where the main benefits are, including a lovely lunch cooked by our in house chef for just £1 a pop! Chef Phil doesn’t work Friday’s so I make sure never to go to Hadlow on a Friday. It’s always nice catching up with my other colleagues when I go down to Hadlow but it means I have to get up super early. I definitely prefer being London based.
If you'd like to book a visit from one of our consultants then please email clientengagement@paprika-software.com
