Not all heroes wear capes. Meet the Teamleader Titans: our brave rocks in the surf who were there from the very beginning and witnessed it all. It’s largely to their credit that Teamleader is where it is today. After all this time, they’re still holding the fort. They are the real MVPs, high time we gave them the spotlight they deserve. This final episode: Nele.
How many different roles have you had over the years? Which ones?
Four, if I add it all up. I started off as a Customer Support Agent as part of the first-line support desk for our Teamleader Focus tool. Concretely, I answered a wide variety of support questions via email and phone. After a year, I switched to the role of Customer Onboarder to help customers set up their account in the tool. After another year, I became a Retention Specialist, making sure that we keep our customers happy so they remain on board.
Currently, I’m in charge of Customer Success (CS) Ops & Communication. It’s my job to optimize the tooling and processes of the CS team and increase its scalability through bulk communication, automation, self-service, etc.
What’s your fondest Teamleader memory since you started working here?
The company trip to Milan back in 2017, no doubt in my mind. The group atmosphere was phenomenal. The return flight was especially memorable. We were so many Teamleader colleagues that we practically had a plane all to ourselves. I also remember the many “aperitivos”, which is an Italian concept where you pay an entrance fee to drink some aperitifs and eat appetizers without actually going to dinner afterwards.
What are the top three company milestones you’ve witnessed during your time at Teamleader?
1. Securing a permanent spot at the table for the CS department was a big one. We worked hard to get to a point where Customer Success was recognized as an essential pillar of the organization, rather than an afterthought. Today, CS is an exemplary department when it comes to OKRs and eNPS.
2. I find it remarkable that we’ve managed to preserve the company culture and atmosphere over the years. We’ve always succeeded in finding people who match our company values, who deliver quality work and who go the extra mile.
3. Being acquired by Visma (2022). It’s an exciting next step for the company. Also, it’s great that we can keep on doing things our own way and retain our unique identity. At the same time, it allows Teamleader to grow even further. Personally, I’m looking forward to strengthening the collaborations with people within the Visma Group. I believe that we can learn a lot from each other.
What’s the most important change compared to the early days?
We’ve become more mature. Things don’t change as frequently and dramatically as they used to. You could say that during my time here I’ve worked at 35 different companies because I used to feel like I was joining a new company every time I came back from holiday. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a tiny bit, but still.
We think more before we act. It’s interesting how that’s been a slow process, and it’s nice having contributed to that process. In the interest of continuity and efficiency, I see it as my responsibility as someone who’s worked here for quite a long time to critically review “new” ideas before they are implemented. In some cases, we’ve already tried that exact approach in the past. It saves the company a lot of valuable time and energy if I can point out why something didn’t work the first time.
What’s one thing you would’ve told yourself when you started?
Brace yourself, because it’s going to be a rollercoaster ride. Also, don’t get too emotionally invested. When you work at a fast-growing company, you have to be flexible, be able to deal with a lot of changes. That also means that you have to get used to the fact that people come and go. For me, it wasn’t always easy to deal with that, so a gentle heads-up would’ve been nice. Still, I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.
What’s the personal achievement you’re most proud of?
Two things, one the one hand it’s my personal path at Teamleader so far, the fact that I’m in a role that I mostly shaped myself. I love how, at Teamleader, you have the opportunity to take action, come up with ideas and be rewarded with additional responsibilities in return.
On the other hand, it’s the reviews project I successfully managed. In short, I embedded a process in the organization to better follow up on our online reviews, making sure that every single review gets a personalized answer. The results speak for themselves: a significant increase of both reviews and review scores across different platforms.
What was especially cool about this project is that I could approach what would typically be a marketing project from a CS perspective. By using my experience with customer communications, dealing with both positive and negative customer feedback, I was able to make asking for a review part of all the processes. It’s nice to see that this is now very much embedded in our way of working.
In 2022 we celebrated Teamleader's 10-year anniversary. What do you look forward to most in the next decade ?
The new learning opportunities now that we’re part of the Visma Group. Also, we’re still in the process of integrating the Vectera product and team (Vectera was acquired by Teamleader in April 2022, ed.); another example which shows that Teamleader is constantly evolving and that there are many interesting challenges ahead! One thing's for sure: working at Teamleader will never be boring.
***
Thank you to all six Teamleader Titans for their time and participation in this blog series. You can (re)-read their interviews on our blog.
Of course, there are many other unsung heroes and heroines besides these six. Everyone who has ever made their mark on Teamleader, from those who laid the foundations during the early days to those who continue to write the success story today. Our sincerest gratitude goes out to all of you. You are all Titans!
