eKourier April 2015

WHO’S WHO

10 Questions... With Hayley Marsh - Centre Manager Palmerston North NZ

What centre did you initially start at? I did my initial two weeks training at Mount Eden and then moved to Palmerston North. What changes did you face moving from Assistant Manager to Manager? One of the biggest changes for me was the increase in hours and learning how to successfully ‘juggle’ the work life being ‘The Manager’ and home life being ‘Mum’. I seem to have the balance just right thanks to the support of the Kennards Team and a very capable husband who takes more than his fair share of the work at home. Also, I was still fairly new to Kennards when I had the opportunity to become Manager. At the time, I’d only been with Kennards for around eight months working just 22 hours per week so there were still some aspects of the business that I didn’t have an in depth knowledge of back then. Thankfully, once again, I always had (and still have) the support of the whole Kennards Team and the answers to any of my questions are only a phone call, email, Support Request or K-Doc away. What aspects of customer service do you feel are important? I think one of the most important aspects of providing the best customer experience is building a rapport with the customer from the very first point of contact and to always be cheerful, friendly and smile. Remembering and using customer’s names when they visit has a big impact. Don’t make promises you can’t keep, follow through and never leave anyone hanging in the balance not knowing what’s going on. Going the extra mile should come naturally, it shouldn’t be a chore. Tell us a bit about your family? I am married to James and we have three children, two sons; Charlie 18, Mackenzie 4 and our daughter Araceli 2. We also have ‘Holly Dog’ our little Huntaway/Whippet Cross. My mother made the move from the UK to NZ just over two years ago and now lives right next door to us! Who inspires you and why? Araceli Segarra. For those of you who

haven’t heard of her she is the first Spanish woman to climb Mount Everest. She has also climbed Kanchenjunga, Shishapangma and K2, among others. Her ascent of Mt Everest in 1996 was documented in Everest, the IMAX movie about the mountain. I watch this movie/ documentary whenever I get any free time at home and, even now, 13 years after I watched it for the first time, I still end up in tears every time!! She is a beautiful lady with immense guts, determination, physical and mental strength. I just can’t help but admire this lady and my daughter is named after her. FREEDOM being our acronym describing the values of KSS, which value/s resonate more with you and how does that value/s help you and your Team? I think that all of the values within FREEDOM play a big part in the way in which I work and interact with my Team. I think I’d like to split it down and say that if you work with the ‘FREEDO’ values you should easily be able to create the ‘M’ both for the Team that you work with as well as your customers. The end result that we’re trying to create is a Memorable experience for everyone. And finally, to sum up Kennards in one word would be? For me, life’s a journey. Looking back over the past 15 years especially, myself and my husband James have had a roller coaster journey of highs, lows, challenges, hurdles and excitement. Through our strength as a Team we tackle everything head on and come out the other side even stronger. I think of Kennards in much the same way. We support each other, we support and really care for our customers. This leads me to a word that James and I have used to describe many of our adventures in the mountains… EPIC. I believe that this was one of the choices that Kennards came up with for the acronym for our values but then FREEDOM was chosen. So, the word I’m choosing to answer this question is EPIC.

How long have you been with Kennards and how did you come to be on the Team? I started with Kennards on 22nd April 2013. My daughter was just seven weeks old at the time. We’d recently moved to Feilding, not far from Palmerston North after spending four years living near the mountains of The Ruapehu District. Following the birth of my daughter, the opportunity to work for Kennards came along at the right time. Can you tell us a bit about your background? I was born and grew up in Plymouth which is a fairly large city in Devon, in the South West of England. I lived there all my life until my husband had the opportunity to transfer to New Zealand with the NZ Police Force. I’ve had various jobs, all customer service based. I’ve been a Kitchen and Bedroom Planner for a furniture store, a Team Leader in a large Call Centre and a Sales Rep for a motor factory to name a few. Since moving to NZ in 2007 and prior to joining Kennards in 2013 I managed a Uniform Shop and I also co-managed a busy holiday accommo- dation complex.

3 Kennards Kourier April 2015