International Cash Collection: Operations Associate - Italian speaker

Recruiter: Fei Jia

Hiring Manager: David Szasz

Career Grade: F

Why this job matters

Group Customer Billing and Assurance (GCBA) within Corporate Functions help deliver our strategy and plans for growth. We shape and steer the direction of the business by managing our people, finances, shared services and buildings. We also oversee our legal, regulatory and compliance obligations too.

As a member of the Managed Collections function you’ll be responsible for cash collection and debt reduction for international customers.  By calling our customers you’ll educate them to make payment by the due date, encourage our preferred payment methods, and ensure any barriers to payment are resolved to facilitate payment before the invoice becomes overdue.  You’ll be working with other teams to provide a seamless service to our customers, utilising a rang of shared support services, and delivering a brilliant customer experience.

What I’ll be doing – your accountabilities

Your targets and KPIs will focus on cash collection, debt reduction, productivity and delivering a quality service to our customers.

You’ll be:

• Contacting customers by telephone and email, securing payment commitments, negotiating, encouraging preferred payment methods, and educating customers to improve payment patterns to reduce our overdue debt
• Investigating and resolving payment related queries in a professional, timely and quality manner
• Escalating cash risks for intervention within BT and the customer’s organisation to avoid late payment/poor customer experience
• Meeting a set of targets for cash collection and overdue debt, quality, and customer experience
• Making effective collections calls and negotiating for full or part payment where disputes/enquiries exist
• Capturing key information relating to customer enquiries for our Enquiries teams to quickly and effectively resolve
• Protecting and developing customer loyalty through the provision of an excellent service to our customers
• Maintaining accurate and timely records of conversations/actions taken
• Providing stakeholder reporting on key debt and cash opportunities
• Adhering to all necessary S-Ox controls, Policy and Process requirements for Data Security and Financial controls
• Portraying BT Managed Collections in a positive and professional image at all times
• Attending conference calls/meetings/1:1’s/forums when/where required
• Supporting your colleagues, Line Manager and the wider Group Customer Billing & Assurance teams

The skills you need

• Background and experience in business to business credit control
• Excellent customer service and rapport
• Negotiation skills
• Great communication skills with strong verbal and written competency
• Effective influencing and problem solving skills and the ability to manage conflict
• Confident decision maker, able to display tact and diplomacy and reasonably defend decisions where required
• Excellent organisational skills, highly motivated with the ability to prioritise, manage and collaborate with  wider virtual teams
• Flexible and comfortable with change to support tactical sprint activities and changing stakeholder requests
• Good commercial acumen and financial skills
• Proficient in range of Microsoft office software - Excel, Outlook, Teams, PowerPoint, Word, Access, SharePoint etc.
• Safeguard customer data in line with GDPR regulations and all other process and policy pertinent to protecting sensitive information

Experience you would be expected to have

• Experience in credit control/cash collection techniques and processes
• Experience of working in customer facing roles with high quality call standard/monitoring in place
• Experience of dealing with inbound customer calls/complaints via telephone and subsequent call handling/resolution required
• Financial acumen/competency and understanding in dealing with account/invoice reconciliations and financial transactions