Paul Hodges47 Keats Way, Rushden, Northants, NN10 6EE E: camouflage@ntlworld.com M: 07968 954642National Insurance: JB 36 82 52 A

A skilled customer services professional, with over 20 years of providing excellent customer experience. After 15 years in the Finance Management Software sector, working for what has grown to become Advanced - the 3rd largest software company in the UK, I’m seeking a fresh challenge within a new, dynamic environment.

Key Skills & Capabilities:

Communicating with customers in a calm, courteous, professional manner. Striving to always give the high level of customer experience that I would wish to receive myself.

Software Packages used: Salesforce, CustomerFirst, Hornbill, Dr Solomons and Sage case management software, OpenAccounts and eBIS Financial Management packages, WebEx, ScreenConnect and GoToAssist dial-in solutions – plus the usual programs from the Microsoft Office suite.

Employment:

March 2001 – PresentAdvanced - www.oneadvanced.com(Previously known as Advanced Computer Software, COA Solutions and OpenAccounts)One of the fastest growing technology companies in the UK – and currently the UK’s 3rd largest software house. Advanced creates a variety of Financial Management, Healthcare, Payroll, Legal and online ticketing software, among others.My roles within Advanced revolve around Customer Services for our OpenAccounts financial management software, plus eBIS, an online form solution which is generally used for approving invoices and purchase orders to feed into OpenAccounts, but can also be used for HR related forms such as holiday requests and expenses. Roles: February 2016 – Present: Interim Team Leader - OpenAccounts Customer ServicesIn addition to my existing Support Consultant role (see below), the Team Lead duties include attending a ‘Heal Desk’ meeting for prioritising issues from sensitive customers, dealing with escalated calls, plus one-to-one meetings with fellow consultants, approving holiday requests, liaising with senior management and keeping the team aware of any updates.

2010-2016: (Senior) Support Consultant – OpenAccountsDuties: Building on my existing Support role, by advising junior members of the Support team on how to investigate issues and resolve them where possible. Where immediate resolution was not possible, advising them on how to obtain the relevant details for our developers to write corrected programs.Writing troubleshooting guides and knowledgebase articles to assist customers to help themselves.

2008-2010: Support Services Consultant – eBISDuties: Similar to my OpenAccounts Support role – but also very different. eBIS forms are very user-definable, so my role included advising on how to customise forms and approval routings, so that the right form finds its way to the appropriate people for approval.

2003–2008: Support Services Consultant – OpenAccountsDuties: Taking customer calls/e-mails and advising customers on accounting processes, often dialling into the user’s machine to view their issues and taking over their machines to resolve them.Using ‘toolkit’ programs to correct data issues where necessary.

Replicating bugs and passing detailed documentation to developers, in order for them to spec and develop fixes.Compiling and administering ‘emergency fixes’ to customers when waiting for the next software patch is not appropriate.Mar 2001 – Sept 2003: Quality Assurance Tester – OpenAccountsDuties: Re-creating issues reported by customers, then testing fixes to ensure they resolved the issue – and did not cause any additional problems. Pre-delivery inspection of patches and new development.

Previous Employment: Sept 2000 - Feb 2001: Customer Service Advisor - Winson Model Technology – Daventry

Winson Models manufactured very large working replicas of vintage steam locomotives, as well as the Tiger 1 tank from World War 2. Duties: Taking sales orders, meeting customers and providing guided site visits, logging customer calls and maintaining a database of outstanding queries, then liaising with Stores and Production teams to manufacture and distribute goods in a timely resolution.

1993 – Sept 2000: Accounts Clerk / Office Administrator - A&M Engineering – RugbyNow Marshall Farm Machinery, A&M dealt in the sale and servicing of tractors and farm machinery.

Duties: Here I handled various aspects of office administration, including Purchase and Sales Ledger Accounts, paying suppliers, credit control, banking and bank reconciliation.

I was also involved in providing quotations to customers and using a basic desktop publishing suite to produce a monthly promotional newsletter.

Education:William Parker School, Daventry 1986-1991English Language – GCSE B with Grade 2 in oral communicationEnglish Literature – GCSE CMathematics – GCSE CFrench – GCSE BHistory – GCSE CSciences – GCSE D (x2 – Double award)

East Warwickshire College, Rugby1993 – City & Guilds Information Technology Level I1995 – City & Guilds Information Technology Level II

Other:Various ‘Advanced University’ courses, including:- Customer Communications- Building Customer Relationships- Challenging Customers- Email CommunicationsI have also held several St John Ambulance First Aid at Work certificates, currently expired but would happily do this again.PADI Rescue Diver, including Enriched Air NitroxFull driver’s license (clean) including motorcycles

Pastimes and Interests: At present, mainly motorcycling and DIY as we have recently moved house. In the past, scuba diving to PADI Rescue Diver level, Target Archery to National Championships level – and for over 20 years, performing live music.