When you think of customer service, what do you think of? For many of us, maybe we think about something like making a return in a store. Or talking with someone at a welcome desk.<\/p>\n
For others, customer services isn\u2019t obvious. But it\u2019s central to their work.<\/p>\n
For Rossana Roberts, her work with Abacus Evaluation may not seem like customer service, but it is. And she she\u2019s just won an award from the UNC Research Core Facilities Staff Recognition Program for it.<\/p>\n
We asked Rossana for her reflections on the award and what it means to her.<\/p>\n
The UNC Research Core Facilities Staff Recognition Program is designed to recognize extraordinary achievements by SHRA and EHRA-NF permanent, full- and part-time employees of biomedical research cores at UNC-Chapel Hill.<\/p>\n
Rossana was selected as the recipient of the Spring 2024 Core Facility Staff Recognition Award in the category of Customer Service. The Customer Service category is one of three award categories.<\/p>\n
According to the initial story, Rossana\u2019s \u201cnominator highlighted her ability to understand the customer and their priorities and to quickly and seamlessly pivot when those needs may change or shift mid-project.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rossana was also recognized for her \u201ceffective management\u201d and helping lead \u201cher team during a gap in leadership, ensuring the customers continued to receive the high-quality project management and data evaluation services they required.\u201d<\/p>\n
The article sums up Rossan\u2019s work, highlighting how she impacts the whole team. \u201cRossana was commended for her in-depth knowledge of the data her team works with\u2014and her ability to quickly and accurately assess what changes may be necessary to the data structure as the customer needs change and evolve. This allows her to provide accurate timelines and meet both internal and external deadlines.”<\/p>\n
According to Roberts, the award \u201cshows the role that customer service plays in research and evaluation.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said that \u201ca lot of times customer service isn\u2019t what comes to mind when you think about being in an Evaluation Research Specialist role.\u201d She listed common role areas like \u201cdata, analysis software, writing up papers and reports and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n
While those are \u201ca huge part\u201d of her job, she never forgets \u201cthe customer service piece\u201d.<\/p>\n
Roberts said that \u201cthe engaging with clients aspect is also a huge part of what we do\u201d in Abacus. She added, \u201cso it\u2019s very rewarding that that aspect of our work is also getting recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part of Roberts\u2019 role includes engaging with clients to support the evaluation component of their projects. She said, \u201cthis means meeting with project teams to understand their project and what they hope to get out of collaborating with us, answering questions they may have, and providing subject matter expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to those and research tasks, there \u201ca lot of communication, relationship building and problem solving.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roberts balances both!<\/p>\n
We asked Roberts what she\u2019d share with others doing customer service.<\/p>\n
She said, \u201cthe outlook you have on your work plays a huge part in shaping how things play out.\u201d<\/p>\n
She explained that working with someone is built on trust. \u201cWhen someone chooses to work with you, or comes to you with questions, it\u2019s because they feel that you have the skills to help them, and I think that\u2019s very motivating to keep in mind when you\u2019re doing this work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
To help encourage others, Roberts also shared good reminders. She said that even when there are \u201cchallenges and roadblocks,\u201d attitude matters. Roberts suggests \u201creminding yourself that you don\u2019t have to have all of the answers!\u201d<\/p>\n
She adds that \u201capproaching the interaction with empathy and openness\u201d to understand the issue is key. Then, you can work with the client to \u201ctry to find the best solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finally, Roberts offers words of support in the face of change. \u201cMost of the time, project plans change and things happen that will be out of your control so being okay with that and focusing on what you can control helps navigate those situations.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"