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Following on with our ‘Day in the Life’ series, we caught up with Sofia Hitchcock, our BookingsGuru Apprentice Co-ordinator. Sofia chatted to us about a typical day in her role, what she enjoys most about being a Guru and which BookingsPlus feature she finds most helpful in her day-to-day tasks.
What does a typical day involve?
There is no such thing as a typical day for me. My team have me doing different things daily! However, I usually spend my mornings working on the ‘Guru tickets’ which are the emails that come through from our clients and potential hirers. I spend time replying to each email, booking clients in, and ensuring they are all happy with the services. During this time, I’m also available to answer any additional enquiries that come in via the school websites or on the phone.
Favourite school?
My favourite school is Haverstock School in Camden. It’s one of our Kajima-built schools where we work with the school to manage and run the out of hours activities. It’s really popular for bookings, meaning there is lots of interaction with the hirers. I have a great relationship with the site team, whom I also did some of my training with, which makes it my favourite.
Haverstock School in Camden
What do you enjoy about being a Guru?
I enjoy working as a Guru, not only because of the opportunities it provides me to further development my administrative skills, but also because of the people I get to meet. I have had the chance to build some really nice working relationships with members of staff from our various schools, as well as clients who book the facilities. The team of Guru’s I work with feel like family, and it’s a wonderful place to be.
What skills are required in your position?
In my position, I need to have several key skills to be able to carry out my role successfully. One of them is confidence since I spend a lot of time on the phone talking to our customers and members of the public. Teamwork is also critical as we work with so many different venues, clients and users, we have to ensure that everyone is in the loop, and we follow processes to guarantee details are never missed – at Kajima Community, we work together like a family, everyone helps each other out when we are at our busiest, And, most importantly, providing excellent customer service is essential as most of my role is customer-facing, whether through emails or phone calls – it’s crucial to put our customers first.
What are the toughest Seasons?
I would say the toughest season would be September. I began at Kajima in September, and I can confidently say it is the busiest month as we are processing renewals for the following academic year of bookings and it’s when all the indoor sports happen so enquiries for sports halls in particular are in high demand.
Top feature in the BookingsPlus system?
In my opinion, the report tab is the top feature within BookingsPlus. It provides detailed insights, saves time, and simplifies otherwise complex tasks. I first found the Reports tab when one of my colleagues used it to help me find which customers I needed to contact to ensure payment was made. It quickly reduced the time the task took me and ensured I was not missing anyone. I now use the report tab for a lot of things, to chase any bookings that need pre-payment , and which bookings are provisional and need followed up to confirm. It’s a multi-functional tool and has helped me on many occasions.
Favourite Hirer?
Though I haven’t worked independently with any schools yet, I have collaborated with several hirers. One individual who stands out is , who books at Haverstock School. I’ve assisted her on multiple occasions, and I can confidently say she’s a delightful and joyful person to work with. Sonny runs adult dance classes with her group, SV Promotions, she teaches Kizomba, Semba, social dancing and more!