F I D I N E WS opportunity in the customer service industry and, after a lot of scouting, found a job at FIDI that really interested me. Prachi Sharma, Customer Service Coordinator at FCC A CUSTOMERLED APPROACH FIDIs FAIM Coordination Centre (FCC) helps Affiliates and new applicants with their FAIM certification. FIDI Focus meets the newest addition to the team, Customer Service Coordinator Prachi Sharma FF: Tell us a little about yourself? Prachi Sharma (PS): I come from a country I define as Incredible India. I am extremely grateful to my parents for providing me with a good education and sending me to one of Indias finest boarding schools, and to my sister for being immensely supportive. Staying in a boarding school made me confident, independent and gave me the freedom to take decisions for my future. After that, I worked for several five-star hotel chains, where I learned the basics that, today, form a pillar of my strength. With the emerging influence of social media, everyone now realises the importance of good customer orientation and service. I am a people person, and love interacting with others, with the belief that humans are complex and can be the easiest or the most difficult, depending on how you treat them. I am also thankful to my husband for constantly motivating me. Humans are complex and they can be the easiest or the most difcult, depending on how you treat them FF: What was your career like before joining FIDI? PS: I worked with Oberoi Hotels - one of Asias leading hotel chains in several positions over 10 years. The life of a hotelier is full of buzz and excitement, and no matter how well you prepare, only some of it goes according to plan. Every day there are new challenges at work, but it is exciting and fun to be around a diverse group of colleagues and customers. After getting married, I moved to Brussels to join my husband and took a year to travel and explore European culture. I was very clear that I wanted to find an 26 FF292 AugSep19 pp26-27 FAIM Prachi.indd 26 FF: What does your role involve? PS: It is a more structured role than I experienced in my previous work. We stick to our processes and everything is planned well in advance. The teams mission is very clear: to give our Affiliates and First-time Applicants outstanding support and assistance throughout the FAIM Compliance Procedure. At FCC, you have to be proactive. I would say it is very well-balanced. Organising audits involves a lot of strategic planning and has to be done very carefully, taking many aspects into consideration. You must be up to date with the latest current affairs as well. Checking all the documentation and maintaining records for more than 600 Affiliates for audits, internal audits and financial assessment requires dedication and precise planning. We also take new Affiliates under our wing and guide them through FIDI. We work as a single point of contact and offer solutions for their issues. We continue to enhance the whole process and review our data regularly, to ensure we have the latest information. It is great to be part of such a supportive team. Andrew and Isabel have been extremely patient, as they never get tired of answering my questions. John is always welcoming to clarify any doubts and provides good logic with all answers. FF: What attracted you to this role? PS: An opportunity to work in a customer service team on a global level. There is also a multicultural environment at work and with the Affiliates across the world. It has been compared with working for the United Nations because it is so international. I see the moving and packaging industry as one big happy family you can be miles apart and yet be strongly united, with the ultimate objective of providing an excellent customer experience. FF: Have you had any contact with the world of international moving in the past? PS: While working in the hospitality sector, we regularly received guests from global companies. At times, their luggage would arrive before them and the moving agents would call us to ask if they could start shifting it to the customers residence. I noticed that the FAIM-accredited moving companies our customers used were very professional and worked in sync with everything. As our hotel chain expanded its operations to overseas, we too preferred to work with those with FAIM accreditation. FF: What is the next step for FCC? What can Affiliates expect to see in the next year? PS: Scheduling and facilitating 166 onsite audits and 315 internal FAIM audits! In addition, we have rolled out the new financial assessment (EY CRB) pilot since the FIDI Conference in Amsterdam, which means that all FIDI Affiliates must provide their financial documentation before the end of this year for assessment. We are in the process of developing the FAIM DSP standard an optional module that gives FAIM 3.2-certified Affiliates the chance to have their DSP services certified. If all goes to schedule, we will be rolling out this exciting project after the FIDI Conference in Osaka, Japan 2020. WWW. F I D I . OR G 16/07/2019 14:04