Meet the Team – Ben Lambert, Head of Client Development

Who is Ben and what is your role?

I’m Ben – Head of Client Development at Alertacall.

Originally from down South, I spent my first few years in Saudi Arabia which cemented a love of travel & exploring the world (currently on 60 countries) – so no surprise I studied languages at university. I’ve spent time working in the Middle East, Central & South America and now reside in leafy Cheshire with my husband Garry

I started at Alertacall back in 2014 and the last ten years have been an absolute blast. Originally looking after our existing clients, I’m now responsible new clients, working closely with our Customer Success teams to make sure all clients (old & new) get the absolute most from our services. Here’s to the next ten years!

What does a typical day look like?

It’s so cliche to say that I don’t have a typical day, but it’s kind of true. My team is responsible for bringing on new clients, so I might be travelling up to Scotland to meet a new client, down in London attending a conference, on-site with housing teams who have deployed our services or at home working on a whole host of different things. I worked remotely even before the world woke up to home working so it’s part & parcel of my day – it’s great because I get to decide whether or not it’s working from home, the office, client site, coffee shop or hotel lobby. Whilst we have people based all over the country, I’m lucky that those working on business development are mainly in Cheshire, meaning we get to meet locally if not in the office.

What do you like most about working at Alertacall?

For me the perfect job has to nail the 3 Cs – colleagues, clients & customers.

Colleagues – I’m really lucky to work with a bunch of folk who really give a damn about what they do and are fun to hang out with too. Importantly Alertacall really cares about its team members which shows in the open, inclusive and fun approach to work we take.

Clients– cheesy to say, but people buy people. My role is focused on fostering great relationships with housing providers across the country. I get to meet so many different people from different organisations all of whom have their own mountains to climb – it’s great to work with each organisation to help them improve services for their older or more vulnerable customers.

Customers – Yes housing management, digital engagement, tenant satisfaction & better warden call are all important – however, the thing I love, is that we get to improve the lives of others – from saving people’s lives to reducing social isolation, to materially improving services delivered by the social housing sector. Seeing the impact we have on our customers’ lives is the thing that makes it all worthwhile – knowing we’ve made their day just that little bit better is gold!

On top of all of that, is the trust & autonomy to just get on with my job. I often joke that it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, but it makes life much more interesting. I know it’s OK to give something a go, try something new and do it differently because I have the support from my team & the wider business.

Outside of Alertacall, what makes you tick?

I am obsessed with travel – life is far too short to stay in one place, and the world is far too big not to be explored. Whether it’s climbing volcanoes in the Andes or swimming with sharks in the South Pacific, trying all the street food in Kyoto to exploring temples in Cambodia – I’m in my element seeing a new part of the world, meeting the locals and getting stuck in.

Next on my bucket list is to work out how I get to Antarctica (and importantly get back!)

Tell us one thing we might not know about you

Whilst I might not be a frequent runner these days, I have actually run four marathons back in the day – including the Dubai Marathon and for charity on a treadmill outside the Midland Hotel in Manchester. OK, so running in 30°+ heat wasn’t the easiest thing I’ve done, but it was definitely easier than 4.5 hours on a treadmill listening to Christmas music from the hotel foyer!

You can contact Ben through the Contact page here.