Jody Perkins

Your full name and job title:

Jody Perkins - Customer Vulnerability Community Advisor

Tell us a little bit about you:

I live at home with my husband, four sons and our dog. I like to holiday both home and away, visit historical landmarks and places of interest, cook Mediterranean recipes, and enjoy family time.

Helping and supporting others is a passion of mine and has been since I was a child. This has led me to volunteer at a local youth club for young adults with disabilities. I have also recently become a ‘befriender’ for Age Cymru. I thoroughly enjoy my volunteer work and would like to do a lot more in the future.

Besides all the above, my happy place is networking, sharing help and support articles and browsing the internet for ideas and inspiration.

What’s a typical day at work for you?

I am new to the Promotions Team family; it really has been my long-standing ambition of mine to be here.

For the entirety of my career at Welsh Water, I have specialised in helping and supporting our most vulnerable customers. This isn’t just a job to me; it is my passion and drive. The Promotions Advisor role will allow me to utilise my specialist skills and knowledge to further help our customers and the organisations that they work with. My promise is to really make a big impact in our communities whilst gaining the trust of all customers, partners, and colleagues. I am looking forward to promoting all the good work we do here, in our Vulnerable Customer Department.

What do you think makes you good at your job?

Being empathetic, caring, understanding and non-judgemental, is key to my success in the role. Listening skills are also key for me. If you ask the right questions, listen actively, and let your customers talk, you will receive enough information to reach the best outcome, first time, every time.

Tell us about your proudest achievement at work:

A good news story that really stood out for me, was gaining support for a customer who had suffered a stroke over 30 years ago. Our customer had sadly become housebound since his stroke, and he couldn’t apply for help and support due to being isolated and unable to communicate.

An old friend had got in touch with the team, expressing concerns. I immediately arranged for a field agent colleague to visit the customer and his friend at the same time. The friend of the customer kindly travelled across Wales to the property. Once my colleague had arrived, he called me, and I was able to sign the customer up for the help and support that he desperately needed. We then set up a Direct Debit to ensure payment could easily be made and I provided vital information to sign post the customer to gain further support.

I felt a great sense of achievement, knowing together we had made such a positive impact to this customers life. Such a great outcome for a very sad situation.