Smithville Spotlight: Jami H., Customer Service Representative
“Challenging. Rewarding. Growth.” That’s how Jami H. describes her two years here at Smithville in three words. As a Customer Service Representative, she’s often the first impression customers have, and she takes that seriously. Her dedication and determination for customers make that impression a great one.
We asked some hard-hitting questions before we dove into the work stuff to learn more about Jami:
- Hometown: Bloomington, IN
- Favorite TV Show: Survivor
- Favorite Movie: Tommy Boy
- Favorite Food: Pizza
- What She Likes to do in Free Time: Spend time with my family or hang out with friends and laugh!
- Dream Vacation Destination: Scotland or Ireland
- Favorite Quote: “It will all come out in the wash.”
Jami joined Smithville in February 2018 as a Customer Service Representative I. After an in-depth training program, she began working with residential customers. On a normal day our Customer Service Representatives help set up service for customers, answer billing and service questions, and explain the different service options we provide. In April 2019 Jami was promoted to Customer Service Representative II. This change added business responsibilities, including setting up new service, answering business questions, and handling business ownership changes. No matter the role, Jami enjoys talking to our customers every day. “I enjoy speaking with people and helping them; whether it’s a new customer, billing question or payment, or just educating them on our services. I want to give customers the experience they wish they could receive from other service providers.”
Jami previously worked in the medical and education industries. Moving to the telecommunications industry and Smithville were a positive change for many reasons. “I could not say enough about Smithville’s culture for their employees. Everyone who works for Smithville enjoys their job and takes a lot of pride in being a Smithville employee. No matter what your position is at Smithville, you are valued because each role here is important. We are just one big family!”
Smithville is also an active advocate for their customers and rural broadband, and that’s a big reason Jami loves working here. “Someone outside would be surprised about just how involved Smithville’s owners and leadership team are in the culture of Smithville and the amount of effort they put into working with government officials to fight for the best for their rural customers.” These efforts include working with local, state, and federal elected officials to make sure they understand the importance of rural broadband for the economy and have resulted in funding dedicated for rural fiber projects.
Since joining Smithville there have been many accomplishments Jami’s proud of, but three are top of mind for her. First is her move up to Customer Service Representative II, which allowed her to learn the business side of our services and engage with the business community. Second, she is a “Discover Smithville” host for the Customer Service Department and trains other employees about the department in our job shadowing program. Through this program she can meet with employees from many different areas in the company. Learning about each other’s departments often lead to new ideas and efficiencies. Third, and the most important for her, was her nomination as Customer Experience Champion by her fellow employees at our annual Night of Champions award dinner. Each year employees nominate coworkers for these Champion awards, highlighting the great work they’ve done throughout the year. She described this accomplishment as the most rewarding but humbling.
Every day she remembers that the customer experience is the most important part of her role, and she takes great pride in providing an excellent experience. That’s the biggest difference between us and our competitors. “We may be small in comparison to our competition, but we have more heart and the way we take care of our customers sets us apart.” Look for more Smithville Spotlights in the coming weeks!
