A day in the life of… a Liftshare Client Engagement Manager

Hi! I’m Laura, and I’m a member of the Client Engagement Management team. I think it’s fair to say that everyone’s job at Liftshare is a diverse one, but I think that CEM’s is probably the most diverse. Our job requires us to meet with corporate car sharing clients face to face, so when we’re not in the office, we could be in one of our many regions – mine being Scotland, the North East, and Heathrow Airport. Last week I was visiting clients in Barnsley and Sheffield, and next week I’m doing a tour of clients in Glasgow – jet setter, hey?

7:30am: Dingalingaling! Off goes my alarm! If I’m feeling brave I might set my alarm a little earlier to go for a run, but more often than not that one goes on snooze. Time to get up and start my day – I have a very organised morning routine and have it down to a fine art.

8.30am: It’s time to set off to the Liftshare offices in Norwich’s city centre. Luckily, I only live a mile out of the city, so I take a nice leisurely walk and arrive into the office at 8:50am. I really enjoy my walk to and from work (although I may amend this opinion in the winter…), I pop my music in and clear my head, and I like the thought that I’m being both active and sustainable!

8:50am: A caffeine addict, I make my first coffee of the day, switch my laptop on, and say hello to my colleagues that have made it in before me – I can always count on Jon in IT to be in, music on and dishwasher empty, we usually have a chat about what we’ve been up to and whether the sun is shining or not.

9am: First things first, I check my emails and my diary to see what’s on the agenda for the day ahead.

9.30am: I have a meeting with Meleiha, the Liftshare Head of Client Services to discuss some developments we want to make to reward our clients. It’s a really useful meeting and unearthed some things that I can take back to a client – something to get my teeth in to.

10am: CHUMS time! No, not time to hang out with my friends, but time to review some documents for the Changing Habits for Urban Mobility Solutions project. CHUMS is a 30-month project (of which we are now in month 30, eek!) focused on 3 carsharing measures (a carshare week – like Liftshare Week; a Mobility Jackpot; and delivery of Personalised Travel Plans) across 5 European cities – Edinburgh, Scotland; Toulouse, France; Craiova, Romania; Perugia, Italy; and Leuven, Belgium. It will be a bittersweet feeling when this project comes to a close.

11.30am: Time to catch up on some emails, reply to client’s queries and book in some time to speak with some clients. Each client has different wants and needs from me, some like to touch base with me regularly, and some are happy to implement their scheme independently, only contacting me when they have questions or issues. I take great pride in supporting my clients, and I really enjoy it when, between us, we achieve positive impact.

1pm: Yes! Food! Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am a ravenous little thing so I love lunch time! I love working in the city, but my bank account doesn’t. Most lunch times I nip out of the office for 30 minutes, have a stroll around The Lanes or Gentleman’s Walk, pick up any bits that I need and return back to the office with a coffee – if you’re in Norwich, I recommend the local, independent coffee shop – Strangers.

2pm: The whole CEM team have a meeting with our lovely Events Coordinator, Alys, to discuss the events packages we’re currently offering as well as the events diary. Clients have gone absolutely mad for events this quarter, which is fantastic not only for us but also the schemes utilising our brilliant Events Team to achieve their goals and objectives. It is however, a very hectic time.

3pm: I try to coax our office dog Fin into having a cuddle (he belongs to two of our colleagues). We have a love/hate relationship. I love him, he hates me! What’s a girl got to do, hey?! With my pride only slightly scuffed from Fin’s rejection I carry on with my work. Next job is to call a list of my Local Authority clients in Scotland to discuss the ‘Smarter Choices, Smarter Places’ funding.

5pm: Home time is drawing close, so I have another sweep of my emails, and tidy up my inbox.

5.30pm: It’s time to leave the office after a long and varied day. Whilst most normal people are off to unwind at home or go for a drink, I’m a bit of a sadist and head to the gym to train legs. I’ve been a gym goer for the last 3 years, but this year I’ve started to take it more seriously and its definitely consuming a lot of my personal time!

7.30pm: The Hanger has set in! Time for dinner, and then to rehearse a few songs for a gig I’m singing at in a few weeks. Oh yes, not only am I a Client Engagement Manager at Liftshare, I’m also a freelance
Actor, Singer and Voice Over Artist. No rest for the wicked! After all that, I’ll catch up with my housemate about our days.

10pm: I say it’s time for bed, but more often than not I’m a bit naughty and lose track of time scrolling through social media.

11pm: OK, OK, I really am off to bed now, ready to get some well-deserved beauty sleep before another day at Liftshare begins!