For the latest interview in our ‘Sit Down With…’ series we spent time with Sarah Roles, our Head of Client Solutions. Sarah leads our Solutions, Client Success and Support teams – these functions have extremely varied roles and play a huge part in ensuring Codat’s ongoing success. The weighty responsibility of taking care of our clients rests with these teams and with Sarah at the helm, we’re confident that they’re in very safe hands.
Read more about Sarah and Codat’s Solutions, Client Success and Support teams below.
When did you join and how much have you seen the company grow since then?
Since I joined a year ago we’ve more than doubled in size, tackled the complexities of remote working, added portal visualisation, self-service and a new data source (our commerce integration with Square) and implemented seven new accounting platforms, as well as banking aggregator Plaid.
Looking back it’s been an absolutely huge year for growth, but I’m even more excited about the potential to come!
What was your background before Codat?
Before Codat I worked for an investment bank in Canary Wharf for nearly 7 years, covering everything from transaction reporting to financial regulations and eCommunication surveillance. During my time there I learnt what it meant to manage substantial and complex change projects and the difficulties that come when delivering value in a large scale organisation.
I’ve been on the other side of numerous supplier relationships, both the good and not so good. The frustrations I’ve felt first hand are a key driver in my goal to ensure client happiness and success at Codat.
What’s a day to day like in your team?
It sounds cliché but no day is ever the same. From a day of calls with our Commercial team and new prospects, understanding their use cases and presenting proposals, to sitting down with our existing clients, understanding how we can help them get even more value out of Codat. The variety is what continues to make the area exciting to me.
What are you most proud of with your team?
This year has seen massive growth for the team as a whole. I’m incredibly proud of the reputation my team has developed, as experts both in our product domains and technology. With over 70% of the team new joiners in 2020, it amazes me everyday the speed at which everyone has upskilled and the value they continue to deliver to Codat and our clients.
When leaving university or education people might be more aware of roles in Engineer, Product, Sales Operations etc but perhaps not so much Client Solutions. What information would you share with people looking to develop an understanding of what the role entails?
Client Solutions is perfect for people who have a passion for both technology and business. The role requires an understanding of our clients business needs and designing the technical solutions to meet them.
What type of person do you think suits this type of role and what backgrounds lend themselves to perhaps moving towards a Clients Solutions role?
In my career I’ve done a bit of everything – development, business analysis, project management – I believe diverse experience is key to the success of Client Solutions. All the areas of Client Solutions require problem solving, a client-first mentality and a personal drive for excellence.
Client Solutions at Codat covers Solutions Engineers, Client Success and Support. Can you tell us a little about how these functions work together but also benefit clients by being separate?
Client Solutions encompasses the teams dedicated to the success of our clients.
Each team within Client Solutions has a clear role to play in the client lifecycle. From the initial discovery calls and implementation with Solutions, troubleshooting and diagnosis with Support to building and nurturing long term relationships in Client Success.
Combining technical experience, product knowledge and relationship management we ensure clients and prospective clients alike achieve the maximum value from Codat.
How do you measure success in your team?
Happy clients!
Finally, what does the next 12 months look like for the Client Solutions team and what are you most excited about?
We’ve already successfully onboarded over 65 clients and are actively engaged with numerous prospects, covering some of the world’s largest banks and financial institutions and innovative start-ups supporting our small to medium businesses economy.
I’m super excited about the challenges we’ll being facing as a team, tackling the complexities and scaling required to keep up with Codat’s massive growth, including our expansion to the USA.
To meet these high demands the Client Solutions team will be expanding, for live roles please visit our Careers page. To find out more about future opportunities please contact Zak Forbes, Talent Acquisition Manager at [email protected].