When roadside assistance gets personal
Like pretty much everyone, the last couple of months have thrown my business plenty of curve balls. I’ve been reflecting on how for Digicall Assist, the ‘challenges’ really did become opportunities – opportunities to work as a team together differently, opportunities for engaging with clients and our provider network differently, and importantly, opportunities to make a difference to an entire sector of Australian workers who are utterly deserving.
Things started changing very quickly in early March. COVID-19 was in Australia and the predictions were truly frightening. Along with many businesses, Digicall Assist started rapidly transitioning – including transforming our state-of-the-art contact centre to a work-from-home environment. Long established daily and weekly traffic patterns crumbled, rostering staff and managing operations became almost guesswork. All that had been normal was slipping through our fingers. And yet…
The sense of purpose was palpable across the team, from the leadership through to all staff. The desire to be there for our clients and their customers – even if that looked different to normal – didn’t disappear.
We instituted a range of virtual team communications and activities to stay connected. We put in place wellbeing and development support to ensure the personal and professional aspects didn’t suffer. And everyone came to the party.
Rory, one of our Shift Supervisors, put it this way: “It was really great to see the company come together to react to the complications COVID-19 caused, so even though we were separated there was a real sense of unity.”
Our clients too, each juggling impacts to their own business, were extraordinarily in-synch with us as we switched gears. Phone calls, more frequent reports as things changed in real times, and candid conversations all made me realise one thing: Trusted relationships are absolutely key to dealing with unprecedented volatility and uncertainty. When push comes to shove, it’s knowing that no matter what, decency and dedication to one’s purpose is what counts.
One of the things that has become apparent over the past couple of months is the truism ‘It is in giving that we receive’. The ongoing free Australia-wide roadside assistance to frontline healthcare and emergency workers that we are involved with has already helped hundreds of nurses, doctors, first responders and hospital staff whose cars have broken down.
I’ve included a small selection of the feedback from those we’ve helped. It’s real, it’s meaningful and it’s making a difference to those who have been and continue to be on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- “Amazing service and very grateful. I’m a nurse and I was out visiting patients at home and my car broke down. Don’t know what I would have done without your service. Thank you so much!!!”
- “Thank you for the offer to nurses. As an RN of 40 years your free roadside assistance is greatly appreciated!”
- “Thank you so much for this service. I am working 12 hrs a day in ICU and this was peace of mind. Thanks again. This is a wonderful way to give back.”
But what I also find amazing is how this initiative has energised the entire Digicall Assist team at this time of disruption.
Vanessa, our Customer Care & Quality Manager, shared this: “When I heard of our involvement in the AAMI Free Roadside for Health Care Workers program, I felt incredibly proud to belong to an organisation who not only supported the initiative but is directly contributing to its implementation and success. I still feel this way!”
Like Vanessa, to know that our business is giving back in a way that’s supporting frontline workers just makes me and everyone at Digicall Assist so proud.
Despite all the technology, we’ve always been a people business. Or put differently, our business is built on humanity. The disruption and opportunities of the past months have just reinforced that, and it’s truly heartening.
