The Law Graduate Putting Out Fires on the CX Team
Tolu chose a fulfilling career in CX over being known as "The Law." He tells us what being a lawyer in Nigeria is like, his transition to CX, and what it takes to succeed at it.
Tell us about your school life
I was in art class in secondary school. Towards the end of that, I started thinking about the best course to do and I settled on Law.
It wasn’t that it had to be Law. It was more like why not Law? So I went and studied Law at Unilag for five years. It was a fun journey.
I voluntarily interned at a couple of law firms so I knew what being a lawyer was like, and I quickly realized that I wasn’t cut out for it.
By the time graduation came around, I couldn’t see myself practicing law.
Lawyers in the mud 🫠
Don't get me wrong. Many lawyers are living well but the majority of them are not living as comfortably as they would like because law firms are in tiers.
Tier 1, 2, 3. The lower the tier, the more underwhelming the pay is.
If you're not part of that one percent doing all the great things, you might not enjoy it as much.
As a law student, you knew people in your class who were probably going to make it to that one percent.
You didn’t think you could be part of the one percent?
Not exactly. I mean, my grades were decent in school so I could have managed to get on that route but it just wasn’t for me.
I dabbled into a lot of creative extracurricular activities in university and during my internships - one of which was at a top law firm.
Because I was just an intern, I wasn't assigned core tasks. My job was to read case files or tag along whenever the lawyers were going to court.
That experience really put things in perspective for me. I got to see what that lawyer life entailed and I just thought to myself that I couldn’t strive for it.
Fair enough. So, what happened next?
I started trying to figure out what aligned best with my interests - what I really wanted to do. Along the way, I got an opportunity to work at a new company.
It was very random but I was open to it. I asked about what roles they had available and they said Customer Experience (CX) was.
And I said cool, let’s do it. I didn’t know what I was getting into.
Daring move. What was CX like for you?
The first few months I spent working in CX solidified things for me.
I enjoyed it because I’m the kind of person who is always selling something, so talking to people and dealing with the challenges that come with that has always been one of my strong suits.
Also, the feeling of fulfillment I get when I resolve an issue that customers have is great. I really liked that.
When another opportunity came to do the same thing at Casava, I thought why not? And here I am.
Lovely! Many people think CX is repetitive. Do you?
I don’t think it is repetitive. Especially because every customer has their own flavor of problem. That’s what makes it interesting.
It’s even more interesting when you are in an industry like insurance, where there are very specific details that you must know. That means you learn a lot on the job and it’s fun that way.
So no, CX is not repetitive.
Awesome. Tell me about your typical day at Casava as a CX professional
I listen to customers tell me their problems or questions and I resolve those things for them to the best of my ability. Once I’m finished speaking to them, I inform the right team about what was said so it can be resolved.
I constantly need to make sure that the customers are satisfied and happy with Casava.
I genuinely enjoy being able to really help the customers that I interact with. It makes me feel good that I helped someone else feel better than they did before speaking with me.
That sounds cool. What are some of the skills that you believe are necessary for success in CX?
The barrier to entry to CX as a career is very small. So getting in is smooth but staying there is a different ball game.
Firstly, great communication skills and emotional intelligence are a must-have and they have to be top-notch.
Trust me, they will come in handy in understanding customers, answering their questions tactfully, and pre-empting problems.
Secondly, you might encounter some intense customers so you obviously need to be level-headed
Thirdly, knowing how to handle data is necessary. You don’t need to have extensive data analytics knowledge. Just the basic data administration is fine.
Sweet! What do you enjoy the most about your job at Casava?
At Casava, you can only learn by doing things. Some of it might be new so you might be thrown off sometimes but you will figure it out. It’s not rocket science. But hey, who knows, you might be able to solve that too.
Lol, thank you, Tolu!
Peace ✌🏾
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