Fiona Smith is the General Manager, Customer Operations for Trustpower and she is passionate about her role: her customers’ experiences, her team members’ wellbeing and performance, and the exciting possibilities offered by technology.
Fiona leads a cross-functional, multi-site team of 420 people, delivering a customer experience that leverages multiple channels. She is responsible for all customer touchpoints (from bill data collection to allocating the cash) and end-to-end service delivery of Trustpower’s multi-product strategy.
In her role she ensures that the customer is kept at the heart of everything Trustpower does – from the meter reader in the field, to the analyst mining data, to customer service representatives on the phone or online. Her responsibilities also include their digital channels – the chat bots and virtual agents that serve their customers.
Trustpower is a complex beast and the multi-utility retail business exists within an ever-changing environment, as new technology continually emerges, and customers’ expectations and behaviour constantly change. Fiona has successfully initiated, led and motivated large, multifunctional teams through significant change and challenges and thrives within the ever changing competitive landscape.
Fiona’s career began at the ground floor in Trustpower in 1995 when she joined as an administrator, customer service representative and telephone-based account manager. She then worked her way up to a team leader role, and then on to management. She is now a valued member of the Senior Management Team and her passion, focus and engagement has been recognised both within Trustpower and in the wider industry. Her most recent accolade was being announced the winner of this year’s Women in Energy Award at the Deloitte Energy Excellence Awards.
Fiona is well-known for mentoring women in the industry and advocates for women working (or looking to work) in the sector. She regularly speaks at schools, specifically to young women in their last year of secondary school who are unsure of their future career paths. She also represents Trustpower at career information evenings held at local high schools, showcasing the sector’s many opportunities.
In her previous operational roles, she also liaised with Work & Income on initiatives to encourage women returning to the workforce to consider a career with Trustpower and its readily available training and support.
Fiona has also been a member of multiple working parties and industry groups focusing on a particular area of interest for her, which is driving improved treatment of the sector’s most vulnerable customers; those that are struggling with energy poverty or who are medically-dependent on power sourced services.
To feed the soul Fiona sings in a band and takes advantage of our beautiful mountain by tackling the four wheel drive track a couple of times a week ( after years of doing it , she says it gets no easier). She has a wonderfully supportive and patient husband and together they spend their spare time finding live music to listen to and seeking out great places to eat. Fiona loves to travel but also feels very connected to the beautiful Bay and spending time with family enjoying all the beauty the outdoors has to offer, but to just to be clear…she doesn’t camp!
Fiona is the proud Mum of a grown up son, Jordan, a mechanic, who lucky for her has settled in the Bay and has introduced her to the world of rotary cars and how to drift a race car on a track – proving you can always learn about something new.
