Please find below a number of testimonials from current staff members at National Friendly
Marketing & Communications Assistant
I joined National Friendly in July this year as the marketing and communications assistant. The past three months have flown by and I feel like I have worked for the company for years. The atmosphere in the marketing office is very welcoming and there is always plenty for me to get stuck into.
My role is very varied and I have learnt a great deal about the company and the financial services sector. National Friendly is also putting me through a Chartered Institute of Marketing qualification (CIM) which is proving to be very useful and will no doubt help my career development.
New Business
I started with the Society in May 2006 joining the Claims team. It coincided with the introduction of our new Healthcare product so I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to design and implement the new claims process from scratch.
Although challenging at times it helped me gain an intrinsic knowledge of how the policy works. Keen to broaden my knowledge I joined the New Business team in October 2008, I was able to use my existing knowledge to great effect, helping potential customers understand the policy in an effort to bring their business to the Society.
Throughout my career a number of opportunities have arisen to help me develop new skills and refine existing ones. Telephone training, undertaking the CF1 qualification in Finance Services, developing my medical knowledge, even being interviewed as part of an FSA audit! This has proved both enjoyable and useful for my inbound & outbound sales calling.
I have also been able to attend conferences in order to promote the Society which has helped me to gain a wider knowledge of the market place and our competitors. I look forward to continuing my career with National Friendly and building on the skills I have already learnt. In a company that is changing all the time with real ambition to grow, its nice to know that there will always be a new challenge around the corner.
Intermediary Support coordinator
I started working within the customer services team 4 years ago and was encouraged to take further training and qualifications to broaden my skills set. I then moved to the Intermediary support team which gave me the opportunity to fully utilise my skills and develop further.
Product management and proposition development executive
I joined National Friendly in June 2008, working in the New Business department. I had previously worked as a manager in a large multi-national insurer for 5 years, and having experienced working for a corporate company with all its associated pros and cons, I wanted to work in a smaller company, where I felt I would be allowed to develop my skills and experience in a more concentrated environment. It was a steep learning curve.
In a large insurer you tend to be pretty specialised while with National Friendly we are encouraged to expand our learning and knowledge to all the products, and get involved with many different areas of the business. It was certainly a culture shock to meet the chief executive on my first day! In my first 12 months with the company, I learnt many new skills and hopefully made some impact within the new business team, culminating in being made employee of the month in my last month with the team (and attaining my CFP1 on the way).
In July 2009 I started a new role within the marketing department, working for the product manager, despite a relative lack of marketing experience, but my product knowledge and communication skills have proved to be invaluable, and while I feel like I’m on another steep learning curve, I have the support and guidance of both my manager, Neil Thompson; the head of marketing, Chris Meier; and the rest of the team.
The company is also supporting me in taking an evening class at Bristol College to gain my Certificate in Marketing. While every day brings a new challenge, the variety and vibrancy of my new role means I look forward to each new experience. My wife has certainly noticed a change in me over the last few months – in a good way she assures me!