Why hiring an orange skip used to be a criminal offence
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October 26, 2021Why hiring an orange skip used to be a criminal offence
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October 26, 2021
SunSkips commercial sales team member Anita Butters understands the feeling of confusion when hiring a skip for the first time all too well.
The 25-year-old from Bury St Edmunds admits that she herself knew “nothing” about skip hire and waste management before joining the company, so it’s easy for her to empathise with customers who don’t know where to start.
She said, “When someone calls with a lot of questions, I totally get where they’re coming from. I speak to a lot of people who aren’t sure what they need because they’ve never ordered a skip before.
“It’s nice that I’m able to slowly talk them through it and make sure they’re getting the right skip for what they want. I’d hate for someone to hire something that was too big or not big enough!
“It’s really about listening to the customer and their needs so you can be sure they’re happy they’ve found the right solution.”
And it’s exactly this desire to make customers happy that gets this Bury St Edmunds skip hire expert out of bed in the morning.
“Actually knowing you’ve made a person smile on the other end of the phone feels really special,” Anita explained. “It lets me know I’ve done a good job and helped another person the best I can.”
Before recently moving into the commercial side of the business, Anita regularly found domestic customers would relax a bit when she answered the phone.
She explained, “For women in particular, I think it’s nice to speak to another woman when you’re hiring a skip for the first time.
“That’s why I love that SunSkips has a strong female presence, both in the office and out driving the lorries.”
Despite only being with the company six months, Anita has quickly progressed into a training role where she’s helping to onboard new team members.
“It feels great to be able to help new starters considering how supportive and welcoming my colleagues and managers were when I joined the team,” she said.
Not only that, Anita is also responsible for making sure customers have the necessary paperwork for their skip hire, which she admits can be stressful at times.
She said, “It really depends which local authority you have to deal with. Some have their processes in place and it’s fairly smooth, whereas others often don’t even answer the phone.
“It’s stressful, but I’d rather handle it myself than have customers struggling with it, because so many things can go wrong if you’re not used to it.”
Originally from the US, Anita moved to Suffolk at the age of 13. The young expat had dreams to travel the world, but her plans were soon cut short when the pandemic hit.
“I was in Hong Kong when it all went down. I had to pay £1,000 for the first flight home!”
Once home, Anita decided to become part of the solution and took a job with the NHS, administering COVID-19 tests.
“I’d wake up at 6.30 in the morning and get home at about 9 or 10 at night. It was certainly starting to take its toll…”
As the situation started to improve in the UK, Anita decided it was time to find something more stable.
Now, with a promising career in waste management well underway and an exciting new flat in Bury St Edmunds to call home, Anita is ready to turn her attention to some rather energetic charity work.
“I’m doing 100 squats a day for Cancer Research next month,” she revealed. “So I’ll be here in the office putting in the reps while keeping customers happy through my headset!”
If you want to support Anita in her Cancer Research charity mission, visit her fundraising page on Facebook and make a donation. And if SunSkips sounds like the kind of workplace that would be a good fit for you, send your CV and cover letter to admin@sunskips.co.uk.
