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Here at Connect Childcare, each and every one of us is passionate about the Early Years (EY) sector and about developing management software that improves the lives of children, globally.

In order to shine the spotlight on our wonderful team, we’ve created an employee Q&A series, enabling our readers to better get to know the people behind the scenes – finding out more about their role, the Connect technology, and what it’s like to work here.

Next up, we have our head of customer success, Neil Lewis.

• Tell us about your role at Connect Childcare in one paragraph:
  The head of customer success is a new role for Connect, so it’s really exciting to be in this position. It’s all about ensuring each client gets the right level of attention. I’m also continually reviewing processes to make sure they’re as customer-centric as possible. Each Connect client is provided with their own customer success manager to provide a personal approach that’s tailored to suit them and provide success – which can be measured in many different ways.
  

• And what do you enjoy most about your job?
  The variety – I don’t like every day to be the same. Whether I’m discussing product or service success with a client, or holding internal meetings with the team, every day is different.
  

• Describe the company culture and values at Connect in three words:
  Collaboration, customer-centricity, and success.
  
  
• Which emoji would your colleagues use to sum you up?
  👴🏻 – I think I’m the most ‘senior’ member of the team, so this one sums me up quite nicely
• What’s been your favourite team event to date (physical or virtual)?
  What I do really like are our ‘All Hands’ meetings with Chris (Reid, Connect CEO), as you get to see where we are as an organisation, where we can improve, and the employee ‘shout-outs’ for those who have gone above and beyond over the past month.
  

• How would you describe Connect as a workplace to a non-employee?
  We’re a relaxed but focused bunch. We want to deliver success together via our innovative software solutions and exceptional customer-centric approach.
  

• What’s your favourite thing about working at Connect?
  It’s a completely different sector to what I’ve worked in before, so I have the chance to really get my teeth into something new – which is exciting.
  

• What’s your favourite feature in Connect’s software suite?
  A lot of my colleagues have said this, but it has to be ParentZone. It’s a fantastic app for families, nursery and childminder settings to interact and prioritise each child’s development via real-time communication. It’s so important to see how youngsters are progressing and this app does just that.
  

• What role does technology play in the future of the EY sector?
  It’s about efficiency and ensuring that we remove clunky, paper-based processes so that everything is more streamlined. Now’s the time for practitioners to allow automated processes to take care of the time-consuming administration tasks, so they can spend as much time as possible with the children.
  

• Share an interesting fact about yourself that many people may not know:
  I have a nickname – ‘Lucky Lewis’ which is completely ironic and based on my clumsiness and years of comical mishaps. If I bought the only ticket in a raffle, I’d still come second…
  

• When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
  A football-playing architect! My dad had a big interest in architecture but never followed it up as a profession. I always wanted to do so, but when I found out it was a seven-year university course, I opted out. As a Manchester United fan, playing at Old Trafford would’ve been a dream too.
  

• And as a youngster, what was your favourite children’s book?
  Roald Dahl’s ‘Danny the Champion of the World’ – that story really stands out for me.
  
  
• Investing in nursery management software is a big decision for childcare providers – why do you think they choose Connect?
  The feedback I’ve had from clients is that they love how rich our software functionality is. Additionally, our responsiveness to queries and the care we provide are all right up there for our customers. 
  
  
• Finally, what is one of your hopes for Connect over the coming year?
  It’s vital that we continue with our exciting roadmap to develop the next generation of Connect. Underpinning this will be our customer-focused processes to provide exceptional support for our clients and their settings.

If you’d like to receive more news and updates from the Connect Childcare team, why not head over to our Twitter page or connect with us on LinkedIn?