Life as… an Agency Specialist

Ben Mangare gives us a glimpse into an average day in a not-so-average role

My role is…

“I’m an Agency Specialist in the Retail Transformation team at Mercedes Benz Cars. We’re responsible for the transition from the franchise model to the Agency model. My role is about supporting the business and working collaboratively with our partners through the transition as part of a team of specialists. 

“I’ve been with the business since 2017 – my previous role was Customer Assistance Manager, focusing on escalated complaints. There were a lot of transferable skills between the roles which encouraged me to apply, like understanding our customers, collaborative working and problem-solving skills.” 

My day consists of…

“Every day is different. The nature of the role is that we come across challenges as we open topics that the business hasn’t addressed yet and then help to reach a conclusion.

“Typically, in a day, I look at queries from different business areas. Because the team is in its early stages, I’m working mainly with internal colleagues but most days I also answer questions from Retail partners. I also facilitate workshops to show them what we want to achieve and take their feedback on board.

“I use analytical skills every day. Sometimes I’m learning processes at the same time as analysing them to see how they’ll change, whilst thinking about what challenges to expect. Additionally, identifying different ways of learning and communicating is something I’m focused on, as I need to understand how to be able to present information to people.”

What I’ve learnt from this role…

“I’ve developed my interpersonal skills, specifically my ability to communicate at different levels, switching from colleague meetings to senior directors and management. I’ve also observed that the business is excellent in terms of collaboration – everyone is quick to interact and share ideas.”

What I love about my job…

“I enjoy knowing I’m at the heart of a transformation. Mercedes-Benz has been working in the franchise model for a long time and switching to Agency is a major change. I love the fact that every day brings new challenges – it drives me. I also have the ability to work with a variety of people and understand more about the collaborative nature of the business.”

I would describe the role of an Agency Specialist as…

“My role is all about collaboration, change management, implementation and, last but not least, problem solving.”

What our people have to say...