As we kick off this year’s National Customer Service Week, we’re excited to introduce our new blog series, ‘Meet the Team’. At OneSearch, we believe that the key to exceptional service lies in the people behind our brand. In this series, we’ll delve into the stories and insights of our dedicated team members, showcasing the people that make us who we are – from Account Managers to Customer Service, Data experts to Road Agents, you’ll discover the individuals who make a difference every day.
John Margett, OneSearch’s Client Relationship Manager, has some of the liveliest recommendations you’re ever likely to read on LinkedIn. He also has something you wouldn’t expect. A degree from a city he’s never been to.
Intrigued, we recently sat down with John to find out a little more about the man who one former colleague describes as “a gentleman of the phone and a dog with a bone.” In a fascinating chat, John talked us through his upbringing, shared his philosophy for building relationships and described his dream day, à la Off Menu podcast. But first…
Do you remember the 2017 Oscars?
The one where Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway opened the wrong envelope and for two minutes and 23 seconds La La Land beat Moonlight to the gong for Best Picture.
Most of the world wondered how on earth something like that could go wrong. Not John. Because when you’ve been involved in awards ceremonies, you know just how real the risk of an “Envelopegate” can be.
Before joining OneSearch, John was a project manager for Charlton Grant, the producer of Modern Law Magazine. He would help organise events such as the Modern Law Conveyancing Awards.
On the night of the awards ceremony, it was John’s role to hand out the ‘Highly Commended’ certificates while the award winners were taking the stage. His timing had to be spot on. He had to make sure the right company received the right certificate before the next award was announced. Not easy to do when guests have altered the seating plan or taken themselves off to the bar.
“You saw the table plan in front of you,” John recalls, “but quite a few had taken off the little table number on the stand. And the first one I went to, the company weren’t there. So I had to dash back to put the certificate back and get the next one ready to go.”
Running back and forth, those Monday night 7-a-side football sessions proved their worth.
Yorkshire born and Yorkshire bred
John grew up in Thirsk, wanting to be the next Bryan Robson. “Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite blessed with the talent.” Both his parents were teachers and, for four years, his father taught him English. What was that like? Did he see his dad differently at school?
“He was just his natural self. I just had to remember to call him ‘Sir’ rather than ‘Dad’. But he did have to ask me first if I would be okay with him teaching me.”
John now lives in Stone, in Staffordshire. When he goes back to Thirsk, he realises how lucky he was growing up where he did, with the family he had and the people he knew. “Looking back now, one thing which made me so happy was the friendships I made during that time.”
It was a carefree childhood. But you get the feeling John would have made friends wherever he was. It’s something he excels at.
Making friends for a living
John has been with OneSearch for 7 and a half years. What he loves is getting out and about and seeing clients face to face. Getting to know their needs as a company, but also getting to know them as people.
“Microsoft Teams is great, especially for people who are a long way off. But when you’ve got that time on a face-to-face appointment, you get to know them much, much better. You see the body language more easily. You really get to know what their needs are.”
With a degree in Communication Processes (graduating from what is now the University of Lincoln but was then the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside – based in Hull, not Lincoln) and a 27-year career in account management and business development under his belt, what would John say is the secret to building relationships?
Simply put, it’s about being nice to people.
“If you’re nice to somebody, if you listen to them and you’re interested in them, the chances are they’ll be nice to you and interested in you. That’s when a two-way conversation gets going and that’s how you build a relationship.”
How did John become a people person?
Anyone who has had the pleasure of speaking with John will know how personable he is. How effortlessly he builds rapport. But as an adolescent, he was relatively shy. So how did his confidence grow?
By doing things out of his comfort zone:
- Going on school language exchanges. A French exchange in Calais when he was 13 and a German exchange in Eislingen, near Stuttgart, the following year. The first of many such trips and the start of lifelong friendships.
- Trying out for the school play – playing parts such as Benjamin in Animal Farm and Les, the lollipop man, in Willy Russell’s Our Day Out, among others.
- Taking all sorts of one-day courses. For instance, he would join up with an orchestra for a day’s rehearsal and then play the violin in a concert at Ripon Cathedral the same evening.
John also has fond memories of his time at university. The friends for life he met. Joining the drama society and playing in the orchestra at neighbouring Hull University – not to mention the three summers he spent working as a music teacher and counsellor at a boys’ summer camp in Maryland, USA.
But what really stands out is when John did some work experience at the Tourist Information Centre in Northallerton. He was 15. All the other volunteers were retired. When the Head of the Centre reported back to John’s school, he commended him for his ability to raise and hold conversations with anybody of any age.
It’s an ability that has stood John in good stead ever since.
Like father, like daughter
John has his parents to thank for encouraging him to try new things. “Sadly, we lost Mum four years ago. I miss her terribly and will be forever blessed with the many fond memories I have of her. Dad continues to be an inspiration. I’m so grateful to them both for everything.”
A father to a teenager himself, now John’s the one doing the encouraging. 13-year-old daughter Isla is just back from her first school trip to France. She has taken to the stage. And, like her dad, she enjoys playing the piano, although her repertoire is more Taylor Swift than Clementi or Beethoven.
One thing father and daughter do have in common, though, is they both like the atmosphere at Manchester United Women’s matches..
John has a love of women’s sport in general. He traces his interest back to a particular tournament: the Women’s World Cup in Canada in 2015. The BBC was showing it on TV.
“I just had this epiphany moment. I lived in Wimbledon for a while and loved going to the Wimbledon Championships to watch men’s and women’s tennis equally. I’m a big fan of both men’s and women’s tennis. Why wasn’t I doing that with football? So I watched the 2015 World Cup and the Lionesses did really well. They were very unlucky not to get through to the final.”
Since then, John has loved seeing how much women’s sport has grown. He follows it just as much as men’s sport and has been to watch the Lionesses, Manchester United Women, and England women’s rugby team, the Red Roses. “I’m really happy to see the trajectory that women’s sport is taking now.”
And finally…
If you could design a dream day, what would it look like?
Morning
John’s dream day starts with an early morning walk around Lake Windermere with partner Laura, daughter Isla and Tibetan Terrier Wilson. Then it’s back home to Stone for a full English with poached eggs and – must of all musts – black pudding.
After breakfast, they’re back in the car listening to ‘This is the One’ by the Stone Roses. Some of the passengers even appreciate John’s singing.
They pop by Thirsk to visit John’s dad, sister and brother-in-law at what has been the family home since John was two. After a proper coffee, there’s just time for a quick walk up Sutton Bank before they’re off to Manchester.
Afternoon
First stop, Lou Macari’s for fish and chips. “It evokes memories of when I used to go to games with my dad when I was younger and it’s still a really good chippy.”
Second stop, Old Trafford to watch Manchester United – the women’s or men’s team, John doesn’t mind – beat Liverpool.
In this dream day, travel isn’t an issue. So, within minutes of leaving the ground, John and his family are sunbathing on a beach in Menorca. They stay in Menorca for dinner, which is a paella and a glass (call it two) of Sauvignon Blanc by the harbour in Ciutadella.
Evening
Time’s also not an issue. Suddenly it’s New Year’s Eve and we’re off to the Golden Hall at Vienna’s famous Musikverein for a celebration of music from the Strauss dynasty. Think Last Night of the Proms without the Union flags and all the bobbing up and down.
Then it’s back home to Stone where John’s dream day ends like a good Saturday should: meeting up with friends for a couple of pints of real ale at the Crown Wharf pub. A jam-packed day!
But John still hasn’t been to Lincoln. Perhaps if the Lionesses were to play a game there one day…
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To learn more about National Customer Service Week, visit the Institute of Customer Service website.