Technological advancements in the gaming industry have propelled the industry to new heights. The recent pandemic especially pushed online gaming to a high growth path with more people taking to it for the lack of physical outings. Developers across the globe are continually striving to improve the way games are created and enhance the overall gaming experience of the users for diverse consoles/platforms.
While growth is visible, the industry faces several challenges which companies like Playtech Managed Services need to overcome to deliver a great experience by understanding regulation measures and focusing on the benefit they provide while understanding the customer’s point of view and apprehension to them. As Elena Coronado, VP Operations at Playtech Managed Services puts it, the industry always had the mentioned challenge to accomplish, but with the correct process and a team that is caring and genuinely interested in the customers’ experience has made it very possible to achieve.
This, she says, is the first hurdle to overcome and the next would be evaluating the systems currently supported by companies and the initiative to improve them. This of course takes the stakeholders out of their comfort zones and requires step-by-step implementation schedules that show the stakeholder the benefits and rewards of such changes. Some of the ideas for customer experience are simply not available yet but through commitment and effort, they will be accomplished with Innovation and strategies being developed.
Innovative Gaming Experience
Elena’s current role incorporates a myriad of prior experience in managing and providing services to key positions including:
- Developing an innovative and current customer strategy with the advent of AI that complements the service now being provided.
- Coordinating and educating stakeholders on the improvements that can be seen through procedures
- Implementation of digital transformation and other digital solutions including a strong commitment to automation bringing the business to world-class service.
Innovation, says Elena, drives everything at Playtech in a constantly changing market. Therefore, keeping up-to-date with any new releases or ideas that they can capitalize on must be done with urgency as the importance of innovative tools is unsurpassed in this changing market. Without innovation, some of the best features Playtech can now offer for customer service satisfaction would never have been developed to give the customer the most fulfilling experiences in our business. “As I analyze the current strategies in a company, I first begin to identify what manual processes can be relieved with innovative answers such as automation which creates additional time and resources for allocation,” says Elena.
An Insightful Leader
Elena’s experience has always been in the customer service/experience atmosphere from a young age. She was suited for customer experience with a genuine desire to help people in whatever capacity her position provided. She discovered through her journey that she could advance and make an impact in a more professional and global arena if she only kept pushing forward and learning as much as she could from the experiences provided to her. “I can’t say that I actually chose this career or more that it chose me, and it’s been a perfect fit. My Passion to contribute to an ever-evolving CX experience continues to grow and each new project is as exciting as the first,” explains Elena.
The style of work Elena found to be working best for her is developing procedures and processes based on best practices and the insight of the company heads and each person that is involved. Knowing the person is key to the planning and execution of a good business plan. Taking ownership of the task at hand and fully understanding how it helps to develop each person in the chosen role they will need to fulfill is crucial.
Her work style allows her to inject herself in any area that may not be performing to standards or need coverage in any instance to facilitate the company’s requirements. In this way the team is always whole no matter the situation and being able to deliver in this way has brought her success but more importantly this style of work has allowed many others to succeed as well as the company. “Multitasking is inherent for me, and I have a strong desire to pursue higher learning not only for myself but to share freely with others in their career growth adding value to them and the endeavor,” says Elena.
A team player and true leader, Elena is not much interested in contests and awards although she encourages her team and staff to achieve them. Mentoring her colleagues to succeed and achieve these awards has given her great satisfaction. She gratefully accepted the Service Excellence Mgr. of the Year award recently and feels this accolade was truly representative of her daily dedication to improving the customer experience in her industry.
Overcoming her Biggest Challenge
So far in her career, the biggest challenge Elena has encountered was a project that required the synchronizing of 7 different operations working together simultaneously. Several stakeholders were resistant to many of the necessary changes needed to be successful. Overcoming this was dependent on expressing the vision and end goals bringing together All stakeholders as one team in a short period. This could only be accomplished by educating the team that was responsible for delivering. Once the team was aligned with the overall objective, they were able to take time to personally visit each stakeholder and follow up as needed. This instilled confidence in the stakeholders seeing that Elena’s team and vision were shared by all.
“Although this was a challenge that required a lot from all involved it was one of the most rewarding not only for me and my team but for the stakeholders and the teams they manage as well. Any challenge, even one of this scale can be overcome with teamwork, dedication, communication, and a strong commitment to the end goal,” shares Elena.
Celebrating Diversity
Diversity and inclusion are at the forefront of any project that Elena oversees and feels it should be a model for anyone. She feels that each individual, regardless of background can offer unique experiences and insightful ideas. “I contribute to diversity by understanding each person is an individual and bringing with them the experiences they have gained that contribute to us as a team. I come from Guatemala and my mentors were always accepting with open arms myself and any other persons regardless of background. This has had a big impact on me as my beliefs follow the same structure,” insists Elena.
Diversity benefits everyone, being able to share and learn from each other to develop great customer service through the lens of many different eyes expanding one’s focus and improving the customer experience.
Decoding the Future
Elena takes this moment to share her advice for budding entrepreneurs. To all the newest developing entrepreneurs, she would like to tell some important things she has learned during her journey that has been key to all her success. “Never stop learning, never stop moving forward, and never give up on your path to the desired goal as you will get there by being committed to the project and or vision. The saying “nothing is easy:” is very true and you are the pioneers that will lead the vision of yourself and your company. The commitment that you have or the ideals that you will instill in others will affect all those around you. Being the spark for the flames of the future will bear you the greatest rewards far beyond your own efforts.”
As for her own team, what Elena expects to see from them in the next few years is they demonstrate the value and growth in the industry with the knowledge and experience gained. How they can translate that to add value and growth to the company will be the success. “I take great satisfaction in this and strive to share my knowledge with all of those around me to improve the growth of the organization one person at a time,” concludes Elena.
Quote 1: “We cannot solve problems with the kind of thinking we employed when we came up with them.” — Albert Einstein
Quote 2: As we develop in our career we must be open to new ideas, innovation, methods, and processes that can improve, in my case, the customer experience and how this fits in your current pursuits in the business world and even into your personal ventures as well.
