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Staff Spotlight: Zoe La Brow

It’s time for yet another instalment of our new(ish) monthly Staff Spotlight feature created to give you the opportunity to get to know some of the dedicated staffers here at Mobysoft who regularly pull out all the stops in our quest to provide the social housing sector with unrivalled data insight that helps deliver exemplary service to our customers’ tenants. This month we caught up with Mobysoft Repairs Customer Success Manager, Zoe La Brow…

How did you come to work in social housing?

I always knew that I wanted to work in an industry that helped other people.  My first degree was in Sociology and this naturally led me to follow a career in social housing

Describe yourself in 3 words:

Enthusiastic, Energetic, Geek

Can you tell us a bit more about yourself and your past experience within the social housing sector?

I have worked in social housing for over 20 years across a number of different organisations.  During this time, I have completed further education at HNC and Master’s Degree Level.  I was also seconded to a Housing Management System implementation project, covering all functions around asset management, responsive repairs, voids and compliance. I have been a building surveyor for both social housing and Network Rail, which was very interesting. In my most recent role I was the senior technical surveyor, managing an inspections teams on a range of functions, including estate inspections, stock condition, damp & mould, alterations and responsive repairs.

What does your role at Mobysoft entail?

As a customer success manager at Mobysoft, I work on the RepairSense product.  It is my role to work with clients to ensure success with the project, by providing training, engaging with the system users, ensuring that the project delivers the business objectives and providing feedback into our development team that build the enhancements and future innovation of the product.

What is the most interesting part of your job?

I enjoy engaging with our clients and users. Every organisation has a similar requirement to deliver repairs that give value for money and are considerate to tenants. However, each organisation has a slightly different structure and process. I enjoy learning about how each organisation delivers its functions.

What are your biggest challenges at the moment?

The repairs service is under great pressure at the moment. Demand for the service is increasing in every organisation. There is also greater scrutiny by the Housing Ombudsman in the way that services are being delivered. This is all against a backdrop of increases in construction costs too.

What’s most meaningful part of your job?

My most important job is to ensure that each organisation and each user gets great training so they understand how the software can be used to help them deliver the best repair service to their customers.

How do you measure the success of the outcomes directly influenced via your role?

Success is measured in many different ways. Getting users engaged with the product is one measure. We also listen to clients to learn about their biggest challenges so that Mobysoft can continue to enhance our product to support and drive the repairs service. In doing this, we can ensure the service is efficient and effective, by reducing complaints and preventing repeater chains escalating to ensure that the tenant is at the heart of the repairs service.

What would you say are the biggest challenges faced by social landlords in the current climate?

Every service is under pressure due to the current economic climate. The repairs service has always been very reactive in the past – it needs to move from a reactive service to a predictive service, using the right data to predict trends and focus delivery. 

Working on anything interesting at the moment?

We have a number of clients in the pipeline for RepairSense. I am working on streamlining our delivery and ensuring that every client receives the best service from Mobysoft.

How would you describe Mobysoft and what it does to the uninitiated?

This is a business which truly has the social housing market at the heart of everything that it does. We provide software to help social housing organisations deliver excellent services. It is an honour to be working at Mobysoft and helping to drive the product forwards. 

If you could wave a magic wand and change one aspect of the social housing sector overnight, what would it be?

Build more social housing. Social housing is regulated to ensure that it is affordable, which in the current economic climate is more important than ever. Households are struggling with inflated costs and social housing is essential to ensure that rents are fair and housing services are equitable.

What has been your proudest achievement in housing?

Working in social housing is challenging but it’s also great for the soul! The services provided can make a real difference to working class families. Having a stable, affordable home and living in a safe community will help to grow the next generation, hopefully giving the children better opportunities in life. I have been involved in a number of great construction projects that ensure services are tenant focused and that housing stock is safe and well managed.

What has been your proudest achievement at Mobysoft?

I am proud to have been nominated (and won) the Customer Centric award at the 2023 Q2 Kick-Off event. I was nominated by my colleagues and I received the feedback which was thrilling to read and a good reflection on my role and the skills that I bring to the team.

What are your other passions outside housing?

I have an allotment which I share with my family, we grow fruit, vegetables and flowers.  It is hard work but lots of healthy, physical activity and it’s great to learn about growing and managing land. I also love to read, my favourite is sci-fi and fantasy but I also read quite widely. Sewing and craft making is something else that I really enjoy. My friends are always having costume parties so I get to practice my craft skills quite frequently!

How do you unwind after work?

I do a yoga session for one hour every night. After that it’s dinner time and I rotate the cooking responsibilities with my partner. If the weather is good then I walk to my allotment to water the plants. Then it is usually a movie/TV series and finally a little bit of reading before bedtime.

What is your ideal holiday?

My holidays are very busy. I do lots of research before we go away to make sure we get the most out of every day. I love to explore and learn about culture, history, and geography. I like to visit different places, either in the UK or abroad. I also love going to music festivals!

Hooefully this little lot has given you a bit of insight into the motivations and interests of another one of the people who keep the wheels turning here at Mobysoft. If you enjoyed reading this the head back to these very pages at the same time next month for Staff Spotlight where we’ll be getting to know another Mobysoft staffer a little better.

Dean Quinn
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