Michelle Ou and Joshua Anahonak are both associate technical account managers, and it’s been a while since we featured anyone from customer service on the Breezeway, much less two anyones.
Michelle has been with Yardi since February 2019, and Joshua has been here since September 2017. These two get high marks from the customers they help, and they come highly recommended around here.
That’s enough from your editors. It’s time to get to know Josh and Michelle!
What is your role with Yardi Breeze?
Michelle: I am a live support agent, so I help clients with their inquiries and cases via chat and over the phone. In addition to directly helping clients, I train new hires and teach them the ins and outs of Breeze.
Joshua: I am an associate technical account manager for the Client Success team. My team is made up of live support agents who help clients learn Yardi Breeze.
How long do your conversations with customers usually last?
Michelle: It can be anywhere from one minute to three hours, but they typically last around 20 minutes. It really depends on the needs of the customers or how new they are. I get questions about the setup processes, tenant payments or accounting functions such as bank reconciliations.
Joshua: There’s a wide range of conversation times, but the norm I would say is between 10-20 minutes. But there are days where I’ve been on the phone or on the same live chat for two hours or more!
What did you do for work prior to working at Yardi?
Michelle: I graduated early from UCSB in December 2018, so I basically started working straight after graduation in January. I worked on campus in the school’s computer and print labs and was a supervisor and technical consultant there, helping people troubleshoot. I also managed the workshops where we taught software to students. Before that, I interned for UCSB Women’s Volleyball, keeping game statistics. Prior to that, I did a social media marketing internship at a media news company.
Joshua: Prior to Yardi, I worked at college in the registrar’s office and handled questions about getting into a class, processing the graduation application and ordering transcripts. When I was getting ready to leave, the main question was, “Who is going to take over the calls?” Which was humbling!
If you suddenly had the afternoon off from work and no one knew, what would you do?
Michelle: I would probably go to a local coffee shop or drive home to LA to see my family and just hang. Or maybe go to an indie concert in Santa Barbara.
Joshua: On an unexpected day off I would honestly go out for some climbing somewhere here in Santa Barbara or LA, or I’d chill out at the beach to catch up on some reading.
Describe your dream vacation.
Michelle: I’ve been looking forward to seeing more of East and Southeast Asia, including Thailand, China and Singapore. I want to try the street food and get to experience life there. I also grew up visiting Taiwan, and it’s like my second home. So just to go hang out with friends and family, and bike around the whole island (the next thing I want to try there), sounds like quite the dream vacation sometimes.
Joshua: At the moment, the dream vacation would be going around Southeast Asia or Europe, as I have never been to either, just to be a local, blending in and experiencing someone else’s day-to-day life in a Studio Ghibli kind of way. It’s the simple moments that make life enjoyable.
[Did you both plan your answers together? Spooky!]
Hypothetically speaking, if friendly aliens wanted to take you across the universe with them, would you go?
Michelle: Oh yeah, I’d be down! Of course, only with the guarantee that I can come back and remember everything I got to see with them.
Joshua: 100%! I didn’t spend my teenage years reading fantasy and sci-fi to pass up a life-changing journey off the planet. The only thing I would ask is that I am given the option to come back to Earth if I so wish!
[That’s asking a lot of your alien abductors, folks, but we’ll allow it!]
