Account Manager Spotlight: Mike Marcantel
Welcome back to our second installment of the Account Manager Spotlight. This time, the beacon shines upon our European Operations Centre, where we meet the charming Michael Marcantel. Mike has been with ModSquad since 2011. During his tenure, he’s worked his way up the ranks, starting out as a Mod, moving up to project manager, and most recently settling into his current position as an account manager.
After a long stint in the customer service industry, Michael eventually sought out work-from-home customer support jobs, and decided that ModSquad fit the bill. Our SVP, Global Operations Rich Weil initially forwarded us his resume, but we don’t hold that against Michael. (We keed, Rich! We keed!) In fact, when ModSquad expanded and opened our European Operations Centre in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Michael was the perfect choice to lead that effort.
Tell us about your background and what led you to ModSquad.
I have extensive experience working both front-line and electronic customer support for bookstores, mobile phone retailers, and as a customer service manager for multiple game companies. I was looking for work-from-home customer support jobs, and ModSquad was a great fit!
What are you doing in your current role?
I am working out of our Derry office (and will for another year), finding great people in the area to support our European operations. I work closely with our European clients, ensuring their needs are met, and I also mentor our excellent Derry employees to orient them on the management track.
What sets ModSquad apart, in your opinion?
For our team, it’s the ability to log in from any secure location around the world. We’re also very flexible, which is incredible for people who want to work but aren’t able to do so in the typical 9-to-5 office setting. For our clients, what sets us apart is that we have a giant team where we can find the absolute best people not only for the type of support they need, but for their specific products, as well. If you have a product people buy, we have people who want to be a part of that, because they use that product too.
Any great stories that stand out in your memory?
Honestly, my favorite client to work with was a movie-oriented cable channel, because I’m a huge film buff. It was great fun for me to see all of the extremely excited fans discussing movies — some of the films I had never heard of, but wanted to watch after hearing the fans talk about them! I had a great team who loved movies, a great client that was serious about keeping their fans happy and involved, and great customers who loved the client’s product and were extremely passionate and positive.
Can you talk a bit about a rewarding experience you’ve had here?
One of my first projects was for a kids website, and that was great because you didn’t typically have to deal with the trolls and inappropriate material that you’ll frequently find on other sites. A few months in, they had an event for which they needed some last-minute help. We got our team together on short notice and helped monitor an anti-bullying event. Now, I’ve been removed from my childhood for more years than I care to admit, so the problem of bullying wasn’t exactly top of mind for me. It was incredibly touching to hear all these kids open up about their experiences and to be there and support other kids who had been bullied. Even though it kept us very busy, it was truly amazing to hear all these stories and see all these kids gain strength and courage through discussion and support from one another. I will never forget it.