Introducing our Community Relations Advisor Patch Waters, who makes the transition to IF easy! 

Every day Manawanui staff strive to live our values, “We deliver delight” “People are really important to us”, “We challenge ourselves to go beyond” and “We make it easy”. 

The introduction of the new role of Community Relations Advisor further enhances those values for our newest customers.  

Patcharee (Patch) Waters has been with Manawanui for just over 2 years, starting as a Customer Experience Consultant, and then moving to a newly created position, designed to make the transition from a needs assessment to becoming a Manawanui client as seamless and easy as possible.  

We sat down with Patch to get to know her better, and understand how she can help both needs assessors and new clients. 

Tell us a bit about yourself, Patch. 

I was adopted from Thailand as a child and grew up in Auckland. I have been lucky to have explored many amazing places, which has shaped me to become an outgoing, confident, and friendly person. I love the beaches and travelling New Zealand to do lots of snow skiing and snowboarding. I have a 3-year-old son, who is my number one customer!  

I crave any spicy food (especially Pad Thai) and I love all cheeses! If I could have one superpower, it would be Teleporting so I could travel to any destination that I desire.  

What attracted you to working at Manawanui ?  

I love the culture and the people I work. Everyone is supportive and helpful.  

I love helping new potential customers and making it easy for them to understand the first steps on their Individualised Funding Journey, or how to access a needs assessor. Delivering delight to people is what I love being able to achieve through having great call conversations.     

What's one service or aspect of Manawanui that might surprise people? What makes this service so cool?  

The Manawanui Online Portal is very easy for customers to use to be able to submit timesheets/ expense claims in – ensuring they are in control every day. We have many online resources that can help, and for the bigger questions, our lovely Customer Experience Consultant team can answer specific questions.   

What is the most heart-warming customer story you have heard that makes you realise Manawanui  are making a difference?   

There have been so many heart-warming stories at Manawanui it would be too hard to choose one. For example, I had a potential lead who really wanted to know more about Manawanui and what we do. I explained all the information over the phone and told them to get in contact with their Needs Assessor for the next steps. The lead confirmed that they were most interested in us to be their host provider. It was excellent to be able to be on this journey with them, as it gave them a bigger insight on our services and made them feel confident with the decision in choosing us. It also gave them a bigger knowledge before speaking to their NASC.  

 And finally, if you weren't working for Manawanui - what would be your dream role and why?  

My dream job would be an event planner. I love planning events for special occasions and my favourite part is to see the whole event happen.