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Last month in our debut “Meet the Team” feature, we introduced our newest BDM, industry veteran Steve Nees. Today, we shine the spotlight on a bright star in our Operations department, Senior Operations Analyst Sohil Desai.

Sohil, before we jump into the details of your role at Transparent Energy, tell us the story of how you got here.

Well, it’s really a story of networking, friendship, and “fraternity” – in all senses of the word. Back in college, I belonged to a fraternity and became friends with Jamil Ahmed, who is now Director of Operations at Transparent Energy. But back then, we were college students – he in Boston, me in Philadelphia – hungry for opportunities.

We had always hit it off and stayed in touch. When I was actively exploring internships in 2014, he introduced me to Transparent Energy, which was then Premiere Energy. Later, after graduation, I got a job in telecom as a cost analyst, learned to wear many hats – which set me up well for my work here – and did a good job. As Premiere continued to grow, eventually becoming Transparent Energy, the opportunity to return presented itself, working for my good friend Jamil in Operations.

It was a great fit right from the start, and I’m delighted to be here – continually growing,  finding meaningful challenges, and feeling respected and appreciated – four years later.

What do you do in your role as Senior Operations Analyst? We’ve heard you described by company insiders as “the master of post-contractual processes.”

That has a nice ring to it! Maybe I should add that to my business card?

Well, I’ll be honest, I do a lot. It gets back to that “wearing many hats” concept. Transparent Energy has always been great at rewarding good work with additional challenges and responsibilities – the kind of environment you need to keep learning and growing.

I currently handle all of our licensing and compliance – remember, deregulated electricity and natural gas are a state-by-state affair, so there is a lot to stay on top of – and am very active in accounting and accounts receivables. I’d say my main “bucket” of activity, however, is client service, particularly everything between when a new energy contract is signed and when it is renewed.

The simplest way to understand my job in Operations is that someone needs to know everything about our clients and that someone is usually me. We have an extraordinarily high renewal rate at Transparent Energy, which means that our clients feel well taken care of, and that’s where I feel I make my biggest contribution to the company.

Customer care takes on many forms at Transparent Energy. For example, I watch client billing like a hawk. It can range from an incorrect billing address for a customer or an account number change, to a client getting overbilled thousands of dollars. From A-Z, I work to be a problem solver in these situations. Customers come directly to me when things go wrong, and so do our BDMs, because they know they are in good hands. Even better, I can often proactively ward off problems by understanding the details of every account and staying vigilant.

I’m a details guy. I pride myself on being attentive and taking the time to understand my customers and the suppliers who serve them. That is my “superpower” that helps me add value wherever and whenever I can.

As Transparent Energy continues to grow and attract new talent, what advice can you offer about succeeding in this business and at Transparent Energy in particular?

I think many energy brokerages are interchangeable – they offer a generic service and process indistinguishable from the rest. Not Transparent Energy. Transparent Energy is unique in our industry – we are process- and technology-driven backed by the deepest bench of expertise, i.e. our people, in all of energy procurement.

So to succeed here, you have to be willing to learn, and you have to be passionate about serving customers. At Transparent Energy, you will find some of the greatest people – kind, caring, fun – but most of all “professional.” Professionalism is what it takes to thrive here.

 

Interested in becoming part of our team? Check out our open positions.