RICHARD WALLING
Director of Customer Success
Supporting Schools, Building Relationships and a Few Unexpected Adventures Along the Way
“Our personal service is something WCBS has always prided itself on.”
1. When did you join WCBS, and how did your journey begin?
I joined WCBS as South East Area Manager, primarily to look after the large number of WCBS customers in the south east of the country.
However, by the end of my first month, I was delivering training in Yorkshire!
I quickly realised that “South East” had a very different meaning when viewed from Glastonbury.
2. How has your role evolved during your time at WCBS?
My current role as Director of Customer Success still involves visiting customers regularly and working closely with them to help them make the best possible use of WCBS software.
Whether that’s training new staff, helping schools with reporting requirements or advising them on new features, there’s a wide range of support we provide. I believe our personal service is something WCBS has always prided itself on.
The technology we work with has changed hugely during my time with the company. Remote working has become normal, and online meetings mean we can communicate with our customers far more efficiently.
Our software has also evolved considerably, with many previously manual processes now automated across both finance and MIS. Ultimately, this allows school staff to spend less time on administration and more time focusing on the children in their care.
3. What’s been your proudest achievement or most memorable experience at WCBS?
One of my proudest and most memorable moments was being invited to speak at an ISBA (Independent Schools’ Bursars’ Association) event at the IBM Tower on London’s South Bank.
It was a very good meeting, although the mood changed slightly when we left the building to discover London had been engulfed in a blizzard! Unusual at any time, but this was 30 November!
Unsurprisingly, the trains were in complete chaos, and I ended up walking 13 miles of my journey home. As I’d been wearing a suit for the event, I even had to stop along the way to buy some more suitable shoes.
Four hours later, I finally made it home safely! It’s certainly one customer event I’ll never forget.
4. What’s something people might not know about you outside WCBS?
Outside of work, I’ve had a lifelong interest in Morris Minors.
I’m now the proud custodian of the very car my parents bought when I was just three years old. It’s also the car in which I passed my driving test, although that was longer ago than I care to mention!
I try to use it as much as possible, but you do have to allow extra time for any shopping trips. Invariably, someone will stop me in a car park to talk about the car, usually beginning with: “My mum had one of those!”
To which I can only reply: “So did mine – this one!”
5. What excites you most about the future of WCBS?
We’re at a really exciting point in WCBS’s story, with the launch of HUBincome planned for next year.
I believe this product will be every bit as revolutionary as the original PASS system was back in 1984. HUBincome has the potential to take independent school billing to a new level, using the latest technologies to provide our customers with the best possible product.
Having seen how much our software and the wider technology landscape have evolved over the years, it’s exciting to be part of another major step forward for WCBS.
Celebrating the People Behind WCBS
Richard’s story reflects the relationships, experience and personal service that have helped shape WCBS over more than four decades.
From visiting schools across the country to supporting customers through major changes in technology, his experiences demonstrate the importance of the people behind the software.
Through our Did You Know? – Meet the Team series, we’ll continue sharing the stories of the colleagues who make WCBS what it is today.
40+ years of WCBS. Countless stories. Meet the people behind the software.
