Committee

My wife and I, established 2B Connected, an outsourced call centre service. In a relatively short period, we've grown exponentially and now have a team of over 70 dedicated staff. At the core of this growth is my firm belief in nurturing our employees, thereby opening doors for them to the myriad career opportunities within our industry.

I'm known for my unique and proactive approach to business and contact centres. While I'm comfortable challenging conventional wisdom, I always do so respectfully, standing firm on what I believe is the best course of action.

I'm driven by an unyielding energy, passion, and determination to see the New Zealand Contact Centre industry flourish. A strong industry body like CCNNZ allows us to pool our collective expertise, fostering opportunities for current leaders and attracting fresh talent to this often-overlooked yet incredibly rewarding career path.

Outside of work, I relish quality time with my wife and two children. I also challenge myself both mentally and physically by participating in ultra-marathons, triathlons, and adventure

Becs joined the Bank of New Zealand in 2010 and is currently the Head of Transformation for the BNZ Customer Connection Hubs

Becs is a driven and energetic leader offering 25+ years of experience in the banking sector, across senior leadership roles held in Retail Banking, Contact Centres, Business Excellence and Operational Functions. With a strong focus on business excellence, business transformation, excellence for customers and a passion for developing people and teams.

A consistent high-performer and recipient of multiple awards and nominations at the BNZ for Leadership, Best Team and Best Co-Designed Product.  

She is recognised for building high-performing teams, creating a compelling vision for the future, and then bringing the team on the journey to deliver it, coupled with a willingness to support and empower others while still being able to lean into challenging conversations and hold people to account. 

Becs is respected for successfully delivering all projects with a mix of strategic thinking, detailed delivery capability, and people focus; adept at working at the big picture level as well as using critical and thought leadership to work out the detail.

With an impressive career spanning three decades in diverse leadership roles across various industries, Kanaris brings a wealth of experience to CCNNZ and will guide the organisation to even greater achievements.

Elias Kanaris brings a unique blend of expertise, having not only dedicated years to the contact centre industry but also demonstrated his commitment to the non-profit sector. With a successful history in executive leadership, mentoring CEOs, and assembling high-performing teams, he has led a services-oriented non-profit with over 20,000 members across 20 countries. Renowned for his profound understanding of the contact centre industry and the unique dynamics of membership associations, Kanaris is well-positioned to lead CCNNZ in realising its vision of becoming the preferred association for contact centre professionals. His vision includes reintroducing networking events, focus groups, and educational pathways to empower members with the latest industry insights.

My current role as Chief Customer Officer at ecoPortal since 2021 is the latest chapter in my career spanning over 30 years in global IT companies. Prior to my current position, I worked in several bluechip New Zealand organisations, where I played a pivotal role in driving increased sales and improved customer satisfaction. Responsibilities included leading the delivery support for the sales process, owning end-to-end service delivery, and managing Project Delivery teams, resulting in enhanced team performance and high levels of customer retention.

As a fractional CIO, COO, and BI specialist, I specialise in business digital transformation and project management. Throughout my career, I've successfully assisted numerous companies in their IT transitions and BI dashboard creations, showcasing my commitment to operational efficiency and delivering exceptional results.

Before my time at ecoPortal, my tenure at Accordo was marked by overseeing global service delivery teams in 25 countries. Notably, I managed a 250+ seat call center, leading the organisation in exceeding service level expectations and fulfilling our commitment to client satisfaction.  With a background in professional services, enterprise sales, and information technology, combined with strategic thinking and exceptional communication skills, I positioned myself as a results-driven leader committed to operational efficiency, growth opportunities, and delivering exceptional results for clients and stakeholders.

Throughout my career, I have been recognised as a champion for transformation in the industry. Serving as the former Chairman of the French New Zealand Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a French Foreign Trade Advisor, I remain dedicated to making meaningful contributions to the broader business community.

Kia Ora Koutou,

I am Hayley and I am a firm believer that Contact Centre’s are the hidden treasure of all organizations! I am a proud advocate of the Contact Centre Industry and all it has to offer.

My Contact Centre Journey started over 14 years ago and in that time I have worked as an Agent, Trainer, QA and currently I am the Quality Assurance & Training Team Leader at DuluxGroup.

In the last 10 years I have specialized in Quality Assurance & Training (a field I never knew existed) until joining the DuluxGroup Contact Centre.

I am passionate about sharing knowledge, networking, training/coaching, people development and customer experience.

I look forward to hearing about you and your experiences in the industry and how we as a community can support each other.

After working in senior leadership roles in financial services, I started Great Outcomes to support and assist contact centres throughout Aotearoa in 2001.  As a consultant I’ve been engaged by many of New Zealand’s contact centres.  The last five years has brought tremendous change, introducing hybrid work-from-home practices as well as increased automation and self-service capability.  I’ve been very deeply involved in that change through assisting clients to migrate their contact centres to cloud applications. 

I’ve lived in Tamaki Makaurau almost all my life with a brief stint overseas and am lucky enough to have a very capable wife Sonja and three great children. I’m excited to be on the Committee and look forward to bringing experience to share with all members.

Experienced business partner with expertise in commercial delivery, operational excellence and HR practice. Skilled in leadership, customer service, training and development, workforce planning, talent acquisition, and stakeholder management. Strong business manager and leader graduated from Brunel University.

Proven track record of working in leadership roles, partnering with executive and senior leadership, support functions, and organisations to deliver best practice, business plans and budgets.

Now living in New Zealand on a residency visa to further broaden my HR expertise and leadership capability within the Talent Acquisition space.

Derek Good has been in management roles since 1994 in the UK and New Zealand and is a director of LearningPlanet. He works with senior managers and front line leaders to help improve communication and service delivery. As a facilitator of LEGO Serious Play, Team Management Index and a variety of other techniques, Derek facilitates training workshops, speak at events and MCs functions.

Derek is also the chairperson for the children’s charity – Feed the Need and sometimes masquerades in front of camera and as a voice over artist. Derek has authored seven books including: Practical Leadership, Leading a Team, Coaching and Feedback Made Easy as well as books on Sales, ROI and Activities. His eldest daughter is Ashleigh Good, one of New Zealand’s most successful supermodel exports.

With 13+ years of experience working at Genesis, I have a passion for development and growth of people in a Contact Centre environment.

I lead our Inbound Sales Team based in our Hamilton offices, and have moved up the ranks since starting as a CSR in 2009 when we were outsourced by Sitel. During my time I have held a Senior CSR role, was a Team Leader for 9 years, and have been involved in many projects.

With a track record for forming and developing high performing teams, I have played a part in the development of several of our current leaders in the business.

The Contact Centre provides a disciplined, fun,  structured environment where our people can grow and develop, and give them the tools to provide exceptional service including a thorough end to end sales experience.

I love the in-office culture, where people can learn from each other and provide support to achieve successful outcomes, and have enjoyed the flexibility that work from home has now given the industry, where we have been able learn new work habits.

I enjoy having opportunities to build long-lasting networks and learning from others in the industry.

In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my wife of 14 years, and our 3 children, where our weekends are often spent supporting local sporting groups.

Nga mihi

Laurie worked for The Startel Group for 14 years and was organiser of their Awards from their introduction in 1997 until the closure of Startel in October 2003. Following that, Laurie purchased the license to continue with the CRM Customer Service Awards and associated mystery shopping programs under her own company, CRM Consulting Limited.

The CRM Contact Centre Awards have gained considerable momentum over the last 17 years with more companies realising the importance of providing their customers with superior customer service, and Laurie is well known within the NZ Contact Centre industry.

She was part of the inaugural set up of CCiNZ (now CCNNZ) and has been closely involved with them since then, most recently being part of the Advisory Board.

My first ‘proper job’ was in a Call Centre back in the 90’s selling telecommunications equipment for one of Europe’s largest distributors, it was an amazing time to join the industry, the technology was just taking off and I was fascinated, I really caught the bug.  From there, I’ve provided equipment, services and consultancy to Contact Centres of all sizes, from 5 to 2000 agents, from headsets to Artificial Intelligence (AI), Consulting and Customer Pathway Mapping and even hold a patent for a security device. I’ve been lucky enough to be asked to present both live in person and on webinars to audiences interested in new technologies and how to deploy them, and am a passionate supporter of developing both the Customer and the Agent Experience in the knowledge that if you look after your staff they’ll look after your customers.

With customers ranging from startups and SMB to Enterprise, sales to debt collection, Local and National Government, Police and even Buckingham Palace (yes, there’s a call centre in Buckingham Palace!) I have amassed a wealth of experience across the industry over the last 25 or so years - good grief, has it been that long?

I was born in Yorkshire and moved to Auckland in 2014 to deploy in-cell technology in prisons and retain a passion for improving the futures of people in the system. I enjoy spending time with my family, our dogs and sheep, trail running, I’m Event Director at Cornwall Park parkrun, motorcycling and classic cars.

If you think I can help, I’ll be delighted to hear from you, please get in touch.

I am dedicated to making a valuable contribution to the company I work with by providing effective support and striving to make a positive impact. With a strong drive for achievement, I excel both as a team player, taking the lead or collaborating with others, and as an individual eager to absorb knowledge and share it with enthusiasm.

My true passion is digital marketing. Working closely with people, I find joy in building connections, creating compelling online content, and boosting brand visibility.

Over the course of more than a decade, I have gained extensive experience in various aspects of the digital marketing field. This includes proficiently managing social media marketing, email campaigns, e-commerce, events and more.

To solidify my expertise, I graduated with a degree in Business Management, specializing in Digital Marketing. This educational background has equipped me with a comprehensive understanding of the industry and the strategic mindset necessary to excel in this ever-evolving field.