Thursday, June 3, 2010

Revenue Assurance Professionals “Are All The Same”

I have to admit that, in part, this blog post is an excuse for me to post pictures of my lovely new niece who was born last week (coming up below). But it is also an excuse to talk about something I’ve noticed a lot in meeting Revenue Assurance Professionals at conferences, GRAPA events etc.

I believe there’s a particular type of person who ends up doing the Revenue Assurance job, or at least a certain type of person who keeps doing it long enough and well enough to become Revenue Assurance Managers.

When I first met some of GRAPA’s members, the first thing that struck me was that these are people who live very ordered lives – these are people who like things to be rational and make sense, and so are naturally drawn to a job where they help make that happen – Revenue Assurance.

But in many ways that’s probably just natural, because people who are good at certain things tend to have similar personalities, and I absolutely think that’s the case with Revenue Assurance Professionals – they are fundamentally logical people.

But it’s more than that. I began noticing that many of the GRAPA members I met were past their 20s, had been married for a while and also had young children. Now, I should be the last one to talk, since I don’t necessarily fit into those descriptions (except for my age), so obviously those are not the only kinds of people who do Revenue Assurance, or are good at it. I’ve also met great professionals who are younger or older and in various situations.

At the same time however, there are also certain ways in which I am very much like those people, since I’ve been with my partner for close to 14 years – and as I mentioned above, I just became a proud uncle of a lovely new niece (though my brother and sister-in-law will be the ones actually doing the work, which suits me just fine).


Regardless, I’d like to think that there is a reason why so many people who are in stable relationships, and who make the huge decision to be responsible for raising children, end up doing Revenue Assurance. And I think it’s as simple as Revenue Assurance is about being responsible and having real integrity – so much so that those are the kinds of people who do it. I don’t know why, but I am very proud of that.

Do I think this means you should panic if you’re not like the kind of people I described? Absolutely not. Do I think only people who are a certain way can do Revenue Assurance? No way.

But do I find it comforting to know that this job is so similar in so many ways, regardless of where you are in the world, that it attracts and retains people who are a certain way? Absolutely. These are logical, rational, responsible people who have real integrity.

And if you don’t believe me, just look around the next time you’re at a conference, GRAPA event, or any other gathering of Revenue Assurance Professionals – I’m betting you’ll be surprised. At the same time, if I’m wrong – feel free to tell me!

Because if the question is whether, even in a crowded room full of telecoms people, I could pick out the Revenue Assurance professionals – I’d like to think I could do that very, very easily. Because Revenue Assurance professionals are in a class of their own, and they certainly would stand out, wherever they are.
And that’s just another reason why I LOVE Revenue Assurance.

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