Hi Ben, tell us about yourself and your background.
My name is Ben Segal and I’m the Senior Director of Customer Experience at Pair Eyewear. Prior to joining Pair in April of 2021, I was previously Director of Customer Experience over at Freshly, where I started back in 2016 and helped to scale the team from less than 20 to nearly 400 people in that same period of time. And before that I worked in Sports and Entertainment venues for over a decade – always in the Guest Experience department.
How did you first start working in the CX space?
I started back in 2006 with the New York Mets. I was actually a Parking Greeter out in the parking lots of old Shea Stadium in Queens. Guests would arrive at the game and I made it my job to ensure they felt welcomed, informed, and excited about the experience they were about to have at the game. And then I grew from working outside the ballpark to managing my own Fan Assistance booth inside the building and on the concourse behind homeplate.
What are some of the common misunderstandings related to customer experience?
People think customer experience is just about customer service and it’s really more than that. In todays world with brand existing only in cyber space and rarley having any physical presence for the customer to interact with, it’s vital to understand that a CX agent is the face and voice of your brand. We’re really more brand ambassadors than problem solvers – altthough we do a ton of the problem solving too haha
Have you seen any interesting new trends in eCommerce this year?
It seems like more and more people are starting to ease up to the idea of shopping online and trying new things – like eyewear for instance! Who would have thought you would ever order custom eyewear by simply uploading an image of your prescription and then wait to try them on for the first time when they arrive at your home. More and more, I’m seeing first timers jumping in to try it out.
eCommerce boomed in 2020, and consumers started leaving more product reviews online. How can we make the most out of this momentum?
I think we continue to see that grow by incentiving the end users to leave those reviews. They need to see the value in doing it for themselves. Show them the value they get by doing it, and watch how it keeps growing.
What are some CX companies/solutions you’re keeping your eyes on right now?
I’m loving Lang.ai and Storyhub and RedRoute – all different solutions, but all doing some very special things in their space.
So many things changed in 2020. While some things are going to return to “normal,” what are new trends and habits you think will stay with us in the long term?
Working from a non office environment proved to be a great solution for CX agents. Maybe in the past, being in a call center was a less desired role, but in today’s world, it seems like a sure thing that CX agents can work from anywhere and still provide stellar service.
Do you believe focus groups are still relevant in the era of eCommerce? Why?
Of course! Focus groups are always great to get true honest feedback on anything. eCommerce doesn’t change that need at all.
Last but not least, what is your favorite CX metric?
My favorite CX metric has got to be CSAT. It’s the best way to see how happy your end users are and if that’s not the ultimate goal, why do we do this?
