Hi Angeleen, tell us about yourself and your background.
I have over 10 years of experience in customer service, contact centers, and customer experience spaces. I have been a CCXP for 6 years and volunteer for the CXPA Diversity and Inclusion committee.
How did you first start working in the CX space?
I have had various roles that were all customer-focused: customer service and technical support, account management, and client services. My education is focused on communications and marketing. Both of those lead towards a CX perspective. Still, the biggest change was working at my current role and realizing the pro-active and long-term ways I could improve our subscriber experiences, reduce support load, and engage our partner channel. This lead me to find CXPA, and from there, I’ve been creating a CX structure in a complex organization, and it’s been challenging and rewarding!
What are some of the common misunderstandings related to customer experience?
That it’s just about the support, you provide. While this is a major aspect, focusing only on the support end does a disservice to CX and causes you to remain reactive.
Have you seen any interesting new trends in eCommerce this year?
My focus isn’t on eCommerce as much as we sell through a partner channel.
eCommerce boomed in 2020, and consumers started leaving more product reviews online. How can we make the most out of this momentum?
I recently began tackling how to solicit, respond, and engage reviewers for our business, which is especially tricky since we have a partner channel, and most of our reviews come from the subscriber/end-user. I would encourage everyone to pay attention to their reviews and be proactive about soliciting them, especially after positive interactions. We all know reviews tend to skew negative, which makes it incredibly important to make sure your reviews accurately represent your organization’s capabilities. I would also recommend being active in engaging negative reviewers. Showing that you’re willing to be accountable and resolve issues is important!
What are some CX companies/solutions you’re keeping your eyes on right now?
I keep up with Medallia and Qualtrics consistently. While my organization doesn’t use them now, I see the value they can bring, and the insights they share are helpful. I am excited to see Pendo stepping up with some key CX surveys, guides, and analytics.
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?
I think people are looking for ease and convenience, and that trend has increased after COVID, and I think it will continue. As a society, we took a shift to look for more meaning. I think this means as CX practitioners; we need to be aware of easy we are to work with, especially digitally.
Do you believe focus groups are still relevant in the era of eCommerce? Why?
Focus groups will always be relevant! It is an invaluable way to understand your customers and hear it directly from them. It’s often harder to hear what you’ve done right; focus groups are great for getting a more rounded review of your products and features.
Last but not least, what is your favorite CX metric?
I think I like customer satisfaction metrics, it’s a classic for a reason, and I feel it’s more nuanced than NPS. In truth, I like different metrics for different things (as most CX practitioners do!), but CSAT is the one I use most consistently.
