Hi Lisa, tell us about yourself and share some background about Blue Diamond Growers’ Consumer Advocacy team (and how you ended up joining Blue Diamond Growers)
I am originally from the Chicago area. I started my career in the Travel and Hospitality space many years ago. I began my career working for a Corporate Travel Management Company (McCord Travel) for 14 years and then moved over to the online travel space. I joined the Orbitz.com Customer Relations Team for 14 ½ years, starting just after the organization launched its online travel website. I left when Orbitz was acquired by a larger company.
With my options wide open, I decided to leave the Chicago area and I moved to sunny California in the fall of 2016, joining the Blue Diamond Team, managing Consumer Advocacy.
You are also on the board of directors of SOCAP International, can you share with our readers SOCAP’s vision?
I am the current Board Chair for SOCAP International. I have been a member of the organization for well over 10 years. SOCAP has been a vital part of my own professional journey, helping me to learn and grow in the CX space. I joined SOCAP while I was working with Orbitz, and the SOCAP organization was pivotal in helping me land my career with Blue Diamond. I have found it to be the best organization for networking and education, along with the sharing of best practices with my colleagues at other Fortune 1000 companies within the CX space.
Founded in 1973, SOCAP International represents a dynamic, collaborative community of best-in-class customer care experts across all industries. These vice presidents, directors, managers, and specialists, along with hundreds of solution providers, come from some of the world’s most recognized Fortune 1000 as well as emerging and leading startup companies. SOCAP is a member-driven association committed to advancing customer care and engagement at all levels of business.
SOCAP’s Mission builds community, curates content, and delivers industry insights so that members – at all levels and across all industries – can advance customer care and engagement.
Online commerce was booming in 2020, and so did consumer reviews. – How can brands better utilize this data to improve their customers’ experience?
Ratings and Reviews have been on the rise over the past few years but certainly exploded in 2020. Brands have been scrambling to keep up with the online ratings and reviews found on most retailer sites, including Amazon. Rating and Reviews have become another touchpoint/channel in how consumers reach out. Within Blue Diamond, this data is collected and mixed in with all the Voice of Consumer touchpoints. This data goes into our advanced analytics on how products are performing and is circulated throughout our enterprise.
It is critical for consumers to know that Brands are listening and care about the consumer’s experience. Brands want to be as transparent as possible. This includes two-way communication within the Ratings and Reviews.
Lisa’s checklist for CX strategy
In your POV – What is the ultimate checklist for a good customer experience strategy?
From my perspective, a good customer experience can be quite simple. First and foremost, start by listening and empathizing with the consumer, understanding their perspective on the issue, without being defensive, and finding a resolution that is suitable for both the consumer and the company.
How much has consumer analytics changed in the social distancing era – what role digital transformation has in this crisis?
I was already on the path of digital transformation when the pandemic struck. In a sense, I think this is true with many companies, but the pandemic certainly sped up the process.
Since joining the Blue Diamond Team, I have introduced several new initiatives, such as initiating a consumer digital coupon program, launching new consumer engagement channels, such as Live Agent Chat, Social Media Engagement, SMS Texting, Ratings and Reviews, and a ChatBot on our bluediamond.com website. We have also launched advanced analytics dashboards for our key stakeholders containing VOC (voice of consumer) data.
What was the biggest lesson you learned in 2020?
The digitizing of coupons for consumer resolution was imperative for us to launch quickly after the pandemic struck, as our only way for fulfillment was by physically mailing coupons (whether free or money-saving) to the consumer’s home. With teams being moved home, and unable to fulfill consumer requests quickly, resolution to consumer issues dragged on for weeks. This resulted in very low CSAT scores, and it was clear from consumer comments that this was based on them not receiving their compensation timely. Once we implemented digital coupons and would only send via email for print-at-home, my CSAT scores rose significantly, as consumers had their compensation within hours, not weeks.
2020 was the year of webinars and online events; what was your favorite one?
I think I have attended more webinars and online events in 2020, than I have in the last 5 years. It seems like there was one or two a week. I sat on several panels, along with being a guest on several podcasts. It was also refreshing to just listen and learn where I could. Not only for CX; but also, what has been rapidly changing in the CPG industry in general. My favorite discussion centered around AI. It was a combined event with SOCAP and PACE where I was a panelist. This focused on Research Meets Real World: Unmasking the Realities of AI.
It looks like working from home is going to stay with us for the foreseeable future. How should Executives gear up to the changing times?
I would agree, remote working will be part of the new normal. From what I understand, many companies have formed a version of a Social Impact Steering Committee to bring forth these issues to the C-Suite and are beginning to make some permanent recommendations around a hybrid approach that reflect the workplace of the future.
Can you tell us a bit about your role in Blue Diamond Growers? How do you apply customer experience benchmarks in your day today?
I currently head-up the Consumer Advocacy Team for Blue Diamond Growers. I manage a team in our headquarter location in Sacramento, California, as well as, I manage the relationship with our out-sourced Call Center Partner, located in Bogota, Colombia. We have many consumer touchpoints, so I apply several different CX metrics. Phone is different from social, etc. Where I focus much of my attention is around Consumer CSAT Surveys, as this gives me most of the insight that I am looking for on how my agents handled the interaction, along with was the consumer satisfied with the resolution that they received. I also look at the NPS questions on if the consumer will recommend us and purchase our products again.
Last but not least, what is your favorite CX metric?
I think my favorite CX metric is when I am looking at my CSAT scores, and I utilize Top 2 Box scoring. Always puts a smile on my face when these add up to 100% consumer satisfaction! 😊
