Over-Delivering on Delivery

An interview with Timothy Rauschenbach, Vice President of Customer Service at Shipt.

TIMOTHY RAUSCHENBACH Vice President of Customer Service Tim brings more than three decades of experience helping customers find superior satisfaction, launching his career with Disney, a company that knows a thing or two about creating exceptional experiences. Execs In The Know recently caught up with Tim to ask him a few questions about Shipt, his latest stop on his own personal journey of creating CX excellence.

EXECS IN THE KNOW (EITK): Prior to joining Shipt, you’ve had stops at some of the biggest, most well-known brands on the planet. Can you talk about some of those experiences and how they brought you to Shipt?

Timothy Rauschenbach: I grew up on a small farm in northwestern Indiana, where I learned from my mom to focus on being my best each day. My childhood was a little different than most of my friends growing up. We had to store enough food during the spring, summer, and fall in our freezer, cellar, and pantry to have enough to eat to make it through the winter. That sense of purpose and work ethic provided the foundation of my academic, athletic, and professional growth over the past 35 years.

Being a part of an organization with a foundational purpose has always been my primary driver: 4-H, Boy Scouts, and farming all helped to feed my foundational core.

My first corporate job was with Disney. Experiencing service leadership and being able to internalize how my role was more than a job, and how we focused on connection and building lifelong relationships with our customers, who we called “guests,” set a high bar for my professional career.

Later in my career, as the Global Vice President of Customer Service at Amazon.com, I was surrounded by executives, peers, and team members obsessed with raising the bar each day to higher levels, not being a afraid of failing, and asking “what if” questions that no other leadership team on the globe asked. Again, this set my expectations to a new level in the continual pursuit of excellence in my career journey.

My most important job in my life is being a dad. My three amazing kids are my legacy. I know that my legacy has already been realized, because they all touch so many people in their lives. They have the hearts of servants. Once they graduated from college, I made the decision that I wanted to build another legacy, and that was to lead and serve a customer service organization and culture that constantly set a bar higher in both our performance and in the lives that we impact. I had to find the right organization in order for that to be possible. I did. I found Shipt.

EITK: From the support team to Shoppers to customers, Shipt is a uniquely people-focused company. Where does this passion for people come from, and what does it look like in practice within the contact center?

Tim: Here at Shipt, we genuinely believe in over-delivering delivery. Shipt brings the store to your door. Through a community of Shipt Shoppers and a convenient app, Shipt provides personal shopping and delivery to millions of households in the United States. This service has become essential to so many of us, and we take pride in being able to help so many households get the essentials they need.

As a company that is deeply committed to equity and the deeply-held belief that every person counts, Shipt is a people-first company. We believe that each person authentically brings value. With that in mind, “the firm belief that every person counts is core to who we are at Ship.” Our company engages with our workforce and listens, cares, and ensures our entire team’s voices are heard in the decision-making process.

Within our contact center, we cascade this company motto into everything we do. We listen to frontline team members, value their feedback, and are not afraid to go the extra mile to engage all team members in areas they are passionate about or deeply care about. From a cultural standpoint, we believe that happy team members engage more in our purpose statement: Spark the connection that makes each person count. My goal is for team members to enjoy coming to work and are active participants in providing an outstanding support experience to all who need Shipt across the many communities we serve. Our mission statement for customer services is to cultivate an inclusive, knowledgeable, and driven team to support our community of customers, shoppers, and partners with a commitment to Shipt’s purpose and values through excellence, collaboration, and growth.

A few key things that we continuously do in our contact center to bring this vision to life:

We continuously look for ways to invest in our team members’ passions and futures: Our Guild and Pivot programs are just a couple of examples. We provide team members with benefits that allow them to have a good work/life balance: VUTO, VTO, PTO, PSL, etc. We recognize and celebrate team members’ wins and how they live out our company values, coming together to uplift each other. We invest in events, gifts, and moments of truth to celebrate as a team. We provide tools and a continuous feedback loop to ensure team members have a good working experience. We get to know our “Who’s.”

EITK: Shipt has been growing quickly, moving from 27 cities in 2016 to more than 5,000 cities today. How does this rapid growth impact the priorities of the customer service organization, and what are some of the areas you are most focused on today?

Tim: With the rapid growth of our business across the U.S. comes the rapid growth of our internal family here at Shipt. Our goal with the Experience Team (our highly trained team of customer service agents) is to provide the support that our community needs with empathy and dedication to excellence. When we talk about priorities, it is imperative that we stay true to our purpose, and we prioritize:

• Hiring diverse teams that can help achieve goals
• Engaging and retaining talent
• Improving and evolving our training program
• Investing in tools and product design
• Optimizing our resources without losing on quality

Here at Shipt, we believe that our customer service team is a critical part of our growth strategy.

EITK: Shipt offers “Always Open 24/7” support, something not many companies provide. Why does this investment make so much sense for Shipt, and what does it mean for Shoppers and customers?

Tim: Well, as you know, Shipt is available across the U.S., including Hawaii. We also currently work with a growing number of partners, enabling us to serve so many communities across the U.S. With that being said, we believe it is imperative that customers, shoppers, and retailers have the ability to get in touch with our team at all hours of the day and night to receive assistance. We understand that each person who uses Shipt has different needs, and we want to ensure that reaching out to customer service is always an option for them.

EITK: Unity, diversity, and inclusion can never be overestimated in its power to strengthen a team. What are some of the tactical ways you apply these values to empower your team?

Tim: Diversity and Inclusion are rooted in who we are here at Shipt. Our core values of: Caring, Authenticity, Positivity, Drive, and Rally allow our team members to be their true selves at work. At Shipt, we offer so many avenues for team members to join and engage with employee resource groups, affinity groups and our Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion team, as well as others on our employee experience team. This has, in turn, provided an opportunity for our team members to feel truly empowered and give them a sense of belonging and purpose.

EITK: As we head deeper into the second half of 2022, which Shipt initiatives are you most excited about? In which area of CX are you looking to make the biggest impact?

Tim: As we head into the second half of 2022, I believe that I am most looking forward to seeing Shipt continue to invest in its most important asset: its people. We are continuing to grow many parts of our business, and we are working to offer our customers, members, and retailer communities the best support experience.

When it comes to CX, I believe we are a team that believes we can always improve and evolve to meet our community’s needs, and I believe we welcome innovation that positively impacts our employee experience.

EITK: Can you share a little bit about your involvement with Execs In The Know? How did you come across the community, and what should your peers know about EITK?

Tim: I have been familiar with Chad for years, and have continually been impressed with Execs In The Know’s insights and expertise. Even more important to me is the community that Chad has created. I continue to embrace the student mindset, and love to connect and learn from my peers and other experts in my field. There is no better place to achieve that than through Execs In The Know.

Execs In The Know partners with brands that are providing outstanding customer service (CX) experiences. The Brand Spotlight Series showcases innovations and solutions to CX challenges faced by today’s leading brands.

Thank you to Tim Rauschenbach, and the entire team at Shipt for contributing to the Execs In The Know Brand Spotlight.

Interested in taking part in a future Brand Spotlight feature and sharing your story? Contact us at [email protected].