CX Insight magazine

October 2025
Table of Contents Download Issue

in this issue

Leading with Clarity in the Age of DistractionBeyond Resolution: How AI is Redefining Customer ExperienceBrand Spotlight: GoodLeapHow Back-Office Operations Contribute to CX ImprovementsAI Can’t Fix Bad Knowledge: How Governance Shapes Customer ServiceAre You Measuring CSAT for AI?KIA SPOTLIGHT: CRATE & BARREL Back to Table of Contents

Building Simplicity at Scale: How GoodLeap Delivers Operational Excellence Through Innovation

Inside GoodLeap’s mission to build smarter, simpler, and more sustainable customer experiences powered by intelligent operations.

Paul Brandt
Chief Operations Officer

 

At GoodLeap, technology is more than a tool; it’s a force for good. As a leading provider of best-in-class financing and software products for sustainable home solutions, GoodLeap has helped more than one million homeowners make energy-efficient upgrades, from solar panels and heat pumps to roofing and smart windows, through a simple, fast, and frictionless digital experience.

Since 2018, the company’s platform has enabled over $30 billion in financing for sustainable products, empowering both homeowners and the thousands of professionals who rely on GoodLeap’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered applications to streamline communication, operations, and payments.

Guiding this mission is Paul Brandt, Chief Operations Officer and Execs In The Know advisory board member, who leads the teams responsible for customer service, underwriting, installer relations, auditing, and more. Under his direction, GoodLeap has strengthened its reputation for operational excellence, creating experiences that are reliable, scalable, and deeply human.

Brandt also spearheaded the company’s first generative AI capabilities, deploying cutting-edge technology that has increased operational productivity by more than 40%, empowered internal teams with real-time co-pilot tools, and enhanced customer-facing support. Together, Paul and GoodLeap are proving that innovation and empathy are not opposites; they’re the foundation of a business built to last.

Execs In The Know (EITK): You’ve led customer experience and operations across energy, tech, airlines, and hospitality. What lessons from these different industries most influence how you lead GoodLeap today?

Paul Brandt: I’ve had the good fortune to work at some truly great companies across different industries. And what I’ve seen over my career is that it doesn’t really matter what industry you’re in. All customers have basic expectations that they want met, regardless of what or who they’re dealing with. Things like empathy, a willingness to act, empowered and helpful agents, not being passed around from one group to another, and acting with a sense of urgency, etc. It’s important to remember that we’re all customers in our everyday lives, whether we’re going out to eat at a restaurant, shopping, or visiting the pharmacy.

I know how I want to be treated and how I want my loved ones to be treated, so why should I expect it to be any different for our customers? Our team members need to always keep this foundational principle top of mind and never treat any customer interaction as “just another call/ text/chat/email.” It’s not, and thus, they model the behavior and helpfulness they would expect and want for themselves or a loved one.

EITK: You’ve called yourself a “CX junkie.” What does that mean to you, and how has that passion shaped your approach to operational excellence?

Paul: So many of our experiences nowadays are based on a commodity-like economy. Products or services that are very similar and even priced alike. So, one of the best ways to differentiate yourself from the competition is by being a recognized leader in CX. Be that “go to” place where customers are actively promoting your business on your behalf because of the extraordinary service they’ve been provided. Find ways to surprise and delight your customers. I believe in sweating the small stuff.

The “little things” matter and matter a lot. For example, something as basic as a friendly smile and listening deeply costs nothing, but can make a big difference in a customer’s day and perception of your brand. Being operationally excellent is the foundation for enabling a phenomenal customer experience. You have to have systems, policies, and procedures in place that allow your teams to deliver on your promise to your customers. Suppose you’re not meeting these basic operational requirements (answering the phone promptly, etc.). In that case, you’re starting from a negative, making it that much harder to ensure your customers are completely and fully satisfied.

EITK: Your mantra is “Purpose drives culture, culture drives engagement.” Can you share a time when clarifying purpose directly improved employee engagement or customer results?

Paul: I truly believe in the following chain: “Purpose and mission drives culture, culture drives engagement, highly engaged employees deliver results.” It’s been proven time after time. Culture can be difficult to define. Ask 10 people and you’ll probably get 10 different answers. And they all could be right! We all “own” the culture that we’re a part of at our places of employment. I tend to simplify things, and I think of culture as a group of people coming together under a shared set of values, working for a common goal. People have an innate desire to serve a higher purpose.

At GoodLeap, we provide the technology to power a sustainable future. This could be anything from a homeowner wanting to produce their own clean energy via a solar system to upgrading to a high-efficiency HVAC or any other home improvement product that positively impacts their lives.

Our “why” is always at the forefront of our minds in all that we do. So, even seemingly “everyday tasks” are all built around the ability to deliver against our mission: to connect a world in which everyone can live sustainably. I can directly link to how our best-in-class proprietary systems support this mission. Thus, our results are also directly linked to this mission.

EITK: How do you translate the belief that great customer experiences begin with great employee experiences into daily practices for your teams?

Paul: Gallup’s State of the American Workforce (SOAW) report is a great resource for supporting data on this topic. Their reporting shows the significant impact highly engaged employees have on the bottom line. For example, companies with highly engaged employees earn twice as much as those with disengaged employees. Engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave and have 40% fewer safety incidents.

Beyond that data, it’s a foundational truth that how you feel will influence your interactions with others. I think the great Herb Kelleher (co-founder and former CEO of Southwest Airlines) expressed this better than anyone: “If the employees come first, then they’re happy. A motivated employee treats the customer well. The customer is happy, so they keep coming back, which pleases the shareholders. It’s not one of the enduring Green mysteries of all time; it is just the way it works.”

EITK: You often emphasize “sweating the small stuff.” What small operational details make the biggest difference in delivering a frictionless experience for GoodLeap customers?

Paul: It’s focusing on the “basics.” There’s no need to over-complicate things. Say what you’re going to do and then do what you said. It’s that simple. If you make a promise, keep it. And hold people accountable for these items, from an operational perspective, that usually shows itself in basic operational key performance indicators (KPIs): service level, abandonment rates, hold times, no. of transfers, first contact resolution, case closure service level agreements (SLAs), etc. And then layer on the human touch on top: empathy, having a helpful attitude, doing the right thing, etc.

EITK: With responsibilities from underwriting to O&M, how do you identify where technology and process improvements will have the greatest CX impact?

Paul: We have an amazing engineering team at GoodLeap. They’re the best I’ve ever been around. Coupling that with a mindset of innovation and continuous improvement gives us a set of almost endless opportunities.

We continue to build on top of our already-deployed innovative agentic artificial intelligence (AI) solution, DeDe. DeDe not only provides proactive insights, but it also allows for actions to be taken (so it’s not just an “information only” bot).

DeDe is always there, so it makes GoodLeap a true 24x7x365 operation. Employees also make use of DeDe, offering an easy-to-use internal support system.

EITK: GoodLeap aims to create an experience that’s easy, intuitive, and fast. What metrics or signals tell you you’re achieving that goal?

Paul: We’re a very data-driven organization, but the topline metric we use for our overall customer experience is Net Promoter Score (NPS). We measure at key moments across the customer journey (both from an end-consumer perspective and from a B2B perspective). To date, we’ve received over 600k completed surveys, rich with insights directly from our customers.

We use these insights to filter back to our internal teams for continuous improvement. Our Product Management team will also use the data to help inform future product enhancements and features. Operational teams can enhance standard operating procedures (SOPs) and training based on the feedback.


EITK: Can you share an example of a change that produced immediate customer benefits while also laying the groundwork for sustainable growth?

Paul: When I first started with GoodLeap, we were solely focused on enabling solar solutions for customers. However, over three years ago, we diversified our offerings to include other home efficiency solutions, such as high-efficiency HVAC, roofing, doors and windows, artificial turf, water efficiency, and other home improvement products.

This has been a huge area of year-over-year growth for our business, with many more years of growth ahead. From a customer’s perspective, they now have a “one-stop solution” for all their home improvement needs.


EITK: For peers leading operations and CX in today’s rapidly changing environment, what’s one practice or mindset you believe separates good from truly great companies?

Paul: As you grow in your career and climb the corporate ladder, don’t let yourself get too disconnected from your teams or the customer. What better way to truly understand the employee experience (EX) and the customer experience (CX) than by continuing to participate in calibration sessions, handling an escalation yourself, using the same tools your agents are using, etc.?

Obviously, with increased responsibilities, these tasks are no longer part of your day-to-day routine, but you can be intentional and set some time aside to do them every week. If you truly believe these things (the EX and CX) are important, then you’ll make time to stay engaged. Depending on the product or service your company offers, actively engage as a customer and interact with your business in the same way your customers do.

EITK: Is there a brand that consistently impresses you as a customer, and what do you take from those experiences into your own work?

Paul: Chick-fil-A is always used as an example, and there’s a good reason for that. Their restaurants are always clean, the food is good, it’s priced competitively and considered a good value, it’s delivered quickly, and the employees are always friendly and helpful. What a contrast to so many other quick service restaurant brands, where you too often experience the opposite. This is what has made Chick-fil-A the envy of the Franchise world, where it far exceeds its competition in average sales per location and other key metrics.

They excel at these things consistently across their network, like good food, cleanliness, and helpful, friendly staff, ensuring basic customer expectations are always met (and usually exceeded). This falls back to the concept that if you disregard focusing on “the basics” or the small things, nothing else really matters. Start with “the basics” and everything else will be a cherry on top.

EITK: Who has been the most influential mentor or colleague in shaping your CX philosophy, and what lesson from them do you still lean on today?

Paul: I’ve been blessed to have several influential mentors throughout my career. I’ve learned, and continue to learn, from all of them. Their wisdom, guidance, and counsel are something that I cherish deeply and am extremely grateful for. During my time at Southwest Airlines, I was fortunate to get to know both Herb Kelleher and Colleen Barret. Two larger-than-life individuals who have shaped the global modern airline industry.

I co-chaired the quarterly Customer Experience Council at Southwest Airlines with Colleen. At this time in her career, she was “retired,” which I say loosely because she still held a significant presence at HQ and remained involved in many aspects of the operation, including co-chairing this council. I was always amazed at her passion and her ability to be very direct, yet always respectful, while still cutting right to the point (no beating around the bush).

This is an interpersonal skill that is not easy to achieve, and she was a master at it. The point is that you can be direct, tough, and firm, but you can do that in a manner that is respectful, positive, and drives the behavior and thus results you’re looking for.

EITK: In your everyday life, how do you personally “sweat the small stuff” when it comes to delivering great service, whether at work, at home, or in your community?

Paul: We’ve become super distracted as a society. If something can’t be conveyed in six seconds or less, we’ve lost the ability to focus or engage. We hold the power of all the world’s information available in the palm of our hand. Too often, this interferes with our interactions with others.

Being present and fully engaged with those that you’re interacting with is the best way to serve them. What does that look like in real life? One of the “small things” I’ve done to help me be more present and engaged is that I’ve been training myself to let go of being tethered to this device (phone) all the time. When I am at dinner with others, I leave my phone behind or turn it off. When I’m having a conversation with a co-worker, friend, or family member, I put my phone away and place it in “Do Not Disturb” mode. It sounds simple, and it is, but we’ve become so dependent on our phones that it needs intentionality to put it into practice.

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 Paul Brandt and the GoodLeap team for contributing to this Execs In The Know Brand Spotlight.

Interested in taking part in a future Brand Spotlight feature and sharing your story? Contact our Director of Content & Marketing at [email protected].