“Putting customers first and continually improving customer experience is critical for any business’s success,” said Rosenthal. “I’m excited to serve alongside and learn from leaders who share Square’s commitment to customers as we work to move our industry forward.”

“As a company obsessed with understanding what our consumers’ needs are in order to be better pet parents, I’m excited to join this group of like-minded subject matter experts who all share a common goal to exceed our customer’s expectations and deliver outstanding experiences,” said Watson.

The Execs In The Know Advisory Board is a group of top executives in customer experience, from many of today’s prominent brands, across various industry verticals. The focus of the board is to provide measurable value to their businesses, by delivering customer experience improvements, in an efficient and effective manner. They leverage research, data, and the experience of a broad network of world class brands to develop leaders, advocate change, and transform the customer experience. They identify gaps, key strategies, and trends that ultimately enhance the Execs In The Know – Customer Response Summits, workshops, and content. They are the cornerstone of the Execs In The Know community and strengthen it through their involvement in various events, webinars, content pieces, philanthropic activities, and meetings.

Newly Elected Board Members:

Nate Rosenthal, Head of Customer Support, Square
Jodi Watson, SVP Petco Direct and acting Chief Marketing Officer, Petco
Tom Weiland, Vice President, Global Customer Service, Amazon

Existing Board Members:

LeAnne Crocker, Global Director- Reservation Services, Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Catherine Jensen, VP, Customer Experience, Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC
Michael Martin, Senior Vice-President, Retail Distribution & Channel Strategy and President’s Choice Financial Operational Effectiveness, CIBC Retail & Business Banking
Kathryn McGavick, Corporate Vice President, Customer Support, Former Outerwall
Sally McMahon, Vice President Channel Management, SiriusXM
Lisa Oswald, Senior Vice President, Customer Service, Travelzoo Inc.
Andrew Pine, Vice President, Customer Relations, Porsche Cars North America
Ginna Sauerwein, Managing Director, FedEx TechConnect Western Region
Scott Shute, Vice President of Global Customer Operations, LinkedIn

To learn more about the Execs In The Know Advisory Board, visit https://execsintheknow.com/about-us/advisory-board/

About Execs In The Know
For over 15 years, Execs In The Know has built a reputation of excellence in the Customer Management Industry and a worldwide community of over 50,000 Customer Experience Professionals, dedicated to enhancing the customer service industry. Execs In The Know connects people to engaging industry content, thought leadership, current trends, peer-to-peer collaboration, networking, and industry employment opportunities. Their largest event, Customer Response Summit, takes place twice a year, uniting executives from many of today’s leading brands, to create impactful connections and share actionable insights.

Learn more at www.execsintheknow.com.

About Square, Inc.
Square, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) creates tools that help sellers of all sizes start, run, and grow their businesses. Square’s point-of-sale service offers tools for every part of running a business, from accepting credit cards and tracking inventory, to real-time analytics and invoicing. Square also offers sellers financial and marketing services, including small business financing and customer engagement tools. Businesses and individuals use Square Cash, an easy way to send and receive money, as well as Caviar, a food ordering service for popular restaurants. Square was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in the United States, Canada, Japan, and Australia.

About Petco and the Petco Foundation
With more than 50 years of service to pet parents, Petco is a leading pet specialty retailer that focuses on nurturing powerful relationships between people and pets. We do this by providing the products, services, advice and experiences that keep pets physically fit, mentally alert, socially engaged and emotionally happy. Everything we do is guided by our vision for Healthier Pets. Happier People. Better World. We operate more than 1,500 Petco and Unleashed by Petco locations across the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico; prescription services and pet supplies from the leading veterinary-operated pet product supplier, Drs. Foster & Smith; and petco.com. The Petco Foundation, an independent non-profit organization, has invested more than $175 million since it was created in 1999 to help promote and improve the welfare of companion animals. In conjunction with the Foundation, we work with and support thousands of local animal welfare groups across the country and, through in-store adoption events, help find homes for more than 400,000 animals every year.

Media Contact
Alyssa Pitura
info@execsintheknow.com

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The post Customer Management Executives From Square, Amazon, and Petco Join Execs In The Know 2017 Corporate Advisory Board appeared first on Execs In The Know.

“Listening is one of our greatest gifts”

Get to know: Razia Richter, Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer at Petco

We’ve all heard this at some point in our lives, right? “Listen more, listen actively or be in the moment.” I am grateful to my parents, teachers and mentors who have reminded me of this along my life journey.

In my role as a customer service leader, I find this skill to be so critical, one that must always be a priority in everything we do. I believe the best customer service starts with listening to what our customers are saying. Whether it’s from their feedback, behaviors, observations or a simple chat. Actively listening will generally lead to the best outcomes and relationships.

For the past 25 years, I have had the amazing opportunity to work for Petco, a leading national pet specialty retailer with more than 1,470 locations across the U.S., Puerto Rico and Mexico. Today, I am the Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer for the company. In this role, I lead companywide efforts to build customer loyalty and continually improve Petco’s customer experience.  I oversee the company’s ongoing work to routinely embed customer and market intelligence and practices into Petco’s strategic planning and daily work.

I was thrilled to take on this role several years ago. It began with the implementation of the Net Promoter Customer feedback process, which has now been expanded to all lines of business. It then expanded to being the central point of contact as it relates to customer insights, and then finally owning the front-line closed loop aspect of our contact centers.

When I first joined Petco in the accounting department my favorite project was to work in our stores to learn firsthand about the customer and store partners. I spent days listening and observing, with the goal of bringing what I learned back to the corporate office to make a difference for our store teams.  

After my first in-store experience, I helped create a system to automate the daily register opening/closing process so our partners could spend more time with customers. This inspired me to take on numerous roles in the company to lead changes in the areas of inventory management, store operations and supply chain, all with a focus on how to make the customer experience better.

When I am not working I enjoy spending time with family.  In fact, my best ideas come from listening to stories from my family as “shoppers.” I am always asking them about the latest things they’ve bought or places they’ve shopped. I listen for things like how and why they decided to go to a particular location or researched something online. Paying attention to this helps me to learn more about a customers’ path to purchase and, of course, more about my family (helps to make the gift list easier).

I love being part of the Execs In The Know Advisory Board. It’s a great group of leaders across different brands. We learn so much from each other through research and best practice sharing. With the rapidly increasing demands of customers and the speed in which digital has changed the ways people shop, being a part of this group helps us to keep focused on what’s most important.

I believe every customer interaction begins and ends with active listening. This is how we demonstrate we are engaged and learn about what’s important to them. Often times its simple things that you hear about and if you pay attention to them early on you can delight your customer and even exceed their expectations in the end.

The post Meet The Board – Razia Richter – The Importance of Active Listening appeared first on Execs In The Know.

Lisa at a recent open studio weekend in Yonkers, NY

Second in our “Meet The Board” series is Lisa Oswald. We hope you’ll enjoy getting the chance to know our EITK Advisory Board members a bit better over the coming months! 

Get to Know: Lisa Oswald, Senior Vice President, Customer Service at Travelzoo Inc. 

My role leading customer strategy is all about growing our company by making it easier for customers to do business with us. My commitment to deliver service for a competitive advantage — a business imperative, really – drives everything we do. That’s because consumers demand more from companies today. And making smart decisions about what our customers want and need, and how to effectively deliver that drives revenue and loyalty.

My company is Travelzoo, a global media commerce company. You probably know us as the publisher of the Travelzoo Top 20®, the definitive list of the week’s best travel, entertainment and local deals. As Senior Vice President of Customer Service, I lead global customer strategy for our 28 million members across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, driving culture change and influencing the way my colleagues think and act in support of our members. That includes helping set the organization’s product roadmap for delivering member experience outcomes. My most important role, however, is the one I take most seriously…upholding our members’ trust in our brand. After all, there’s a reason why we’re called the Deal Experts!

My role with the Advisory Board with Execs In The Know gives me a unique platform to help other service leaders solve our toughest service challenges. Collectively, we help identify the “next big thing” to break through, and stimulate conversation on how to navigate complexity to create real value. My involvement helps me stay relevant. It helps me keep pace with the unprecedented rate of change in our industry. And it exposes me to the best of the best thought leaders, innovators and service practitioners who make me a better leader.

While in business strategy little is black and white, my “second life” in the arts (I’m a monotype artist), allows me to think differently and blend creativity with business process. For me, art making is a leap of faith. I give myself over to the process and the process leads to its own result. So there’s always a spirit of freedom in my work (visit me at http://studiomonotype.com). I bring that same left brain/right brain combination to my community volunteerism, where I serve my hometown of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York as a Commissioner of the Arts. As one of a team of art advocates, I bring public art programs to our community for enrichment and economic development.

Want to talk service? Or compare notes on your favorite artist? Follow me at @LisaPOswald or message me on LinkedIn.

The post Meet The Board – Lisa Oswald – Delivering Value appeared first on Execs In The Know.

Ginna and her family.

The following is the first in our “Meet The Board” series. We hope you’ll enjoy getting the chance to know our EITK Advisory Board members a bit better over the coming months! 

Get to Know: Ginna Sauerwein, Managing Director, FedEx Services

My name is Ginna Sauerwein. My first name is pronounced like a bottle of “Gin” and then add “na”. My last name is pronounced like “Sour Wine”. I wanted to get that out of the way first because it is a constant opportunity! Thirty-two years ago, after working for good companies like J. C. Penney, Miller Brewery, and Delta Airlines, I was lucky enough to be hired by a young company named Federal Express – now grown up and called FedEx. I’ve worked in numerous capacities for FedEx over the years, and since 1993, I’ve served as a Managing Director in Customer Services. Based in Dallas, Texas, I oversee customer contact employees who provide multilingual customer information services for FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Office. As a key member of the FedEx leadership team, I manage employees in customer contact centers and reps working remotely from home. I’m responsible for defining Premier Programs and implementing new customer contact channels including social media, chat, video-chat, and technical services support for fedex.com.

I believe customer experience is defined by every interaction. I think each interaction must end with a thoroughly delighted customer to ensure they will conduct business with FedEx again and again. My goal is to make it as easy as possible for the customer to interact with FedEx and to provide solutions that exceed their expectations.

My role on the Advisory Board is important to me and is best described by a two-part short story that began in 2000 and spanned two countries.

Part 1:  While living and working in Guadalajara, Mexico, I accompanied the FedEx couriers to an area of town that had lean-to houses made of cardboard and pallets, no running water or plumbing, and dirty, dusty roads. We were there to deliver toys and food we had collected for a Christmas Charity. My husband and four children went with us and we all passed out presents to the very thankful crowd. Later that year, my direct survey scores were 10 points higher than any Managing Director had ever received in Mexico. My curious boss asked how? What did I do? 

Part 2:  Later that year, FedEx moved me to Texas for a new opportunity. While we were preparing to leave Mexico, my oldest son informed me that Cinthia, a school friend who also played soccer with my daughter, wanted to move to Texas with us. I laughed and he responded with, “Mom, I am serious. Cinthia’s dream is to play basketball and you know this will never happen in Mexico.” I acknowledged reality because I knew my son was right. I told him to have Cinthia talk to me and she told me her story. Cinthia had not seen or talked to her mother in seven years because her mother only had time for her new family. Cinthia’s father supported her dream, but he had a girlfriend, a new baby, and not a lot of time for Cinthia. In that moment I said yes to Cinthia’s request. Departure day came and we arrived to pick-up Cinthia. I met her father for the first time in the driveway. My Spanish was so-so and he did not speak English. Despite the language barrier, he presented me with legal papers relinquishing his rights to his daughter. I was now her legal guardian. We got in the Suburban to leave and my thoughts were very judgmental. How could this man let his only daughter go with strangers to a foreign country? What was he thinking?

So what did I learn from these two experiences in Mexico? And how does it impact my leadership style, my thoughts about customer experience, and my role on the Advisory Board today? Let me try to explain.

Part 1: Stepping out of my office to deliver Christmas cheer in one of the poorest parts of town, reminded me that the shadow I cast as a leader – and as a parent – is extremely important. Working side by side with my team for all the right reasons, paid off professionally by improving relationships with the couriers. It also paid off personally by teaching my children a lesson. They learned that giving is as important as receiving and that helping others is the right thing to do.

Part 2: The school year started and the governing body over high school sports said Cinthia could not play basketball. We traveled to the Texas capitol to fight this decision, and after a lost hearing in Austin, our only option was to send Cinthia back to Mexico, pay for a different type of visa, and enroll her in private school. This was an expense I was not prepared for and a hardship on my family. I was feeling sorry for myself for putting us in this position, but I was not going back on my word.

A few years later, Cinthia asked me to read her senior thesis. I was shocked as I read how frightened she was the day we departed Mexico. She wrote, “I was so scared I almost opened the door on the Suburban to jump out, but Ginna turned around from the front passenger seat and flashed me that big smile, and I knew everything would be okay”. I wanted to cry. I hadn’t seen this. My perspective had been how lucky Cinthia was to escape her situation. How could I have missed how frightened Cinthia was and how incredible her father was to recognize the opportunity and let his daughter follow her dream?

Cinthia’s high school coach never gave up and was able to find her a full-ride to the University of Texas in Edinburgh. She had the highest GPA on her basketball team, graduated in four years, was accepted into grad school, and eventually played for the Women’s Mexican National Team. She has retired from basketball and now works for Microsoft.

All these years later I am grateful for my experiences in Mexico. I realize how lucky my family was to have Cinthia in our lives. We got as much, if not more, out of the relationship as she did and I now receive one extra call on Mother’s Day.

What if I had said no to Cinthia? What if I had said no to delivering gifts with my couriers? If I had said no, my family and I would have missed out on such rich experiences. So my message is this. Be aware of the power you hold in your journey, no matter if you are giving or receiving. Be conscious of the shadow you cast for others to see. Say yes to new experiences. Avoid being judgmental and consider how someone’s perspective may be different from yours. Participating on this board, and serving in a leadership role at FedEx, gives me the opportunity to enrich lives, say yes to new opportunities, adjust my perspective, help others, learn from others, and practice making the shadow I cast a positive one.

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