“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.

Depiction of the H.M.S. Agamemnon, running cable in the Atlantic. Artist: Robert Dudley, 1866

A century and a half ago, the crew of the HMS Agamemnon pulled off what many thought was impossible. After enduring a year of storms and sickness, they finished installing the first transatlantic telegraph cable between the British Isles and North America. (Just imagine the coils of cable that filled the ship—1250 tons worth.) Queen Victoria sent the first message though the line in 1858. Unfortunately, the cable’s insulation failed several days later, and it never worked again—a heartbreaking, bitter end to an immense undertaking. The project, though viewed as a failure at the time, helped create an enduring vision of a more connected world.

Today, high capacity fiber optic cables crisscross oceans and continents, and satellites and wireless services reach the most remote parts of the globe. These networks, along with the most recent developments that have redefined how information is represented and stored (think mobile, social, cloud) have become powerful forces of change.

It’s in this context that customer interaction is changing so rapidly. And a new generation of pioneers are reinventing customer experience. I’d like for you to meet a few of them (shown here in San Diego at the Customer Response Summit, an event produced by Execs in the Know).

Driving Engagement
Melody Blumenschein, GM

The first thing you notice when you enter the contact center led by GM’s Melody Blumenschein is how quiet it is. Soft, rhythmic typing is only occasionally punctuated by a huddled conversation. Her group interacts through social channels—engaging with customers through some 120 automotive enthusiast forums and feedback forums as well as  several dozen 15 twitter handles. “We need to be where our customers are,” as one of her agents put it.

Melody began her career with GM North America Product Planning in 2001, and later moved into the Customer Care and Aftersales group where she held a number of strategic planning roles. Two years ago, successes there earned her an intriguing offer: would she manage the newly formed Social Media Care team, which was to be part of GM’s Customer Experience team? She decided to take the leap.

Today, she credits the support of GM’s leadership, great partners across the organization, and her team in helping her shape an innovative new model for reaching, interacting with, and serving customers. The impact of her group goes far beyond customers they directly serve; intelligence gained in interactions is shared across functions in an ongoing push to improve quality and communication. “I’m not a social media guru by trade,” she says, but “I’m incredibly passionate about proactively helping customers.”

Mayday—It’s a New World
Tom Weiland, Amazon.com

Tom Weiland’s journey at Amazon, from temporary customer service associate in 1997 to heading Amazon’s global customer service operations today, is an inspiration to anyone wondering how far a career in customer service can take them. Tom was promoted soon after starting with the company, and has since had roles in risk management, software development, integrating newly acquired retailers in the U.K. and Germany (he lived in Europe for a year), and serving as director of North American customer service.

In 2005, he became Amazon’s Vice President of Global Customer Service and is today responsible for: all consumer support for Amazon’s consumer businesses (amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.co.jp, et al.); emerging businesses (AmazonFresh, MyHabit.com, etc); digital (Amazon Instant Video, Amazon MP3, Amazon Appstore, CloudDrive, etc.); Kindle; the organization’s 55 contact centers, self-service, CRM, and telephony platforms; and, all technology (most of it built in-house) that supports customer service across Amazon’s businesses.

Under Tom’s leadership, Amazon continues to reinvent customer service, with initiatives such as Mayday support on the Kindle Fire HDX (enabled through Web-RTC and Amazon’s home-built technologies), and a lean-manufacturing-inspired “Andon cord” process that enables any service rep to immediately remove a product with suspected quality or distribution problems from the Amazon site, until fixed.

When Tom reflects on the beginnings of his journey, you get the sense that innovation and service are part of his DNA. “I certainly had no idea just how successful the company would be, but I was attracted to how it was bringing together technology and retail in a brand new, inventive way. And the customer obsession was palpable and permeated everything.”

Forecast of Forecasts
Don Bland, FedEx

How would you like to head workforce management for a company that many economists look to as a leading indicator in their economic forecasts? Not for the faint of heart, but it suits Don Bland—Managing Director of Vendor, Workforce Management and Quality Assurance for FedEx—just fine.

Don began his career with FedEx in 1979, as a part-time customer service rep. “At the time, I was #42 in seniority within the call center and I recall thinking that I’d never get a decent shift.” But he learned firsthand the critical role that “world class service” had in growing a new industry and building one of today’s most respected brands. His journey has included a variety of roles in service planning, including supporting the rollout of 16 customer service centers.

In 1995, Don was chosen by executive management to lead a particularly impactful reengineering project—one that would help set the direction of FedEx service for years to follow. It encompassed nine key initiatives that included the implementation of workforce management, centralized scheduling, FedEx’s first self-service IVR, standardized KPI’s, and robust employee coaching processes. The success of this project made him a natural fit for the role he has now.

“My career has been an amazing journey,” he says, reflecting on the past 35 years. “I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with some of the smartest and most customer-focused people in the business, in building one of the most admired customer service organizations in the world!”

Customer Experience
Janet Bailey, Starbucks

Janet Bailey was still in high school when she got her first job—working in a call center. It later evolved into a part-time arrangement that allowed her to work while she attended college. She recalls huge phones, multiple lines, and data entry on pen and paper. “When the phone rang, a line would blink and one of us would grab it.” She took calls for everything from the Olympic Seed Club (which was a way for kids to earn money), to Williams-Sonoma, and Fredericks of Hollywood. “It was quite an experience for a 16-year old!”

Fast forward to today, Janet is Director of Customer Service for Starbucks—a global operation that puts her on the forefront of social, mobile, contact center and all things customer contact experience. That for one of the world’s most recognized brands—now at 20,000 stores in 60 countries, generating an annual $15 billion.

Janet’s journey has contributed enormously to the wisdom and authenticity she brings to her team. After her first job in the call center, her career evolved through many roles both inside and outside of contact centers: service in a Bank of America branch, time out to have a family, a position responsible for outreach to donors of a university foundation, roles in manufacturing and customer service for HP, a season where she focused on recovering from an injury, and back to a contact center where she became operations manager.

At Starbucks, her first responsibility was as business operations manager for the customer contact center. In this role, she oversaw the nuts and bolts of forecasting, scheduling, knowledge management, training, quality, and project management. A subsequent stint creating the long term strategy for Starbucks customer contacts served as segue to her current position as director of customer service. Ask her what her role is, and her down-to-earth clarity of focus is quickly evident: “My job is to make it easy to be a customer, and to meet them where they want to be met.”

Looking Ahead

As different as these leaders (and the organizations they serve) are, they have much in common. They are quick to credit success to their teams, and certainly aren’t looking for the spotlight; it’s apparent how effective they are in bringing out the best in those around them. They’re down to earth and approachable, even as they wield enormous influence on the direction and priorities of their organizations. Like most who head customer service operations, they got there as much by serendipity as a planned career path; they recognized opportunities that came their way, produced results, and now have a wealth of diverse experiences they bring to their roles. And they are pioneers—they’re exploring uncharted waters and helping to invent the future of customer experience.

Left to Right: Janet Bailey, Starbucks; Don Bland, FedEx; Tom Weiland, Amazon.com; Melody Blumenschein, GM; with author Brad Cleveland. Photo courtesy of Execs in the Know.

Developments in customer service have come in progressive waves over the years—much like sets surfers learn to read. The next—encompassing mobile, social, and other trends evolving by the day—will be the most powerful yet. This is an important time, an exciting time, for professionals in the customer service space. And it’s inspiring to see the work that Mel, Tom, Don, and Janet are doing to help lead the way.

Postscript: Many thanks to Melody, Tom, Don and Janet for being willing to share their stories (and thank you to their PR Departments for allowing them to be told!). The photo was taken in San Diego at the Customer Response Summit, an event produced by Execs in the Know that brings senior level customer service professionals together. Thanks to CEO Chad McDaniel and the entire Execs in the Know team for making this collaboration possible.

Author bio: Brad Cleveland was a founding partner in, and former longtime CEO of, the International Customer Management Institute (ICMI), where he currently serves as Senior Advisor. An in-demand speaker and consultant, Brad has worked across 45 states and in over 60 countries, for clients such as American Express, Apple, USAA, Coca-Cola and HP. He can be reached through www.bradcleveland.com.

Note: Execs in the Know and ICMI have partnered to deliver customer experience training (courses are presented by Brad). The next will be held at the upcoming Customer Response Summit in Toronto, June 16.

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