Coming home from any Customer Response Summit (CRS) event, there are always many amazing moments to reflect on. This past CRS was no different and I came home filled with inspiring stories, great ideas and new connections. However, this event left us with a moment that we did not expect.

At Execs In The Know much of the show, the content, and direction, is planned by me and my team. We know what is going to happen and I am always excited to see the reactions of our community members.  However, at this particular event in Chicago, Chad and I were the ones left surprised, humbled and grateful.

For the second year in a row we have had the privilege of being part of an employee recognition program – the FedEx Purple Promise Award. Ginna Sauerwein, who sits on our Execs In The Know Corporate Advisory Board, wanted to add the opportunity for the winners to be able to attend CRS as an additional benefit to winning the award, to gain exposure to thought leadership learnings, network and have some fun along the way. We loved the idea of having her team with us and to help celebrate the drive and passion for customer service that these leaders were being recognized for. It embodies everything that our conference is about.

This year, as we were getting ready to recognize her team, Ginna called Chad and I on stage and awarded us The Purple Promise. To those of you who know Chad and I, we are not usually short on words and she left us absolutely speechless (literally) – there were no words, just impending tears. You see, I knew exactly what this meant. Not only what kind of leader you needed to be to receive it in FedEx, and the impact that you needed to have made, but also that this was not an award typically handed out to a non-FedEx employee.

Each FedEx company manages its own FedEx Services Purple Promise Quality Award (PPQA) Program and has a process for selecting winners. For a team to be nominated in FedEx Services, the project must have:

– Alignment with strategic objectives

– Used QDM principles, tools, and followed the ABLE process (Access, Build, Launch, Evaluate). There are key steps and deliverables that must be met for each ABLE phase.

– Achievement of measurable results based on any of the following:

• Improved customer satisfaction
• Improved product and/or service quality
• Reduced process defects
• Improved process efficiency, waste elimination, or reduced variation
• Demonstrated team engagement

– Results that are sustainable and repeatable

An amazing honor to say the least. Ginna described why she felt Chad and I should receive this recognition.

“For FedEx, The Purple Promise/Quality Driven Management coin is a symbol of our commitment to continuous improvement and innovation through Quality Driven Management, and our commitment to delivering the Purple Promise every day to ensure continued success in the marketplace. The Purple Promise is, “I will make every FedEx Experience Outstanding”. Recipients of the coin have proven results going above and beyond to provide next-level service, and improvement to the customer experience and/or financial improvements. After working with Chad and Susan over the past 6 years, I have been overwhelmed by the work that they do to empower their customers (brands), to raise the bar for service and the learnings about tools and technology in the marketplace. The networks, knowledge and data they share through their partnership with us have inspired and impacted many brands to elevate their levels of service, and improve the lives of Customers. It is clear to me that the influence they have had on customer experience for so many brands was worthy of receiving this recognition.”

It’s hard to describe what an honor this was. To be recognized by a CX industry leader like FedEx is beyond measure. We feel blessed to be able to do what we love and help drive an industry that we are extremely passionate about. We are always so inspired by the leaders that we work with. They are committed, driven and engaged and we learn a great deal from them. They are not only driven by their business acumen, but also by their hearts. They care about their people and their communities, and we are proud to call them friends, as well as colleagues. To be recognized by FedEx for helping our industry and driving change is such an honor. Thank you Ginna and the team at FedEx for this incredible recognition.

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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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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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