Who is April?

Meet April Obersteller, Managing Director at woom!

What is Woom?

woom makes lightweight bikes specifically designed for young children who are first learning how to ride. Founded in 2013, woom began as a literal garage business in Austria, where fathers Christian Bezdeka and Marcus Ihlenfeld decided they wanted to build a bike that fit their children’s dimensions. 

The brand has grown considerably since then, and now can be found in more than thirty countries. 

April’s CX Journey

April's journey into the world of customer service began fifteen years ago when she started an internship during college. "I got that startup bug from the get-go of my career," April recalls. After working in hospitality for a while, she switched to the product industry, focusing on outdoor recreation. "I shifted midway into the product industry, mainly in outdoor rec," she explains.

Four years ago, April joined woom, a company she admires for its innovative spirit. "I joined them in their customer experience function, which later evolved into focusing on human experience, both internal and external.”

Recently, her role expanded to supporting the entire North American market. April's affinity for customer experience blossomed unexpectedly, much like many others in the field. "I think like a lot of people I have talked to in this space, it wasn't, it was kind of by accident.” Initially entrenched in sales, April discovered its intrinsic connection with CX. "Sales is about knowing your customer.”

CX turned out to be a perfect fit for her. "I loved asking those questions, not just the product I was selling, but who I was selling to," she explains. Her experience, particularly while working for YETI exposed her to a diverse clientele with varied needs, from moms seeking a hot cup of coffee to outdoorsmen relying on ice retention for extended trips.

This curiosity about the customer propelled April towards a full transition into the realm of customer experience. "I had the opportunity to transition fully to the customer experience side and get to work in that complete center of that post-purchase service.”

April’s CX Team

April’s CX team is currently located primarily in Austin. However, they do utilize a hybrid work environment and have outsourced for additional support during peak business periods in the past. Currently, they are scaling up with the expectation of handling peak periods internally. 

When screening potential hires, April seeks candidates who align with woom’s core values. Joy, courage, and responsibility are core considerations that influence every aspect of the company’s branding efforts. April values candidates who can display those qualities. However, she also seeks new hires who clearly display empathy. Not only is it an important customer experience skill, but it also caters to the needs of woom’s core customers. 

“The majority of our customers are parents or grandparents or caretakers who are purchasing this product for their child.”

April and the larger woom brand place a keen focus on training and leverage a long-term onboarding process that is designed to make new hires feel comfortable in their responsibilities. For CX, that means not just learning about how to deal with customers, but also having a keen understanding of the company as a whole. 

“For customer experience, we not only want to be the customer experts but also the product experts. And so there's just that additional product training to be able to understand and break down the components of the bike. There are a lot of questions we have post purchases. Hey, the screw came out. Can we fix it?”

Her team leverages a combination of traditional customer communication channels to deliver whatever type of support is needed. “We use traditional channels of email and phone and would do video consulting because that's a big thing to get like right now. Let's get into the bike and be able to see those different screws together.”

Her team also leverages social media connections. While they are most present on Instagram and Facebook, they are interested in moving into TikTok soon. They are also currently looking into ways that they can leverage AI in their DM chat funnels to more effectively connect customers with the support they are looking for. 

KPIs April is Tracking

Predictably, April keeps a close eye on CSAT reviews. She also takes a broader look at contacts per order, which she says provides a better understanding of the various friction points in the consumer experience. 

AI or No AI?

April’s team has only just begun to explore ways to introduce AI into their workflow. But while this technology has yet to make a big splash on how they handle customer support, she is optimistic that that will change soon. 

“ I believe there's so much opportunity. I think the way to do that is by partnering with organizations that are further down the line [and find] this partner that we're going to be and scaling with.”

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