1. Emphasize empathy in hiring: Erin believes that empathy helps agents connect with customers, especially during sensitive situations, fostering loyalty and trust.
2. Empower agents with flexibility: By allowing agents to bend rules when necessary, Bespoke Post enhances customer satisfaction and builds lasting relationships.
3. Personalize customer interactions: Tailoring recommendations based on customer interests shows genuine care, making clients feel valued and encouraging their loyalty.
4. Prioritize customer retention strategies: Retaining customers is vital for subscription services, and tailored win-back offers can keep clients engaged and satisfied.
5. Foster collaboration and feedback: Erin highlights the importance of involving agents in decision-making, which not only empowers them but also enhances service innovation.
Meet Erin Gast, Senior CX Team Lead at Bespoke Post!
Bespoke Post is an E-Commerce retailer and membership service that helps people discover high-quality gear from the best small brands in the world. From clothing to camping gear, boots to barware– its mission is to help customers cut through the clutter and find goods and guidance that spark their curiosity and fuel a fun, interesting, adventurous lifestyle.
Erin’s introduction to Bespoke Post began in 2018 when she worked as an agent for a BPO that the company had contracted. What first appealed to her about Bespoke Post were the people - “I made connections that were invaluable,” she remembers. That Bespoke Post is customer-driven and puts a premium on customer experience further motivated Erin to work for them and she was officially hired in 2021.
“We get a lot of freedom to come up with different initiatives to surprise and delight our customers,” Erin goes on to say. “The focus isn’t so much on bringing in revenue, but creating a good, memorable experience.”
The CX Team at Bespoke Post is made up of 5 internal Leads, including Erin, along with 37 agents. The robust team uses a combined structure – 50% of agents are in-office, or remote US-based while the rest are offshore (Philippines). Having an international CX team allows Bespoke Post to provide 24/7 support to customers.
Building an Empathetic and Trustworthy CX Team
Asked what she looks for in a new CX agent, Erin says empathy and the ability to connect with others on a human level. She gives an example, “If someone reaches out after a deadline to change their subscription service because they were in the hospital, I want my agent to take care of them and see if there is anything that can be done to relieve their stress.” Self-assuredness and resourcefulness are also desirable qualities in potential hires.
A driving focus of CX at Bespoke Post is loyalty – “this is how you keep a subscription service running,” Erin reminds. While the company has set policies, she encourages agents to go into every interaction with the understanding that rules are malleable. Agents have autonomy to make exceptions and seek alternative solutions to keep customers happy and satisfied.
A Personal Approach To CX
When a customer signs up for Bespoke Post’s subscription service, they take a quiz so suggestions can be made based on their interests. Should a subscribed customer move, their account is updated with the new address. Erin explains the CX initiative in which agents personally help a customer settle into their new place, “When we see that someone has moved to a completely different state or city, we reach out to say, ‘congratulations’ and make recommendations based on the area. Suggestions are based on their lifestyle and can include parks, beaches, breweries, and restaurants.”
Like many E-Commerce companies, Bespoke Post underwent a significant amount of change during the Pandemic. Since joining in 2021, Erin has watched her team face increasing demands and complex issues only to become more secure in their customer service abilities. She’s proud to say that “We’ve won a couple of awards and gained notoriety, which has given us a sense of confidence.”
Prioritizing Customer Retention to Drive Revenue
As a subscription-based E-Commerce retailer, Bespoke Post relies heavily on customer retention to drive revenue. In fact, retention tops the job training requirement list for new CX agents. “It’s almost like a secondary role,” Erin says. “When a customer reaches out to say they want to cancel, win backs are a big deal for us.” Understanding each customer is different with personal concerns, they offer tailored solutions to keep the individual content and committed to their subscription.
The last thing a corporation wants is to have a bulk order of gifts, intended to give out to its employees on a specific date, arrive late. This nearly happened when a pallet of bags was delayed for a day at the shipping warehouse due to internal miscommunication. Erin recalls the situation, “The bags ended up getting to our corporate customer just in time, but it was an uncomfortable couple of days for us. Our agent stayed on top of the whole ordeal – she was in constant communication, provided up-to-date tracking, offered a partial refund, and threw in extras for the corporate customer to give away at their event.” Her efforts paid off – Bespoke Post received a good review and hasn’t had a similar issue since.
Erin goes on to say that corporate gifting has emerged as a successful revenue stream for Bespoke Post. After the corporation fills out a form with information about interests and number of employees, a CX team lead acts as a concierge and suggests products based on the answers to arrive at a custom solution. “Popular corporate gifts include a garment duffle bag from our private label, Halfday, and a personal concrete fireplace, which uses isopropyl alcohol and can be set up anywhere in a room,” Erin reveals.
Collaboration + Communication = Innovation
The company culture at Bespoke Post is one based on collaboration and communication. This was highlighted when the company made changes to its subscription service by offering multiple tiers at different prices. Consequently, questions arose for Erin’s team, specifically “how are we going to clearly and thoroughly explain these changes to our customers?” After meeting with the other department heads to think of every possible situation and how to address it, Erin rolled the action plan out to her team. “We then listened to our agents for feedback,” she points out. “They are just as important in the process as the team leaders.”
Looking Ahead: Focusing on the E-Commerce Shop
To widen its scope and online presence, Bespoke Post is shifting focus from its already successful subscription service to its E-Commerce shop. Motivating this move is the chance to fully realize the shop’s potential, specifically the product selection from private label brands. “In the upcoming year, that’s going to be a bigger drive for us as a company,” Erin adds.
Kustomer “We use Kustomer for our CRM.”
Slack
Seismic Learning
Google Drive
TalkDesk “We use Talk To Us for phones.”
Can’t-Live-Without-Tool? As someone whose job includes a lot of training, I can categorize my time as VP of CX as ‘before Lessonly’ and ‘after Lessonly.’ It’s allowed us to create beautiful lessons with quizzes at the end to see people’s performance grades. It’s a very efficient way to disseminate information.
What Excites You About E-Commerce? As much as I miss brick-and-mortar, in E-Commerce, you’re not limited to just what’s in your immediate area. You can shop from anywhere around the world and find products that truly fit your needs versus what’s just at Target. E-Commerce is a fun place with a lot of stuff that might not have made it in the traditional brick-and-mortar world but blew up because of the internet.
AI or No AI? I’m pro AI, but within reason. I talked about the importance of human touch, and my main fear with AI is that people are going to lose sight of that. We are actively looking into using it as a tool, not to replace our agents but to make their work easier. For example, conversational AI that answers basic order questions could free up our bandwidth to focus on more complicated issues.
#1 Challenge as a CX Leader? Making sure that everyone is on the same page. We have people spread internationally across all time zones. If I post an update at 12pm my time, someone may not see it until the next day. So, it’s about making sure everyone is getting the same information and no one is left out of the loop.
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