At A Glance

Megan McGarvey’s path to Krewe was shaped by her diverse CX background at Lululemon and her passion for fostering community connections. At Krewe, she leads a close-knit team that is committed to delivering top-tier service, from personalized frame recommendations to ensuring smooth warranty experiences. Megan’s leadership style is grounded in trust, curiosity, and a deep understanding of the importance of human connection, setting Krewe apart as a customer-centric luxury brand.

Who is Megan McGarvey?

Meet Megan McGarvey, the Director of Service CX + Fulfillment at Krewe!

About Krewe du optic

Krewe is a luxury eyewear brand that specializes in handcrafted frames inspired by the energy and diversity of everyday life. The company began in New Orleans, with the brand founder selling glasses out of a mobile cart. Since its humble origins, Krewe has grown into an international E-Commerce company.

Megan’s CX Journey

Megan McGarvey's journey into customer experience (CX) began in event planning, where she honed her service mindset while organizing large-scale conferences in Washington, D.C. This experience laid the foundation for her future career in CX.

Her path then led her to Lululemon, where she spent nearly four years in various roles. "Lulu is a super like from like the stores on up is just a super customer centric environment," Megan explained.

At Lululemon, she gained diverse experience in retail, events, marketing, and ambassador program growth before transitioning to their CX team.

In her CX role at Lululemon, Megan managed a team of 15 "digital educators," giving her valuable experience in leading customer service operations. However, a desire for community connection post-COVID led her to seek opportunities in New Orleans. Her familiarity with Krewe as a customer, combined with informational interviews, ultimately resulted in her current position as a CX manager at the company.

Home Roots

Megan describes Krewe as "a New Orleans brand through and through." She highlights how this local identity shapes the company's operations, from its workforce to its shipping practices. "Most of my team, except for one person, is based out of New Orleans. We ship everything to all our consumers, our wholesale accounts, everyone, all out of New Orleans," Megan explains.

However, Megan also points out Krewe's global ambitions. While celebrating its local heritage, the company maintains what she calls "a global attitude." This balance is achieved in part through a satellite office in New York City, allowing Krewe to blend its New Orleans charm with a broader, international perspective. For Megan, this combination of local roots and global outlook defines Krewe's unique approach to business.

The CX Team at Krewe

Megan leads a small, dedicated customer experience team at Krewe. Most of the team is based in New Orleans, with one remote agent in Charlotte. "It's important that we're creating jobs in the city and that everyone on the team is close by or in close communication," she explains, emphasizing Krewe's commitment to its local roots.

What sets Krewe's CX team apart is their hands-on involvement in the entire customer journey. They not only handle inquiries but also physically process E-Commerce returns, adding a quality control component to their role.

Megan says, "I've seen our team go as far to like go back into the warehouse, pick out a couple frames... sending photos to customers over email so that the consumer can actually pick out the frame they want." This level of personalized service demonstrates Krewe's commitment to exceptional customer experience, blending local touch with high-end service.

Managing Her Team

Megan acknowledges the challenge of balancing her team's workload with their professional growth. "The biggest challenge is just ensuring that I'm offering different projects for them to have a little break or a moment out of just like the CX tickets space," she explains. Her goal is to provide team members with exposure to various areas of the organization.

When it comes to hiring, Megan looks for specific qualities in potential CX team members. "I look for curiosity and personal responsibility," she states.

She values candidates who can demonstrate their ability to go above and beyond, particularly in handling consumer issues or escalations. Megan prioritizes individuals who can "lean into trust" when dealing with customers, showing a strong sense of resolution ability and a customer-first mindset.

CX Team Success Factors

Megan's team at Krewe manages customer interactions through multiple channels, including email, SMS, and phone. They recently paused their chat service due to bandwidth issues but plan to relaunch it soon, now that they're confident in meeting their desired service level agreements (SLAs).

When it comes to measuring success, Megan focuses on three key metrics: response time, customer satisfaction (CSAT), and Net Promoter Score (NPS). "Response time is always one of the biggest ones," she explains.

Beyond these, the team analyzes reasons for contact to optimize their processes and reduce the need for customers to reach out. This involves improving information availability on product pages, in stores, and through digital communications.

Future Objectives

Looking ahead, Megan has set several priorities for enhancing the customer experience. A major focus is improving their frame warranty program, which offers free replacements for full-price purchases. "We're in some initial stages of understanding how we can improve this experience on the front end for the consumer," Megan notes. This includes refining the website, contact forms, and elevating the overall replacement experience, from communication tone to packaging. Additionally, Megan aims to aggregate data from various sources - including tickets, NPS, and product reviews - into a single platform for more comprehensive insights.

Tech Stack

Gorgias—“The integrations that they offer are great!”

Revenue Generation/AI/topics of interest 

Megan emphasizes how Krewe's CX team directly contributes to revenue generation through personalized product recommendations. "Sunglasses are so personal and it can be very difficult to buy online," she explains. The team excels at understanding each customer's unique needs, from face shape to personal style, often using customer-provided photos to guide their suggestions.

These moments, though not strictly typical to CX work, are what makes Krewe effective at establishing lasting relationships with customers that both strengthen their brand and build repeat business. 

AI?

Megan expresses a cautious stance on AI in customer service for Krewe. While acknowledging its potential, she emphasizes the company's commitment to maintaining a personal touch.

"For Krewe, we really want to maintain a hyper-personal level of customer service," she explains. "We want to make sure that someone is talking to a voice, a real voice on the other end."

Megan doesn't plan to implement AI in the near future, valuing human interaction over automated responses. However, she doesn't dismiss AI entirely, suggesting it could potentially support with quick-response questions in the future.

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