Who is Mike?

Meet Mike McGee, Director of Customer Experience at Mugsy!

About Mugsy

Mugsy is a men’s apparel brand that believes you shouldn't have to sacrifice comfort for style. Mugsy’s goal is simple—redefine men's clothes for the modern guy. Since launching in fall 2016 with its ridiculously comfortable yet stylish men's jeans, Mugsy has expanded its apparel line to include chinos, joggers, shorts, shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, and jackets.

Mike’s CX Journey

Mike was first introduced to Mugsy through an Ad he heard while listening to a podcast on Barstool sports. Comfortable, stylish jeans for men was just what Mike was looking for – he bought a pair and ended up loving them so much that he replied to his confirmation email to see how he could use his background in apparel to help the company. Mugsy’s founder saw it, emailed back, and they started talking. “Five years, I’m sitting here with this job,” Mike says. “But really, it was just an organic relationship based on me loving the product that led to this role.” 

What Excites Mike About CX

Before working for Mugsy as Directory of Customer Experience, Mike held various back-end positions “that make a company come to life” including supply chain operations, product development, and calendar management. Customer service was new territory and Mike credits his experience in IT type roles for aiding the transition. By leveraging technology, automation, and people in CX, he wants to create that same “good feeling” he had when Mugsy’s founder took the time to reply for customers. He elaborates, “It feels like a relationship you are building with the brand and you’re talking to someone you know… my standpoint is how do we make sure that the customers who are getting a great product from us are having a great experience along with that.”

The CX Team at Mugsy

The notion of ‘empowerment’ comes up often when Mike is talking about his team. This means making sure his agents know what is going on in the company outside of customer service. “We have new product launches, marketing initiatives, and new ads. Anything that the customer sees, I want to make sure that our team is aware of it,” he says. Understanding the wide context of the company allows agents to identify, address, and resolve problems accordingly while being aware how these problems may (or may not) affect other departments.

Key Traits Mike Looks for in New Hires

Mike believes people that have a sense of urgency and are willing to take initiative make the best CX agents. From a customer’s perspective, they want an answer quickly. “Urgency has to be at the forefront,” he states. “And making sure that the customer is being treated the same way as they are coming to us.” He goes on to stress the importance of empowering his team, so they feel confident to do what is needed to make the customer’s experience better. He would rather see his agents bend the rules if it means bettering CX so the customer buys from the company again. “We are in the business of selling really good jeans. Let’s not wait for someone to tell us what to do. Let’s just do it and apologize after the fact. So far, that’s been successful, and I feel like it builds empowerment and trust in the people that are doing the tickets and answering emails.”

CX Team Success Factors

At Musgsy, order management and marketing are mostly handled through email and as a result, email is the top communication channel with customers, followed by text and social. Understanding that some customers want to talk to a person, Mike is considering adding phone support, but has reservations regarding efficiency. He explains, “As soon as you get on the phone, you’re waiting, you’re dialing, you’re figuring out what they need. And then there is no record of what happened and how we can revisit it.”

Looking Ahead: Key Goals and Priorities

Asked about his CX goals, both immediate and long-term, Mike begins by discussing Mugsy’s immediate plans for taking on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. “We have a new structure this year and it’s always a little bit of a worry if the team is going to be able to scale up.”  From a customer service perspective, the company’s quick growth in turn, asks a lot of agents – burn out, slower responses, and lack of empathy for customers on-edge about orders being delivered on time can happen during peak season. For this reason, Mike is focused on a high CSAT rating, response time, and making sure the ticket backlog stays manageable. 

Long-term goals include continuing to leverage AI so that it keeps balanced with customer satisfaction. “When we initially launched AI, there was some hesitation,” Mike. Even though the correct answer was there, some customers didn’t like how quickly the answer was given upon realizing that it didn’t come from a person (available agents are there but working on more complex tickets). “Our aim is to be able to fully integrate AI in a way that it doesn’t take away from the experience,” Mike says. 

Examining the CX journey from start to finish to isolate and address problem areas is another main priority. Listing the major customer touchpoints where issues arise, Mike then asks, “How do we make sure that those experiences are still valid? And are there levels that we can go much deeper?” Education and improving processes create a seamless and efficient customer experience, ultimately reducing the need for support interactions.

Topics of Interest

Asked what he thinks when tickets are quiet, Mike replies, “I think about how I can reach out to some customers and make sure that the experience is still great. Or are there still holes?,” Recognizing that not everyone leaves a review about their experience, good or bad, Mugsy talked to 100 incentivized customers over the course of a month to gauge performance related to customer service, marketing, and product. The study offered valuable insight, revealing not only the customers’ experience, but also where they lived and how they discovered the brand. “It helped us set the tone for the year – this is how we want to market, sell the product, and speak to our customers,” Mike notes. He believes that regular ‘sit down sessions’ are helpful for keeping the company grounded and connected to customers. “I think it’s making sure that you’re not too separated from customers whether that’s through customer service or surveys that you’re unaware of how your brand is being perceived by people,” he adds.

Advice for CX Leaders

Mike maintains that to be a good CX leader at an apparel brand, you must know your product. He explains, “If you can build a company culture where the people and teams know the product, they understand the vision and they understand the customer’s experience, what they are looking for and what they are going to get, it makes it so much easier.”