Who is Ken?

Meet Ken Easthouse, Systems and Analytics Manager at SpotOn Fence!

About SpotOn Fence

SpotOn Fence reinvented dog containment so dogs and owners everywhere can enjoy wire-free, hassle-free, and worry-free fences. They replaced the hardware with True Location™ GPS Technology to provide the most reliable wireless dog containment solution. With SpotOn Fence you can simply set the boundary and leave your dog to go about their business, while you go about your day.

Ken’s CX Journey

Ken got his start in CX early in his career when he took a position at a contact center. “I had just left a job at a big media company due to burn out and needed something to pay the bills at the time,” he recalls. “I quickly found myself falling in love with customer service.” Working his way up to a supervisor role in customer service at 1-800 Medicare during the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, contributing as part of a larger team managing the contract, which involved over 20,000 employees. In 2020, he joined Wayfair to help establish and lead customer service at the company’s new contact center on the East Coast, working collaboratively with a team of leaders. Seeking a new challenge, Ken joined SpotOn Fence as Customer Service Manager in January 2022. As the company grew and he took on more systems responsibilities, his role evolved, eventually leading to his title being adjusted to VP of Customer Experience.

The CX Team at SpotOn Fence

It’s been exciting for Ken to watch the CX team evolve in such a short time - he started with only 3 agents and now manages over 20 members. “We’ve gone from being something that was minimal without much structure to being what differentiates SpotOn Fence from our competitors.” The team is hybrid-remote with members coming into the office 2 to 3 days a week. As a leader, Ken values connectivity and hopes to see everyone return to the office full-time once the facilities are expanded. 

Fostering a collaborative work culture is important at SpotOn Fence. Ken elaborates, “The technology our products use is unique, and customers have a lot of questions. In the beginning, if we were unsure of something, we could go one office over and ask the person who invented it. The ability to work together as a company under one roof allowed us to collaborate in ways other companies don’t.”

Top Challenges as a CX Leader

Ken’s top challenge has been building a dynamic team skilled to support SpotOn Fence’s tremendous growth. “We need to make sure we have the right people in the right seats,” he notes. AI systems are being integrated to provide additional support, freeing up agents from simple tasks. “It’s a constant balancing act, which I think the whole e-commerce space is grappling with right now. We want to put our best foot forward when taking care of our customers while making sure issues are taken care of in a timely manner.”

Hiring New Team Members

Ken looks for people with a high degree of technical proficiency and strong communication skills. “We’re dealing with GPS and cell technology, Bluetooth connections with an app interface. My agents must be able to explain these things in a clear, accessible way to an audience that may not be tech savvy.

During interviews, Ken tests a candidate’s skills by having them explain how to make a paper airplane from start to finish. “I turn around so I’m back-facing, and ask them to walk me through the process, step-by-step.” He goes on to say, “These are the types of conversations we have with customers. We may not be able to see the customer’s phone, but with the feedback they provide, we can walk them through point A to point B to find a solution.” 

Ken’s very proud of his team’s success so far, noting that they have reached KPI milestones and received the Stevie Awards 2 years in a row.

Onboarding & Training New Hires

Drawing from his experience at contact centers, Ken starts his new hires with a designated training period of 2 to 3 weeks. Then they begin a nest period, which includes observing what it’s like to handle chat, email, and phone calls. Having intimate product knowledge is crucial. “Each new agent is given a collar and a checklist of things to do. We want them to be as familiar with the product as a customer who is going to use it every day.”

CX Team Success Factors

Optimizing Communication Channels

When Ken started at SpotOn Fence, the channel breakdown was 50% email, 25% chat, and 25% phone. They now operate at 50% phone, 30% chat, and 20% email. Explaining the shift, Ken says, “We make ourselves available. Our philosophy is to meet the customer where they are at. Our customer base appreciates having a phone number they can call and talk to someone and explain their issue.” He notes that they spend less than 20 seconds in IVR and phone call wait time is less than 1 minute.

Handling Escalations

SpotOn Fence has processes in place with a dedicated senior level staff ready to review any escalating problems. Understanding that a bad review on Amazon is highly visible to the public, Ken says, “We take all complaints very seriously. Our goal is to resolve these issues as quickly as possible so there isn’t a negative experience for the customer.”

CX Goals and Priorities

As SpotOn Fence continues to grow, the company is focused on maintaining the same collaborative spirit that it had during the very early stages. “We are working from the same blueprint,” Ken adds. “Systems have been built out to ensure a highly collaborative work environment. The departments check in on each other and are aware of what the others are doing.”

Prioritizing Proactive CX

“We were one of the first to introduce pet GPS technology. When I started, many of our calls were from people just asking ‘how does this thing work?,’” Ken says. “We were doing a lot of customer education at that point.” The market is more mature with more competitors now resulting in less opportunity for customer education. Ken credits their marketing team for the company’s pre-purchase success. “They do an incredible job at finding those customers for whom our product can be a solution.”

CX and Customer Retention

“Our goal has always been to have our customer service be a differentiator,” Ken remarks. “It’s about building trust between the functional technology and if an issue comes up, we are going to take care of it as quickly as possible. This has allowed us to have ongoing relationships with our customers.” 

Topics of Interest

AI or No AI?

When asked about the future of CX, Ken goes straight to the topic of AI. Companies viewing customer service as a cost to be controlled are going to leverage AI, but he feels this isn’t the right approach to good CX. “I think we’re going to meet somewhere in the middle where AI addresses immediate, simple questions to free up our agents so they can handle difficult questions that require conversation. I still think there’s a brand of company out there, like SpotOn Fence, that can lean into CX as a whole and benefit. That’s where our customers’ demands are going to be.”

Advice for CX Leaders

Ken advises CX leaders to “keep an open mind. We are in a moment when the world is changing so quickly – old conventions and idioms that were in place at the start of our careers don’t apply anymore.” Doing this, he feels, will prepare leaders to adapt and acclimate to changes in the industry without being left behind.

Tech Stack

Freshdesk

Slack  “We use Slack to communicate within the company.”

Forethought AI  “4Thut AI is our AI partner, they have been fantastic to work with.”

Shopify Plus 

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