At A Glance

Oscar Bueno's transformation of Wuffes' customer service, has seen an average response time drop from five days to an astounding twelve minutes. With an emphasis on team well-being, creative tech implementations, and strategic adjustments, Oscar's leadership has raised the bar for customer experience in the pet supplement sector.

Who is Oscar Bueno?

Meet Oscar Bueno, the Director of Operations at Wuffes!

About Wuffes

Wuffes’s mission is to make pet’s lives healthier and happier through quality supplements. Wuffes specializes in supplements for joint and hip problems in dogs, using scientifically backed ingredients sourced by in-house researchers.

Oscar's CX Journey

Oscar's early experience in a call center shaped his understanding of customer interactions. After a few years, he began working with OnStar, where he immersed himself in a customer-first culture, learning about the impact of high-quality customer service. Here, he embraced the idea that exceptional customer experience is about building relationships and trust beyond the transaction.

Oscar then pivoted to the E-Commerce sector, where he learned about the fast-paced world of digital customer interactions. In this arena, he learned to navigate the unique challenges of online customer service, developing strategies that were proactive, efficient, and customer-centric. “When you’re shopping online,” he says, “it’s how fast you’re there for customers, how easy it is for you to answer questions, and how to have them push for sale at the end of the day.”

Joining Wuffes marks the most recent milestone in Oscar's career. He started as a consultant for their customer service strategy, bringing him face-to-face with one of his biggest challenges yet–entirely revamping the company's customer service framework and reducing their five-day response time. Faced with significant challenges, Oscar successfully reshaped the subscription model, developed their internal team, and implemented a trustworthy chatbox. 

The CX Team at Wuffes

As the number of Wuffes customer service contacts has increased to 40,000, Oscar’s team has grown from four to ten members. “When I look at our CX team,” he says, “it’s the same exact people we started with. So that also helps us push culture. It’s our brand. We’re very close to our customers.”

The team members work remotely and across several countries, including Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and the Phillippines. It helps them cover all time zones to ensure round-the-clock customer service. It also allows them to make sure every member can enjoy their day-to-day life. He adds, “No one’s doing overnight shifts. No one’s losing a random hour of their day.”

His inclusive team management prioritizes both emotional well-being and professional development. Despite the challenges of remote work, the team stays committed to developing connections with each other. Bi-weekly "Pack Thursdays" (with activities such as online treasure hunts) contribute significantly to building a cohesive team culture in a remote setup.

KPIs Oscar is Tracking

Oscar employs a holistic strategy in assessing KPIs. He monitors Wuffes's chat success metrics, revealing that the chat platform has achieved a commendable 65% success rate in assisting customers.

Following this, he evaluates customer service response times, aiming for a 90% response rate within the first thirty minutes—an objective that the team has consistently surpassed, boasting an impressive average of around twelve minutes. This significant improvement was achieved through the implementation of an efficient chat system and a refined team structure. Reflecting on this achievement, Oscar states, "When I started as a consultant for them, they were doing a really scary five-day response time... We've made a ton of changes." 

Creating a Community

Another key element to Wuffes excellent customer service is their vibrant Facebook community. Customers share their experiences with the community and provide the CX team with valuable insights to address and resolve issues. Oscar and Wuffes’s CEO Sam are extremely active in the facebook posts, comments, and questions, cultivating a culture of transparency and responsiveness. The customer service team, as part of their training, also consistently engages with every post, providing solutions openly. 

The Facebook group’s positive impact is evident through customers sharing transformative experiences, and fostering a supportive community connection. “I would say that our customers do the work for us.” Oscar comments, adding "It’s given us the space to say, ‘Feel free to tag us whenever you see something that’s happening.’ We make sure that we respond to every single post. We are very transparent when it comes to communication.” 

These posts and their responses from other customers range anywhere from questions about what product is right for their dog to asking when they can expect to see results. The unique community of dog lovers is quick to rally around their fellow dog parents, sharing their insights when their dog of a similar size or breed has seen transformative results from the product. 

Tech Stack 

Zowie

Shopify 

Aircall

To AI or Not To AI? 

Wuffles’s CX team heavily relies on Zowie, a generative AI chatbot specifically designed for E-Commerce. The AI tool offers personalized, real-time customer support and enhances the online shopping experience. Zowie also efficiently organizes all tickets, comments, and interactions across Wuffes’s Instagram, Facebook, and Aircall. 

However, Oscar wasn’t always as supportive of AI. He was initially skeptical towards AI in chatbots, noting the complexity of customer expressions. While Oscar admits to finding the concept still challenging to fully comprehend, the remarkable success rates, hitting 60% in customer interactions, undeniably highlight the positive impact of embracing AI.

Implementing AI at Wuffes also yields financial benefits by eliminating the need for additional staff, with AI efficiently managing the workload. By leveraging Zowie to streamline customer service, Wuffes not only retains its close-knit team but also gains the flexibility to shut down during holidays. This dual strategy enhances operational efficiency and cultivates a stronger company culture by fostering close team bonds.

Customer Retention

Under Oscar's leadership, Wuffes has seen a significant improvement in customer retention, largely attributed to the introduction of a Director of Retention. This role effectively deploys automated systems focused on educating customers and offering streamlined discounts. Through the implementation of strategic automated flows centered around education and discounting processes, Wuffes has achieved impressive results;  their latest figures reveal that approximately 10% of customers are now successfully retained through these automated initiatives.

Furthermore, Oscar's decision to reactivate phone lines has greatly improved customer relationships. He explains, "It’s easier to understand what they’re feeling... We’re there to teach them and to make them fall in love with [our mission]." This approach underscores Wuffes' commitment to a more humanized customer experience

Advice to Other CX Leaders

Oscar strongly advocates for leaders to immerse themselves regularly in frontline customer service. This hands-on involvement provides leaders with unfiltered insights into customer needs and the effectiveness of current CX strategies. Oscar believes that direct engagement is invaluable in shaping a leader's understanding of what truly works and what doesn't in customer service. He adds, “When you get down to the phone lines or answering emails and chats, it really gives you a new perspective.”

Moreover, Oscar emphasizes the importance of well-documented processes in the realm of CX. He argues that clear, concise, and easily accessible documentation is essential for maintaining high standards of service, especially in dynamic environments where quick decision-making is often required. These documented processes serve as a guide for new team members, a reference for training, and a benchmark for continuous improvement.