DRAWING PARALLEL LINES: Shaping Our Customer Experience
There are tons of young startups out there who are working hard to grow their business, but how many of them peel back the curtains to show the minutia involved to make it happen?
Would it be interesting to know what it takes...?
(Check out our YouTube post for the video version of this article, and make sure to subscribe!)
As a two-person team operating out of our home in San Diego (yes, it's floor-to-ceiling inventory), we love giving the inside scoop on the trials, tribulations, risks, and rewards of taking a leap and investing in a true passion project like we have with Driftline.
It's this level of honesty and open-door mindset that we've applied towards every aspect of our business, and we like to think it's paying off. That's especially true when it comes to our Customer Success – a component of business that's been quite interesting to manage while scaling up.
So who handles it? How do you guys manage with just two people?
One of the most important things we'd decided was to allow each other to live in our own lanes – meaning we trust each other to lead on certain aspects of the business that we individually have expertise on. Sure, we might "cross-step our way across the longboard" into each other's lanes here and there, but ultimately this works for us and gives us the breathing room to focus on what we excel at.
In our case, Customer Success happens to be in my lane (Greg's). With plenty of experience making 40+ calls per day as a corporate worker bee in a past life, I've been able to apply that towards the ~200 messages/month we get from our incredible customers. Exchanges, returns, feedback, questions, a rare complaint here or there...
So, we decided to make our approach similar to the concept of shaping a surfboard.
A shaper's goal is to create long, smooth rails and eliminate bumps along the surface of a board. But instead of using planers and sanding pads to smooth out the rigid corners, we use our brand voice, our honesty, and go the extra mile to make things perfect. Package lost in transit? We'll "glass your board for free" and personally call USPS to find out the details. Ordered the wrong size? All emails go directly to a Co-Founder and get a personalized response. Did we f*ck up your order even? Write me to vent, and we'll make it right without question.
Pictured: @imperfects_
By connecting truthfully, assuredly, and quickly to every message, we've been able to give you a glimpse into who we are as people. It's helped us find that balance that allows us to drive home the intention of our brand, while also remembering that we've "shaped" these products for you – our customers.
Things are rolling, and we freaking love the process. Stay tuned as we continue to share more on how to divide & conquer during brand growth – all in the midst of a global pandemic.
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