Maybe you’re someone who is just starting to build their career and wants to get an insider's look at what you should be thinking about. Or perhaps you’re heading up CX at a larger company and want to get some in-depth case studies and information to gut-check your assumptions.
It’s most likely that you’re a midlevel manager who gives a hoot about your customers and is always looking to learn.
We’ve designed this book to be used as a guide. You can read it in sequence or flip around to the specific sections that you are interested in. It’s meant to sit on your desk like an old dog-eared friend and, when you're done, be passed on to your protege. This book is filled with love.
CXOXO: Building a Support Team Your Customers Will Love focuses on more than just KPIs and strategies. Of course, those things matter to your team’s success, but showing a healthy amount of team appreciation does too.
Download these CX-centric Valentine’s Day cards and gift your team all the feels.
She’s an accomplished CX professional who knows the industry inside and out. Now, she’s sharing all in an evergreen book that’ll help you on your journey.
Mercer Smith is currently the VP of Managed Operations at PartnerHero, but, has worn many other hats. Along with numerous roles in customer-facing leadership at companies like Wistia, Trello, Atlassian, and Appcues, she has worked in service of people for almost her entire life. Her most notable contribution to the customer experience space is that of a community builder, connecting CX humans to others in meaningful and creative ways.
She lives in Austin, Texas, with her horde of zany boy children, hairless cats, and her partner. It is arguably the hardest support role she has worked in yet.
Dive into Mercer’s thought process in this short but sweet Q&A.
Can you describe what this book is about in one or two sentences?
This book is about how to create your customer experience strategy from literally nothing. Whether you have a ton of stuff built out or you’re just coming from a Google shared inbox for support, this should be able to help you—if I’ve done my work properly.
What inspired you to write it?
I’ve spent years and years in the CX space as a mentor and a mentee. There are so many great lessons out there locked up in people’s brains. A lot of my work over the last few years has been to de-silo that knowledge and get more sharing going within the space. This book is an amalgamation of everything that I’ve learned from my experience, and you can read it on your own time!
What do you think is most misunderstood about the CX industry?
So many people think that CX and Support are just “jumping off points” into more “exciting” parts of the tech world, like Product or Engineering. That’s not the case! CX and Support are careers in their own right and take incredible skill.
How would you describe your relationship with the CX industry and the people in it? What drew you to it, and what made you stay?
The people here are the best. So many folks that I’ve met in my professional life are now close personal contacts. They’re caring, detail-oriented, and always willing to educate me. As to what drew me to it? I make this joke (inspired by a talk given by my friend Heidi Craun) that all people who work in CX are inherently traumatized and were taught that the only way they were able to be valued by others was by offering help. I’d say that’s true of me. I’ve always wanted to help people. I’ve always wanted to create a meaningful impact. So, that’s what drew me here, and that’s what’s kept me here.
What do you think is on the horizon for CX folks? What are you excited about?
I am so excited for the backswing from AI. Everyone is talking about “automate this” and “workflow that,” but no one is talking about how when we find meaningful efficiencies in industries, there’s a backswing to the “before times.” For instance, the return to sourdough bread and bespoke coffee. For years “sliced bread” was used as a benchmark for “the best,” and I remember about 10 years ago when coffee bots were popping up all over and being lauded.We’re going to see that backswing big time in CX. The true bespoke, human experiences are going to be valued over the level of efficiency that a team can provide a customer. People are going to want more heart again, and we’re going to be there to provide it.
