As VP and Head of Global Customer Experience at StubHub, this week’s podcast guest knows a thing or two about delivering exceptional CX. In our latest episode, we’re chatting with Daron Fowlks about how the world’s largest secondary ticketing marketplace makes every brand interaction a VIP experience.    

What people want: confidence

Daron has been working in the CX world for over 20 years, during which time customer expectations have changed significantly — as have the strategies brands use to try and meet those expectations. But one thing that hasn’t changed is what people need.

When people are buying your product or service, Daron says, they don’t want to think about what they’ll have to do if they need help. They don’t actually want to contact your brand in the first place. But if they have to, the experience should be simple and seamless. “When a customer has an issue,” Daron says, “that’s when we need to become our best. We need to make sure we hear, understand, and resolve their concerns quickly. And they need to know what to do next.” 

Fulfilling all of these needs at speed is how you make customers feel valued. It’s how you build their confidence in your brand. And that’s what keeps them coming back. Daron says, “I truly believe that effective service, exceptional service, is a brand differentiator.”

Understanding and resolving friction points

When you’re trying to make a purchase, any roadblock to completion can result in abandonment. This is especially true of high-dollar products and services, which is where StubHub typically operates. Daron explains, “As a secondary ticketing marketplace, we understand there may be some concerns. We noticed about four and a half years ago that people would come through and look at tickets and then abandon their cart. We believed it had to do with trust.” 

To help buyers overcome these concerns, StubHub started reaching out to people who had abandoned their ticket purchase to put their minds at ease, saying, “Here we are, and here’s our fan protection guarantee.” In fact, podcast host Perri Chaikof was on the receiving end of one of these interactions a few years back and says she was amazed by the experience. And you know what else is amazing about this simple tactic? The revenue increase StubHub saw once they started doing it.

Keeping your finger on the pulse

The number one metric Daron and his team use to measure their success is customer satisfaction. They look at CSAT scores every single day to see what’s trending, what’s causing friction, and how they’re solving for those issues.

In addition to frequent surveys, the CX team also engages directly with customers to find out how they view the StubHub brand and what they can do to improve. To prioritize what needs to be fixed, they map out the entire customer journey and identify where people are dropping out of the buying or selling flow. Then they work with their product and technology teams to solve those pain points. 

StubHub uses chat to reach out and proactively help customers who are stalling out. Daron explains, “We’ll pop in to say, ‘I see you’ve been here for a while, what’s going on?’” It’s this level of personalized, concierge-like support that helps to build loyalty — what Perri calls “the ultimate vote of confidence.”

Get the full scoop

Check out this week’s episode to hear what else Daron has to say about the power of brand interactions and dig deeper into these key takeaways:

• Speed and ease will always be critical in customer service
• Every interaction is an opportunity to build confidence 
• Repeat business is the best indicator of CX success

You can find Daron on LinkedIn.