At A Glance

Erica Batista, Head of Customer Experience at Minikatana, blends her background in operations and startup culture with her passion for creating streamlined, people-first systems. In her role, she crafts both efficient processes and a work environment where empathy drives every decision. Through her hands-on leadership, Erica ensures that every customer interaction feels personal while maintaining scalability. From refining SOPs to nurturing customer loyalty, Erica’s focus on optimizing systems is a core pillar of Minikatana’s success.

Who is Erica Batista?

Meet Erica, the Head of Customer Success at Mini Katana!

About Mini Katana

Mini Katana specializes in swords. The website has a wide variety of products. Some are inspired by anime designs, while others are completely original. While katanas are (naturally) the focus, you’ll find plenty of options on their website. Perfect for decoration, fantasy, or fun!

Erica’s CX Journey

Erica is the Head of Customer Experience at Minikatana, where she brings anime fans closer to high-quality swords, knives, and collectibles. But her path into customer experience wasn’t exactly planned—it was something she uncovered after years of wearing multiple hats in the startup world. “I built a company myself, and I’ve worked in a lot of hybrid roles,” Erica said. “I kept noticing that the part I loved most was creating systems and experiences for people.” With a background in operations, account management, and startup growth, Erica eventually leaned into the customer success side full-time. Today, she leads CX for one of the fastest-growing fandom brands online, blending structure with creativity, and a genuine love for fans.

What Excites Erica About CX

What excites Erica most about customer experience is its quiet power, the way thoughtful service can shape how someone feels about a brand long after the transaction is over. “Sometimes it just doesn’t have to be complicated,” she said. “Simple gestures or really good systems can build real loyalty. I still shop at some brands today just because of how they made me feel.” For Erica, CX isn’t an afterthought, it’s the heart of the business. And she takes pride in proving just how impactful it can be.

The CX Team at Minikatana

For Erica, building a strong CX team starts with empathy. “I think the number one, and I’m sure it’s what you always hear, is it has to be empathy first,” she said. That mindset isn’t just good for customers, it helps create a healthier team dynamic too. Beyond that, she emphasizes adaptability, especially in the fast-moving world of e-commerce and startups. “I’ve changed our SOPs several times since writing the first version,” she added, pointing to how quickly things shift. Strong communication rounds out her list of must-haves, both for internal collaboration and customer interactions.

Eliminating Guesswork

One of Erica’s first moves at Minikatana was to build structure. “We have so much written down, videos, a detailed help desk, tons of email templates,” she explained. Her goal was to make onboarding smooth and scalable, even for a small, remote team. Shadowing and hands-on ticket work help new hires ease in, while an open, collaborative culture ensures no one’s left alone when questions come up. “We’re still a startup, so you kind of have to be able to jump in the water, but know we’re right there with you,” she said.

CX Team Success Factors

With over 20 million YouTube followers and a young, highly engaged audience, Minikatana once fielded customer questions across social media, phone, and email. But as head of customer experience, Erica quickly realized that a lean team required more focus. “Email-only keeps the inquiries meaningful,” she said. “Social DMs flooded our inbox with stuff that didn’t actually need help.” Phones, too, felt unsustainable. The tighter channel strategy cuts down on noise and improves efficiency, but Erica is already looking ahead: “I’m hoping we can introduce live chat soon as the team grows.” One of Erica’s biggest priorities this year has been preventing customer issues before they happen. “The best customer success is the kind that happens before the customer ever reaches out,” she said. That meant tackling logistics head-on, most notably, overseeing a major warehouse transition that’s already led to smoother shipping and fewer complaints. Now, with operations stabilized, Erica is zeroing in on two friction-heavy areas: fraud checks and returns. “If I can streamline those, we’ll cut down on tickets and give customers a much better experience.”

Revenue Generation/AI/topics of interest 

At Minikatana, Erica has embraced AI as a way to improve speed, but not at the cost of quality. Her team uses a help desk tool called Commslayer, which pulls from Shopify data and conversation history to generate auto-responses. “It actually produces really good replies,” she said. “But I always tell my team: use it as a tool, not a replacement.” For Erica, personalization still matters. She insists every message is reviewed for tone and relevance. “Make it work for you, don’t let it do the work for you.” Looking ahead, she sees even more potential for AI, not just to assist with conversations, but to predict customer needs before they surface.

How CX Drives Revenue

Erica sees customer experience not just as a service function, but as a revenue driver. At Minikatana, her team takes a proactive approach to customer retention, especially through “win-back” conversations with those who’ve canceled subscriptions or had negative experiences. “Anybody could potentially be a loyal advocate,” she said. That mindset shapes everything, from personalized follow-ups to a hands-on subscription program that ensures no one receives a duplicate sword. “We go through the history for each customer,” she explained. “It's very manual, but it matters.” As the brand looks to scale, one of Erica’s key challenges is maintaining that high-touch approach while expanding the subscription base and preserving customer loyalty.

Key Advice

For Erica, customer experience is rooted in humanity, both in how you treat customers and how you support your team. “Never lose sight of the human element of this position,” she said. By investing in her team’s growth and leading with empathy, she believes the tone set internally inevitably shapes the quality of customer interactions. “The easier you can make things for everybody, the better the experience will be,” she added. Whether through streamlined systems or thoughtful mentorship, Erica’s approach is about building people-first experiences that scale without losing their soul.