At A Glance

In this interview, Nathan Render, the Director of Customer Experience at Mockingbird, shares insights into the company's empathetic, customer-first approach. He discusses how Mockingbird has built a thriving remote culture, the key performance indicators driving their CX success, and the role of AI in enhancing, rather than replacing, human interactions. Nathan also highlights the importance of fostering a team of passionate, empathetic professionals who go above and beyond to delight customers.

Who is Nathan Render

Meet Nathan Render, the Director of Customer Experience at Mockingbird!

About Mockingbird

Mockingbird specializes in affordable premium baby gear, primarily strollers and high chairs, and accessories, offered at reasonable prices. Their product line consists of versatile, highly durable products that parents and families find to be stylish, safe, and comfortable for their children. 

Nathan’s CX Journey

Nathan has been with Mockingbird for over five years, starting as one of the first CX agents on the team. What began as a 10-to-15-hour-a-week part-time job quickly turned into a full-time role, then a leadership position overseeing a CX team that’s now 15 people strong. “It’s been a fun ride,” he says, watching the company grow from four employees to a nationally recognized brand with an incredible team culture. “I wouldn’t still be here if it weren’t for my amazing colleagues who have built this team right alongside me!” Before CX, Nathan worked in charitable foundations and nonprofits, education, entrepreneurship and co-working spaces, always in client-facing roles. “I was the connection point,” he says. “Supporting clients has always been at the center of what I do.” Even though this is his first formal customer experience title, the throughline in his career has always been clear: understanding people and helping them feel supported.

What Nathan Loves About CX

Nathan loves that Mockingbird’s approach to CX allows him to just be human, honest, direct, and open. “We’re not trying to be someone or something we aren’t,” he says. “That’s what makes this work feel so real.” Even with all the noise around AI, Nathan feels confident in the brand’s direction. It’s an exciting time, he says, and while tools like AI can enhance support, they should never replace the human moments that matter most. For Mockingbird, it’s about making sure the right people are having the right conversations, at the right time, and for the right reasons. They recognize their customers are generally coming to them for support at a delicate, transformational, and often anxious, period in their lives as they grow their family. So that human connection piece is extra important. 

The CX Team at Mockingbird

Nathan is proud of the remote-first culture his team has built at Mockingbird. “When I joined, I was going to be the first remote hire—then COVID hit, and everything changed,” he says. The company closed its physical office and began hiring nationwide, with team members now spread across the U.S. But instead of trying to recreate office life online, Nathan and the team approached the transition with first-principles thinking. “We didn’t just ask what others were doing—we thought about what would work best for us.” That’s led to a Slack-heavy, flexible culture rooted in intention, not imitation. Nathan’s team is built of individuals who are experts at handling a range of tasks in CX, but most importantly, they’re kind, smart, and thoughtful people (and great writers!). Nathan is quick to point out that he didn't create the team by himself; collaboration with leadership and other CX colleagues has been crucial.

“We’re looking for folks who can do it all. Everyone on our team is a generalist, handling every channel and ticket type,” he explains. Once hired, new agents go through six to eight weeks of training before they're fully up to speed. And people stick around. The shortest tenure on the team right now is two and a half years,” Nathan says. “That’s something we’re really proud of.”

CX Team Success Factors

Nathan says the CX team keeps a close eye on KPIs—but not in a rigid way. “We’ve played with our metrics a lot over the years, and they’re still evolving,” he says. Right now, core KPIs include CSAT, average first response time (with separate tracking for static channels and live chat), and the ratio of team-answered tickets to those handled by automation. Some metrics are more contextual, like how many tickets come in per order, or how many questions customers ask before they make a purchase. “We get a ton of pre-purchase questions,” Nathan notes. “It’s just the nature of our product. Parents have a lot they want to know before they buy.”

Revenue Generation/AI/topics of interest 

Nathan highlights the strategic focus areas Mockingbird is working on for 2025. The first priority is optimizing customer resolution efficiency, which means speeding up processes without compromising the quality of customer interactions. "We want to spend an extra minute with a customer if it improves their experience," he explains. Along with this, they aim to enhance and expand the availability of channels, including exploring AI-powered live chat and potentially reopening inbound phone support. Next is improving service delivery and consistency, which involves maintaining high standards for QA and continuing professional development for the veteran CX Team. Finally, Mockingbird focuses on empowering team members with automations and clearer decision-making frameworks, and so they can make many decisions on their own without needing to escalate as many topics to a manager. These four strategic pillars, optimizing resolution efficiency, channel enhancement and expansion, service excellence and consistency, and team empowerment, are guiding the company as it moves through the year.

Thoughts on AI

Nathan reflects on the crowded and fast-paced space that customer experience AI tools are currently occupying. "Everyone is trying to get a piece of it," he says, but not in a negative sense. There’s just a lot happening, and it’s evolving quickly. Given this, Mockingbird has taken a step back to observe which tools best align with their needs. The focus is on empathy, which is central to their CX approach. "We really lead with empathy, standing in our customer’s shoes and understanding the transformative moment they’re going through as they hope to grow their family." Mockingbird aims to meet customers where they are in their journey and make their lives easier. When it comes to AI, Nathan envisions it as an enhancer rather than a replacement. For now, the goal is to leverage AI to improve agent efficiency and collect information during off-hours in a friendly, human-like manner. He emphasizes that AI will be an additive tool, not something that replaces the human touch at the core of their approach.

Advice for CX Leaders

For Nathan, great customer experience starts with the right people: "It's really about the humans you surround yourself with." He prioritizes honesty, transparency, and empathy, advising his team to answer questions directly and avoid overwhelming customers with unnecessary details.