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1. Lead with Empathy: Erica believes effective leadership centers on empathy and recognizing that people make mistakes and face challenges. This understanding, ultimately, strengthens both what leaders give and what they receive.
2. Be a CX Advocate: As the front line of E-Commerce, the CX team plays a critical role, and Erica believes leaders must champion customer needs across departments to elevate not only the customer experience but also the company’s products and brand imaging.
3. Value Accountability: Beyond empathy, Erica values accountability in her agents, noting that recognizing and evaluating mistakes fosters learning, sharper decision-making, and meaningful growth. Balancing it with highlighting successes has been a great base to build confidence for agents, which can be extended in life too.
4. Leverage AI in CX: Erica sees AI as a tool that enhances, not replaces, the human element of customer service, enabling teams to deliver more personalized, predictive, and authentically human experiences by freeing agents to focus on meaningful customer connections.
5. Build an Inclusive Work Culture: Erica emphasizes the importance of fostering an inclusive team culture for both domestic and offshore agents, supported by regular check-ins and team-building events—both in person and virtual.
A natural people person, Erica Peterson joined Our Place in 2020 as a customer service contractor and quickly rose to Senior Manager of Customer Experience. Today, she helps lead an international team of up to 20 agents. Be inspired by how Erica’s empathetic leadership fosters an inclusive work culture, inspiring strong connections both within her team and in the customer experience journey.
Meet Erica Peterson, Senior Manager of Customer Experience at Our Place!
Co-Founded by Shiza Shahid, Our Place makes products, ranging from cookware, bakeware, and tableware to appliances, and kitchen tools, that simplify home cooking, helping people share stories about their favorite traditions.
Erica Peterson has always been passionate about helping others. After studying to become a flight attendant, she went on to establish her own franchise in the fitness industry. When Our Place reached out with an opportunity in customer service, it felt like the perfect fit for her professional skills and interests. Erica joined the E-Commerce company in 2020 as a contractor, eventually stepping into the role of the Senior Manager of Customer Experience.
What Excites Erica Most about CX?
From answering customer questions about products to supporting her team and analyzing metrics to enhance the CX journey, Erica finds motivation in every aspect of her work. Whether she’s explaining how to use a blender or offering a compassionate ear to someone at the end of a long day, she takes pride in knowing that her efforts help build meaningful connections with Our Place’s customers. “I just love helping people,” Erica emphasizes.
Erica helps lead a core CX team of approximately 20 offshore agents based in the Philippines. During the Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) period, an additional 10 to 15 temporary agents are brought in, depending on projected sales volume, from October through early February.
Recruitment and Training Process
Our Place implements a rigorous recruitment process to ensure agents are well-prepared for their roles during peak periods. After candidates are screened and interviewed, they complete a writing prompt that simulates day-to-day scenarios they may encounter on the job. “We also include additional skill prompts to see if they can follow directions and are resourceful, followed by a final interview,” Erica explains.
Effectively managing a large offshore CX team starts with strong training. “Our L&D manager is amazing. Over the past three years, she’s nailed down an approach to successfully onboarding new members,” Erica says. The team uses Slack, including a dedicated channel for new hires, and provides streamlined training on products, systems, and soft skills. “From there, new agents shadow leads and managers as they respond to tickets. Then we let them off on their own,” she adds.
Communication Channels: How Customers Are Reaching Out
“Email remains a core communication channel,” Erica says, noting that the team hasn’t adopted chat yet. They also provide phone support, with agents available to address issues as needed. A separate team uses Sprinklr to manage inquiries that come in through social media. “We treat those customers the same as email users – they just tend to receive slightly faster responses as they are more chat-like,” she adds.
Why Proactive CX Matters in E-Commerce
ParcelLab has been invaluable to the team’s proactive approach to customer experience, giving agents a daily report of potential shipping issues. “If an order hasn’t been scanned in a certain number of days, we’ll reach out to the customer to reassure them not to worry and let them know we’re sending a replacement,” Erica says.
The CX team leverages a robust tech stack to manage customer service and daily operations. In addition to using Sprinklr for social media, they rely on Shopify for e-commerce, Gladly for email and phone support, Yuma AI for automation, Stella for CSAT, Yotpo for loyalty reviews, ParcelLab for pre-order communication, and ShipBob for domestic shipping logistics, and Loop for returns. Guru powers their internal knowledge base, while WorkRamp supports agent training.
Erica’s Views on AI in Customer Service
Erica initially had reservations about incorporating AI into customer service. Her perspective shifted when she was tasked with using Yuma to train AI agents. “Once you get it nailed down, AI frees up so much time for our live agents to provide a more white-glove service experience for our customers,” she explains. AI has become a valuable tool, handling simple inquiries and routine tasks within her team’s customer service operations.
Looking Ahead: Erica’s Thoughts on the Future of Customer Service
With the support of AI and emerging technologies, Erica envisions a future in customer service that is both personalized and predictive. “Yuma provides us with so many insights. It frees up our agents’ time so they can curate a better experience for our customers,” she says. She adds, “AI and data integrations have strengthened the human connection. When we do reach our customers, they feel that, because at the end of the day, everyone still wants an authentic connection, not the sense that they’re being handled by a bot.”
Erica’s Advice to CX Leaders
“My biggest advice is to lead with the customer lens while balancing your CX goals with the broader goals of the business,” Erica shares. She emphasizes the importance of evaluating whether a risk is worth taking and recognizing that there is always something to learn when a plan or strategy doesn’t go as expected. She also stresses empathy in leadership, reminding her team that mistakes happen and challenges will arise. At the end of the day, “we aim to put ourselves in the customer’s shoes,” she says. “We know people go through things. By leading with empathy, you receive more and you give more.”
Erica also emphasizes that cross-functional goals between departments need to be a team effort and supported—so it’s essential to advocate for CX. She recommends using metrics and data to communicate key insights that can help improve both the product and the overall customer journey.
Can’t-live-without tool? Guru, our internal knowledge base. I use it multiple times a day. It’s our source of truth.
Key hiring trait? Empathy first, followed by accountability. We want our agents to speak up when they see something wrong and hold themselves accountable when they mess up. We’re human. They aren’t going to be fired, but we as leaders don’t want to be the ones finding the issues. Resourcefulness is also important.
Favorite CS support channel? I love an escalated phone call, which sounds terrible. But I love that journey of calling someone who is already fired up and leaving the conversation talking about their family or weekend plans. The change that happens is just a beautiful transition. And with the implementation of AI, I also enjoy email more than ever now that AI has given us more time to make long lasting customer connections.
Recent book or podcast? CX related, I just finished The Experience Maker by Dan Gingiss. I would recommend it to anyone in CX or marketing. It uses different examples from big companies, illustrating small ways to put your customer first. There are a lot of insights – data he shared was very eye-opening about how many customers leave silently. It terrified me, but also excited me because I want to know why they leave silently. On a personal level, I just read the Great Alone by Kristen Hanna. It’s about living remote in Alaska – it’s a great read.
#1 challenge as a leader? Balancing empathy with business realities. I would love to give everyone a free pan – the reality is that I just can’t do that. Building a culture where everyone feels responsible for the customer, not just CX, is always a goal. Because everything we do as a company, from pre-sale to post-sale impacts the business. CX is just the first to hear about it. Making the whole company CX focused would be ideal, but it’s challenging. I also strive to create a culture for our offshores teams to feel confident and valued. We do virtual paint nights and meetups for remote agents that are more local. It’s important to be mindful about cross-cultural differences for international agents – we make sure to ask questions.
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