At A Glance

Sarah Inbar, Director of Customer Support at Smalls, is leading the charge in redefining customer experience (CX) with a unique blend of cutting-edge AI and high-touch human support. Her approach emphasizes the power of empathy and emotional intelligence, while also recognizing the pivotal role AI plays in enhancing efficiency and adaptability. As Smalls continues to grow, Sarah’s innovative strategies aim to balance automation with personalized care, building a resilient and scalable CX framework that can thrive in an unpredictable market.

‍Who is Sarah Inbar?

Meet Sarah, Director of Customer Support at Smalls. 

‍About Smalls

Smalls manufactures the “healthiest cat food on the planet.” All of their food is cooked gently and designed to be safely consumed by cats. Free from the preservatives that saturate most mainstream cat food, this product is perfect for cat owners who want the very best for their feline friends.  

Sarah’s CX Journey

Sarah Inbar, Director of Support at Smalls, didn’t begin her career in customer experience, but she’s been people-facing from the start. “I started out in environmental justice,” she says, “doing canvassing and phone banking. So even then, I was already connecting with people one-on-one.”

That people-first approach stayed with her as she transitioned into customer experience roles in e-commerce. Her first major CX role was in the floral industry, where she discovered just how rewarding delighting customers could be. “Just seeing how much impact a simple flower delivery had on someone . It made me realize how meaningful this work really is.”

Sarah eventually joined The Farmer’s Dog as one of their first customer service hires, helping scale the CX team from just two people to over 300 during a period of explosive growth. After six years there, she brought that deep, full-spectrum CX experience to Smalls, where she’s now spent nearly two years leading support. Having worked every rung of the ladder from agent to director , Sarah sees her role as not just delivering excellent customer care, but shaping a workplace where empathy and growth can flourish.

What Excites Sarah About CX

“I know it sounds nerdy,” Sarah Inbar says, “but I really believe customer experience can impact the world, not just a company’s bottom line.” To her, CX is about more than resolving issues. It’s about human connection. “You need deep empathy, high EQ, and a lot of patience. When you bring those kinds of people together, the magic happens, not just for the brand, but for the customer’s day, and maybe even their life.

The CX Team at Smalls

Sarah leads a fully remote team that blends internal expertise with external flexibility. “We’re fully remote with a hybrid model. About half of our 13-person team is in-house, and the other half is BPO,” she explains. The intentional split allows them to stay nimble in the face of fluctuating demand, while maintaining deep institutional knowledge internally. “The BPO gives us the flexibility to scale with the natural ups and downs of startup life. Our in-house folks are the brain, they know the customers, the workflows, and they’re constantly pushing us to be smarter and more efficient.”

When building the team, Sarah prioritizes more than just CX experience. “We look for strong written and verbal communication, critical thinking, problem-solving, and of course, empathy,” she says. Agents aren’t expected to follow scripts , they’re expected to think. “It’s about being able to handle complexity and bring a human voice to each resolution.”

CX Team Success Factors

Right now, Sarah’s team relies primarily on SMS and email, with SMS taking the lead. “It strikes a nice balance between being conversational but also asynchronous,” she explains. While it gives customers flexibility to reply on their own time, the team recognizes that some moments call for immediacy. That’s why they’re preparing to launch live chat soon. “Sometimes the best way to answer a question is while someone’s actively browsing the site,” she says. This year, Sarah and her team are focused on expanding their channel mix to include both live chat and an automated chatbot. “We're so excited to be at this point,” she said. “There’s so much foundational stuff that has to happen to set up a CX organization to function like a well-oiled machine before you can get into the more interesting stuff of actually boosting revenue, boosting acquisition.” With chat and SMS set to drive not just support but also upsell and acquisition efforts, her team is entering a new phase of proactive, revenue-generating CX.

Revenue Generation/AI/topics of interest 

Since implementing an AI tool in the fall of last year, Sarah’s team has steadily increased its capabilities, with AI now handling around 30% of inbound volume on email and SMS. “I was one of the very skeptical people initially,” Sarah admitted, “but over the last two years, I’ve come around to understanding how AI can enhance the experience and coexist with human support.” She emphasized that AI works best when it complements human agents, with AI handling speedy tasks like order tracking and cancellations, while humans manage more complex queries that require empathy. As AI usage grows, Sarah continues to refine workflows, always prioritizing customer preferences for when they’d like to transition to human support.

Future of CX

Sarah shared her vision on the future of customer experience, focusing on the growing role of AI. "I think undeniably more AI. I don’t think we’re going to see anything backpedal from that; it’ll only get more sophisticated and tailored to our business needs," she said. "But I also think there will be a greater need for high-quality, white-glove human support. Technology will hit limits due to its lack of emotional intelligence."

She also highlighted the increasing need for resiliency in support teams. "With the unpredictable shifts in the market and external disruptions like climate disasters, businesses must create adaptable infrastructures," Sarah explained. "AI plays a big role in that resiliency. We've already used our AI tool to handle unpredictable surges in inbound traffic, something that would have created a backlog in the past. Now, we can quickly create workflows and let the bot handle the volume. It's a game-changer." Finally, Sarah emphasized her team’s hybrid structure of in-house and BPO agents to maintain flexibility and scale based on changing needs, ensuring they remain adaptable during uncertain times.

Advice for CX Managers

Sarah emphasizes two key actions for improving customer experience: "Spend time with your team, spend time in your queues. It all starts with knowing your customers." She also advises to "Operationalize the voice of the customer," ensuring customer feedback is easily accessible and integrated into decision-making.