Bob Land of Dorel Juvenile: How To Make Customer Care Your Fastest-Growing Sales Channel

"Brand building now begins after the purchase," Rachel Tipograph, founder and CEO of MikMak, proclaimed in her D2C Strategy Playbook Series webinar. Bob Land, VP of customer experience at Dorel Juvenile, a global juvenile products company, understands first hand what happens when you put this theory into action.

Land revamped that customer care and service organization at Dorel Juvenile, turning it into a seven-figure assisted sales channel.

The Digital Shelf Institute (DSI) presents the D2C Strategy Playbook Series, a virtual program of expert-led sessions outlining how to navigate a D2C program in this "new normal."

Land hosted the final session, "Why Post-Purchase Customer Experiences Are the Killer App of the 2020s." Land detailed what inspired him to take on customer success after initially focusing on just digital innovation, how he keeps his service reps motivated, and why the combination of data and relationships is the "magic mix" needed in today's world of ecommerce.

'Leverage a 'Jackpot of Information'

Land came to Dorel Juvenile with an extensive digital innovation background combined with a natural propensity toward data and analytics. After exploring the customer care team at the company, he realized that there was a "jackpot of information" being stored within the group.

This information could be leveraged to better target products to existing customers at the right time. It could also help improve the overall customer experience for all Dorel Juvenile customers.

Customer care was led by the quality department, who were naturally more concerned with recalls and safety — and inherently prioritized inbound customer complaints and services questions.

"It's so reactive. What if we made it proactive?" Land said.

From Reactive to Proactive Customer Care

After successfully convincing the organization to merge customer care with digital and ecommerce teams, he set out to create a more thoughtful, brand-driven — and, ultimately, growth-oriented — customer care organization.

Land's first goal was to eliminate the idea that quicker customer care calls were better by removing some efficiency metrics around the number of calls per hour.

"I love the Zappos model, which is: 'Just stay with them as long as they want to chat with us, and make sure it's a valuable conversation for both parties,'" Land said.

Land now even offers his team incentivization when they help the customer in areas like picking the right color or successfully converting to a video chat to have a more personal interaction with them.

"If they help in the sale, then I think the rep should get something," Land said.

COVID-19 Spurs a Stronger Needs for Connection

Particularly with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Land also noticed that many customer care employees — and the customers they spoke with — also had a more substantial need for connection.

Video calls held by customer care began to exceed 20 minutes. These conversations often provided customer care representatives with more information that Dorel Juvenile could use to target them with the most relevant and personalized new products.

Land also created individualized account portals for Dorel Juvenile customers, offering customers the ability to input data, such as their child’s age and height, so they could be reminded when they need items like new car seats.

“It’s not just selling. It’s ‘You’re now with us. You’re with our brand now. We’re going to take care of you. In order for you to get the most out of us, answer these questions.’”
— Bob Land, VP of Customer Experience, Dorel Juvenile

Dorel's Fastest-Growing Sales Channel: Customer Care

The result for Dorel Juvenile has been that customer care has become its fastest-growing ecommerce sales channel.

"We really think we're building the brand past the purchase point of the funnel. We're getting all of the data, the best relationships. They might have bought their first product with us. Not the work begins. Now we have to make them really love us. It's exciting, a completely different thought process," Land said.

Watch the full webinar to hear more about how Dorel Juvenile monetized its contract center and created a $1 million-plus sales channel.