Our Approach to Customer Experience at Nugget

If you’ve ever had any kind of service job (you’re the real MVP!), you know that customer-focused work can be tough, sometimes thankless, and even mentally and emotionally taxing. Constantly problem-solving while staying calm and measured, taking in specific requests that may or may not be possible, and managing some Big Feelings: it’s not for the faint of heart. 

That’s one of the (many) reasons why we put people first at Nugget. From the very first day as a Nugget CX employee, teammates are encouraged to maintain perspective — the work that we do brings joy to so many (including everyone on our team), but it’s ultimately our work, and only one part of what makes us… us! In times of heightened emotions, like the fast-approaching holidays, we prioritize our team’s mental wellbeing first and foremost, and we set boundaries to allow that to happen. 

We don’t claim to know the secret answers for how to do that perfectly all the time, but for now at least, here’s a little glimpse of what it looks like at Nugget. 

Building an Empowered Customer Experience (CX) Team

Our entire team at Nugget is full of thoughtful, empathetic, kind and imaginative human beings — our CX team is no different, and we put full trust in them to treat our customers with the utmost respect. This is one of the reasons why we don’t follow any traditional escalation procedures. If you reach out to our team with a problem or concern, rest assured that the person you’re talking to is fully equipped and happy to assist! 

This doesn’t mean that other team members don’t get involved, though — quite the opposite, actually! At Nugget, we’re in constant communication with our teammates to provide second, third, and sometimes fourth opinions to troubleshoot unique challenges. We like to live out the same values that we’re trying to teach the Nuggeteers in our lives — working together makes each of us stronger. 

We also value growth opportunities for our team. Internally, we have a clear growth path for our CX team that includes different levels of responsibility, but we’ve made an intentional effort to not disclose seniority externally. When you hear from someone on our team, you’ll notice that they don’t have a title in their signature. Know that each CX teammate is trained to make independent, informed decisions, and they also have the authority to make exceptions when needed. 

Fostering a People-First Work Environment

We’re not a mega-corporation that sees efficiencies and numbers when we look at our team. We treat people like people — people who have lives and families and interests outside of Nugget. In fact, you may have gotten to know some of us a bit better through our Meet a Nuggeteer series on the blog! 

What does a people-first work environment mean for customer experience? It means that it might take us a little bit longer to get back to you, especially around holidays, because we’re not available 24/7 (our team works Monday-Friday). We want you to know that that’s because we’re building a sustainable, healthy workplace, not because we don’t care about your email or DM — we truly do, and we know that we’re best equipped to help when we’re living a balanced life.

Solutions-Oriented Exchanges with Customers

We’ve all had frustrating customer experiences that left us feeling disappointed after receiving a solution that didn’t help. At Nugget, we want our customers to know that with every exchange, we're actively searching for the best solution possible, whether it’s a question about a missing package, a shipping timeline, or a warranty-related replacement request. 

Because our business is based completely online, and we don’t have any brick-and-mortar stores where we can interact with customers and our products in person (outside of the Nuggets we have in our own homes!), we have to get creative in our approach to problem-solving! Sometimes, even if you’ve already sent in a picture or a video, our team may request more info, or a view from a different angle. If that’s the case, please know that it’s only because we want to make sure we’re getting the full picture so we can provide the best solution — we don’t want to send you a new pillow cover if the pillow foam is actually the issue, or vice versa! 

This may sometimes lead to extra steps and a little more back-and-forth in some especially complicated scenarios, which we understand can feel annoying, but it’s only because we want to help to the best of our ability.  

In the vast majority of our interactions, the amazing GG community shows up with kindness and respect. For the moments when that’s not the case — when an exchange with a customer gets overly aggressive or abusive in any way — our customer team has full autonomy to stop engaging. At the end of the day, we’re here to build flexible foam play sofas that we hope bring a lot of joy to your Nuggeteers and their growing imaginations. We hope you’ll join us.

Kelsey is the Director of Customer Experience at Nugget. On any given workday, you can find her coaching the team, building out CX processes, and maybe (definitely) sending pics of her beloved pup, Rory, to everyone (and no one) who asks.