Customer Experience Manager

The Manager of Customer Experience at Benchmade is a strategic leadership role dedicated to shaping and advancing the next phase of customer experience for the brand. This role is pivotal in defining the vision, strategy, and execution of customer experience initiatives, with a primary focus on top tier customer satisfaction, loyalty and advocacy along all touchpoints of the customer journey.

Reporting to the Director of eCommerce and Customer Experience, you will lead a team dedicated to world-class service. You will be responsible for ensuring every interaction that our customers have with Benchmade is exceptional, memorable, and aligned with our brand’s premium standards. You will optimize and deploy technologies to ensure we are always meeting our customer with a simple, premium, and seamless experience.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Responsible for leading the Customer Experience department, inclusive of customer support and technologies to provide best-in-class customer experience.
• Lead the customer experience team, fostering a culture of excellence and continuous improvement.
• Establish and track against departmental KPIs such as customer wait times, CSAT, efficiency, community management, etc.
• Drive innovation in customer experience by testing and implementing new tools and technologies.
• Lead cross-functional to create more self-serve opportunities for our customers.
• Collaborate with senior leaders to integrate customer experience across touchpoints of the consumer journey.
• Conduct regular customer journey mapping to identify pain points and opportunities to improve CX.
• Track, measure and report and act on customer sentiment/ feedback in a timely manner; act as the voice of the customer within the organization.
• Own brand voice, respond to all NPS detractors and onsite customer questions and reviews when necessary.
• Develop training and resources to equip the team with tools to deliver exceptional customer experiences.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree required
• 5 years in customer experience management or related roles, preferably with premium brands.
• Strong leadership skills, experience managing a team of varying levels to achieve high performance, engagement, and strong team culture.
• Proven track record of developing and implementing customer experience strategies that drive business results and enhance brand loyalty
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate effectively across all levels of the organization.
• Analytical and data-driven, can use tools and digest data to identify risk factors and potentialize opportunities and make decisions.
• Results-driven with strong commitment to achieving KPIs.
• Experience with customer experience management tools and CRMs, preference for experience with Shopify and Zendesk.
• Experience in leading multi-channel customer support (ex: phone, email, chat).
• Experience in leading across in house and outsourced teams.
• Knowledge of latest trends and technologies in Customer Experience.
• A growth mindset! Flexibility to adapt to the changing landscape of technology.

ABOUT THE TEAM

The Ecommerce & Customer Experience team at Benchmade is a fast-paced place to be. This team sets ambitious targets and moves quickly to beat goals. This team is responsible for creating best-in-class experiences for our customer, whether that be through bringing a campaign to life, a simple checkout experience on Benchmade.com or quick resolution to a question through chat.

The shared goal? Efficient growth at high speed! Benchmade is a place that is centered around growth and progress. We offer an environment designed to give people the tools to develop holistically – to stay active, to learn, explore and innovate.

COMPANY CULTURE

We Rally. No matter what each day throws at us, we work together to find solutions that exceed the problem at hand. It’s a collaborative, empowering phrase that speaks to our resilience while chasing out mission to elevate the entire knife category. Our reputation for enduring quality is evident in every knife we release. Our core values drive how we treat our employees, our customers and our retail partners.

• Elevate Everything: We bring a specific set of skills to the table, offering up our expertise and resources to enhance the work of others. We challenge each other to be the best in order to achieve enduring value in the eyes of our customers.
• Better is Better: There is no finish line; we strive for continuous improvement in everything we do. We obsess over every detail to find ways to improve our products and our process.
• Unapologetically Accountable: We’re open and honest in how we speak and listen. We celebrate each other’s successes, and collectively rally to solve every challenge. We own it!
• Courageous Innovation: There are elegant ideas awaiting discovery in everything we do. We push everyone around us to pursue those ideas openly so we can continue to dominate the category.
• Community-Driven: As a family business, we understand the importance of enriching the communities we call home. As a company, and as individuals, we work to make our expertise available to do the most good for those around us.

This is an exciting time to be part of a company on the verge of even greater success. If you think you have what it takes to be part of a company that strives to create a working environment that stimulates team spirit, passion, engagement, and achievement, complete an application today. Please include a resume with your online application.

ABOUT BENCHMADE

With a rich history dating back over 30 years, Benchmade is the product of many dedicated employees, a never-quit demand for excellence and the de Asis family’s vision and total commitment to culture, service and innovation. Les de Asis incorporated as Bali-Song®, Inc. and rented a small shop in a second story mezzanine in California. The original equipment was purchased from the owner of a manufacturing operation who was looking to retire. Utilizing the rudimentary technology available to him at the time, Les began building handmade custom Bali-Songs, and the success of these custom Balis spurred the creation of the first production Bali-Song®: The model 68. Over the next seven years, the company expanded its product offerings into fixed blades and conventional folding knives, and evolving its name from Bali-song®, Inc. to Pacific Cutlery Corp. Due to its inability to control quality, price and delivery, Pacific Cutlery Corp. filed for bankruptcy and was dissolved.

In 1988, Les reintroduced a new company and new version of the Model 68; This time with a drive to produce product in the US and an even stronger commitment to product availability, quality and customer relationships. The company now needed a new name. While there was “handmade” and “factory-made,” it was “Benchmade” that described the quality of Les’ product. He was building an operation that made precision parts, but with hand assembly on the finished products. This was a “bench” operation and Les wanted the name to reflect the marriage of manufactured and custom. In short, it describes Benchmade’s position in the market- even to this day.

Benchmade moved from California to a facility in Clackamas, Oregon and began producing knives there under the name Benchmade, Inc. This was a major turning point, as the company was now located in the epicenter for knife manufacturing. Many technological advancements were now possible and Benchmade became the first company to own and employ a high-power laser cutter, allowing for work with steels too hard to stamp. To this day Benchmade continues to focus on innovation, customer needs, responsible business ethics and operations to bring the highest quality products to the world’s elite. This is the story of Benchmade.

Benchmade offers our employees a wide variety of comprehensive rewards and benefits including:

• Competitive pay
• Cash profit sharing and performance incentives
• Medical including Prescriptions and Vision
• Dental including Orthodontia
• Short-Term and Long-term Disability
• Life & Accidental Death and Dismemberment
• 401K with company match
• Fitness Center Reimbursement
• Pay for time off, including holiday, bonus holidays, vacation, sick, bereavement and jury duty
• Employee Assistance Program
• Flexible Spending Account
• Outstanding employee discounts on Benchmade products and other partner companies
• Tuition reimbursement
• Targeted development planning and learning opportunities
• Employee and family events throughout the year
• Most importantly, Benchmade provides a fun, family oriented and entrepreneurial work environment

Benchmade Knife Company, Inc. provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, Benchmade complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, benefits, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

For more information about our commitment to equal employment opportunity, please see this government poster: Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal. If you are an individual with a disability and need a reasonable accommodation in the application or hiring process, please contact TalentAcquisition@benchmade.com or 1-800-800-7427.