Scaling exceptional customer experiences
As one of Australia’s most iconic retailers, Country Road Group (CRG) is home to beloved brands Country Road, Witchery, Mimco, Trenery, and Politix. With stores and teams spread across the country, CRG needed a way to streamline collaboration, improve operational efficiency, and deliver exceptional service to customers.
In April 2024, CRG’s Customer Experience (CX) team transitioned to Slack. By June, the entire 85-member team was fully up and running, with Slack as the central hub for communication and collaboration.
“Slack has become a core part of our day-to-day operations and how we engage with our hybrid team. It has become critical to sustaining our productivity and collaboration,” says Vicky Petrou, Project & Innovation Manager at CRG.
“Over the last six months, I’ve experienced a significant reduction in emails from the team,” adds Petrou.
Faster support, better customer outcomes
Efficient, day-one learning is essential in customer service, especially when onboarding seasonal hires. In the past, CRG’s onboarding process was slowed down by siloed information.
“Before Slack, training documents were stored in one place, cases were escalated via email, and internal conversations were scattered across different platforms. It was so fragmented,” explains Petrou.
By centralising processes and information in Slack, ramp times for new employees have been reduced from 3-4 weeks to just 1 week.
“On day one, employees are introduced to Slack. It’s where they find their training documents, connect with peers, and start learning through real-time interaction,” says Petrou.
Slack channels also empower customer representatives to self-solve issues by searching for answers and collaborating with peers in dedicated support threads.
This shift has improved efficiency and reduced reliance on team leaders for routine questions.
“For team leaders, Slack has been transformative. What used to take up 4-5 hours a day now takes just 1 hour, giving them time to focus on leadership and strategic projects,” says Ange Jayasekera, Group Customer Service Manager at Country Road Group.
“For team leaders, Slack has been transformative. What used to take up 4-5 hours a day now takes just 1 hour, giving them time to focus on leadership and strategic projects.”
Streamlining multi-brand coordination
Managing five distinct brands means CRG’s CX team handles a variety of policies, promotions, and customer queries. Slack has become the hub for organising brand-specific information, ensuring employees have immediate access to what they need.
Dedicated Slack channels for each brand funnel updates on new promotions, changing policies, and store closures in real time. This reduces search time and helps customer representatives resolve queries across brands more quickly and accurately.
“Every brand is different. Slack channels let us see updates instantly, without having to dig through emails or websites. Representatives can respond to customers faster and with more confidence,” says Petrou.
“Every brand is different. Slack channels let us see updates instantly, without having to dig through emails or websites. Representatives can respond to customers faster and with more confidence.”
Proactively mitigating customer issues
For CRG’s CX team, resolving customer issues quickly and effectively is paramount.
With Slack, customer representatives can identify and address challenges before they escalate, streamlining operations and enhancing the customer experience.
Escalation channels in Slack allow representatives to flag difficult or complex cases as they happen, bringing team leaders and support staff into the conversation when needed. This proactive approach prevents small issues from becoming larger problems and ensures that reps always have the backup they need.
“Slack gives our customer representatives a safety net. If they encounter a challenging situation, they can flag it instantly, and the team is ready to step in. It’s been a game-changer for managing tricky interactions,” says Jayasekera.
Building a culture of collaboration and performance
Slack has redefined how CRG tracks team performance and engagement. With real-time reactions, thread visibility, and transparent collaboration, team leaders can identify high-performing customer representatives and those ready for management roles.
“Slack has helped us see who is proactive in helping peers, driving engagement, and contributing to the team. These insights are invaluable for identifying future leaders,” said Jayasekera.
Knowledge sharing has also become a cornerstone of CRG’s operations. Channels like #helpchat foster peer-to-peer learning, where reps and support leaders collaborate on queries, creating a culture of continuous improvement.
Elevating CX with Slack AI
While early in its adoption, Slack AI is poised to elevate CRG’s CX operations further.
“Employees are already using Slack AI to find answers faster and get channel summaries quickly,” said Petrou.
From summarising huddle notes to assisting new employees in finding the information they need, Slack AI will continue to save time and improve workflows across the team.
