Get to Know Erin Hester of the NiCE User Group’s Board of Directors

Tell us what you do at Bluegrass Cellular. 

I am the group manager of retail sales. I have 18 brick and mortar locations that report underneath my umbrella. I oversee day-to-day operations, sales goals, performance management of employees, and also developing those employees as well. The other piece that I have is our Voice of the Customer program where I serve as the product manager for our NiCE Satmetrix solution. It was something I didn’t want to give up when moving into the new role that I have right now.

Tell us about your career path and what brought you to Bluegrass Cellular.

My degree is in social work, and I was a Child Protective Services worker for a few years.  Once I had my daughter it became increasingly difficult to turn off and on some of the emotions that come with that job. Child Protective Services can be extremely rewarding, but at the same time it can really take an emotional toll. Once my daughter was a toddler, I decided to make a career move.  I took some time off and got into sales.  After that, I started with a different company and realized just how much I love the people side of it from a customer perspective. I really enjoy that experience of getting to know my customers and creating a wonderful experience for them, and so that's kind of how I got into sales. After I had my second baby, I took some time off again. When I was ready to return to work, I answered a newspaper ad for a store manager position at Bluegrass Cellular.  That’s how I began  my career with Bluegrass, and I’ve worked my way up through the company and with different roles and responsibilities. 

How has COVID impacted your business? 

Had you told me a year ago that we would be remote working within this company, I would have told you that you're crazy because we have always followed a strict in office practice. Pre-Covid it was expected that you work within your office because if you were in your office you were being productive. That's completely done a 180!

Bluegrass Cellular was considered an essential business so we’ve never closed.  We reduced some hours, but we never laid off any employees. Everybody remained employed during that time and we continued to service our customers.   In our stores, we became innovative in scheduling appointments online and providing curbside service. Our employees just ran with it and did a beautiful job continuing to service customers in a way where everyone felt safe.  Our employees are resilient, and they never quit, never gave up, never got frustrated. One of our stores received a safety award from their Chamber of Commerce because of all the different parameters and measures they had taken to keep people safe.

We utilized NiCE Satmetrix to monitor customer sentiment as we navigated these transitions. We gathered verbatim responses about how much customers appreciated being walked to their car, wearing a mask, making them feel safe and protected, and it felt rewarding sharing those stories with employees. Customers were trying to be connected to their friends and their family however they could, so for us to be able to go back and tell those employees those stories of the differences that we were making in people’s lives was just awesome. 

What was your first exposure to NiCE? 

Initially we were using a completely different vendor to capture voice of the customer. We went through the RFP process of finding a new vendor, and we narrowed it down to about three different vendors. NiCE was one of them. Looking back, I think we discovered NiCE through our Google searches talking to other people about what platforms and products that they used.  I’m so glad we discovered NiCE!  

You’re highly skilled on the NiCE Satmetrix platform.  Tell us what you like about it.

When we first installed NiCE, we thought it was such an upgrade to what we had before, and when we upgraded to NiCE Satmetrix, it is as if there is a whole new world of easiness. The solution has enabled us to better understand our customers.  It is so easy to use and it's so customer friendly. I don't have to put in a request with anybody to make changes, I can make changes myself; the self service ability is phenomenal! The reporting that you can get by slicing and dicing of information out of your customer responses is amazing. 

NiCE Satmetrix makes it so easy even for end users, so everybody that has access to be able to see the information within our platform. Even down to our line level associates, they’re able to easily see what customers are saying about the interactions that they had within their locations. They can also see everything within the company as well. Even if that customer didn't have an interaction necessarily with them, they're still able to see every single interaction in every single survey response throughout the entire company. 

What prompted you to join the NiCE User Group?

I joined the NiCE User Group to find peers and great ideas. I love to find like-minded people who are wanting to make the most of a program within their company, so I joined the NUG community. By joining the board, I’ve been able to learn more about all of the different products and services that NiCE offers and how you can really turn NUG participation into this wonderful ecosystem of knowledge and information. 

What do you do for fun?

My husband and I are in the process of buying a new boat. We have been boating for a while now and it was time to do a little upgrade so I'm ready for summer to roll back around. I love spending time with our friends and family out on the water. I enjoy CrossFit and running. Reading is one of my favorite things to do. I don’t get to do it as often as I would like, but I do like to do that.

What are you reading now?

I’m in the middle of Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered, which is authored by my favorite true crime comedy podcast My Favorite Murder. It is phenomenal about some different old time murders and crazy things that happened. The writers are tremendous storytellers.  It’s funny and hilarious. I highly recommend it!