{"id":135104,"date":"2021-07-07T03:25:15","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T01:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sma-sunny.com\/?p=135104"},"modified":"2023-05-23T00:45:50","modified_gmt":"2023-05-22T22:45:50","slug":"solar-chat-susan-forgie-sma-americas-new-vice-president-of-customer-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sma-sunny.com\/us\/solar-chat-susan-forgie-sma-americas-new-vice-president-of-customer-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar Chat: Susan Forgie, SMA America’s New Vice President of Customer Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

The SMA America team is excited to announce that Susan Forgie has been hired as our new Vice President of Customer Service. We sat down with Forgie to learn more about her experience, leadership style and vision for the future of customer service with SMA.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve been on the job for nearly two months. What are your initial impressions?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

SEF: I am impressed with the level of commitment from the entire organization.\u00a0 I have \u201cvirtually\u201d met a lot of people so far and it is obvious that everyone here believes in what SMA is doing.\u00a0 The success of SMA is also their personal success.\u00a0 I also see challenges, but nothing that every other organization I have been involved has had as well.<\/p>\n

Tell us about your experience before you came to SMA?<\/strong><\/h5>\n
\"SMA

Susan E. Forgie, VP of Customer Service at SMA America<\/p><\/div>\n

SEF:\u00a0 I have spent most of my career in software and security related industries, so this was somewhat of a new direction for me. For the last 30 years I have been over various service areas in global companies, and I have learned that customer behavior is really industry agnostic; showing respect and providing exceptional service is universal to winning your customer\u2019s loyalty.<\/p>\n

How has your experience prepared you for this position?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h5>\n

SEF:\u00a0 It has given me a global view — that is for sure.\u00a0 It has also taught me patience and the ability to listen.\u00a0 Experience has many facets and learning the art of relationship building is one of them.\u00a0 There are differences in cultural expectations, and they should be celebrated as another view, a different perspective.\u00a0 There is rarely only one \u201cright\u201d way to do something and that is what a global company teaches you.<\/p>\n

What drew you to SMA?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

SEF:\u00a0 The technology first.\u00a0 Understand I was not out there looking, but after finding out about SMA and then having the opportunity to talk to some of the people here, it was obvious this is a company that cares and believes in what they do. I was hooked after the first meeting.<\/p>\n

How would you describe your leadership style?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

SEF:\u00a0 I value teamwork and working together to create something truly remarkable.\u00a0 I believe in giving trust first instead of the other way around.\u00a0 In that vein, trusting the team members working with me allows them to focus on what they need to do.\u00a0 I am not the expert in their field and respect that they are.\u00a0 I may have strong opinions, but I always listen with an open mind.\u00a0 My role is to ensure we are meeting our objectives, building long lasting relationships and being a responsible corporate citizen.<\/p>\n

What are you most excited to accomplish in this role?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

SEF:\u00a0 Building on the relationships with the various departments within SMA.\u00a0 We all need to work together.\u00a0 I also need to ensure our customers know they can count on us (specifically Service, but also SMA in general).\u00a0 We need to have a partnership.<\/p>\n

What are your top priorities in 2021?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

SEF:\u00a0 That is a bit tougher to answer as many priorities were already laid out before I arrived.\u00a0 Those are tactical priorities, and they will remain.\u00a0 I do see a top priority for me is to understand the customer mindset.\u00a0 How can we make certain we are working on the right things?\u00a0 What can we do to build customer loyalty?\u00a0 Service should never be a reason to leave SMA and I want to be an organization that is the opposite, a reason they stay.\u00a0 Another priority \u2013 showing the service team they are valued.\u00a0 Sometimes people tend to forget the extremely tough job they must do day in and day out.\u00a0 Recognizing their accomplishments sometimes gets sidelined, but people tend to remember when things do not go as well.<\/p>\n

What are some of the biggest challenges you see in the service industry today?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

SEF:\u00a0 Making customer\u2019s lives easier, not harder.\u00a0 There are so many steps to take for a customer to do business with large companies.\u00a0 The customer should believe SMA is as invested in their success as much as our own.\u00a0 Many services have become commodities without concern for experiences.\u00a0 With the added stress of a global pandemic, patience is often challenged.\u00a0 Everything from waiting for a part, resolving a product issue, to getting answers on an invoice, it all adds up in the customer\u2019s view.\u00a0 The question becomes, is it worth it?\u00a0 Now flip that around to the service agent\u2019s perspective, who is also going through the same issues personally, but now, their already high stress job is even more so.\u00a0 It\u2019s a tough position to be in.<\/p>\n

What changes do you plan to implement to improve our service offerings? <\/strong><\/h5>\n

SEF:\u00a0 More and better customer communication is number one.\u00a0 Timely response and completeness of answer is something I am hearing needs to be improved upon so that is top of mind for me.\u00a0 We also need to work as a global service team on what is important to measure as far as key performance indicators (KPIs).\u00a0 Another area is tools and technology to improve the customer experience Finally, last but certainly just as important; finding ways to get more customer responses from our surveys.\u00a0 We must understand the customer viewpoint, not just from a handful of customers, but from a statistically significant sample size.\u00a0 It is important to be representative of your customer base when making decisions that will directly impact those customers.<\/p>\n

SMA is excited to welcome Susan to the team!<\/p>\n\n\n

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