Leading with Empathy & Understanding the Customer Experience: Small Business Edition with James Varughese

This week I’m talking with another fellow Drexel Dragon, my friend James Varughese. Even though he doesn’t work in the hospitality industry, he is passionate about people and their experiences. He works with small business owners to understand their experiences both with his company’s products and services as well as learning about what we as small business owners go through.

While he's had different roles across analyst, client services, product, and sales, his current focus on Customer Experience utilizes many of the technical skills that he's acquired over the last 20 years in professional environments. What's different about this current role is how critical empathy is in his day to day work. Listening & connecting with small business owners, utilizing Intuit's own Design for Delight method for innovation, and working with teams that James has been in at one time or another in his own career has solidified his desire to create a future as a CX leader.

Topics Include:

💻 For the Love of Spreadsheets

✨ The First Step/Jump/Leap is the Hardest

🌎 Breaking Goals Into Manageable Pieces

💻 How Zoom Helps with Active Listening

✨ Mutual Emphasis on Empathy

🌎 A Venue Isn’t Always Just a Place - It’s the People & Experience

💻 Continuing the Chain of Mentorship

✨ Darkness is Not the Opposite of Light, It’s the Absence of It

Thanks for listening and enjoy the following episode “Leading with Empathy & Understanding the Customer Experience: Small Business Edition with James Varughese”.

About James:

James Varughese (he/him) has built a successful career in both advertising and financial technology industries since moving to California from New York in 2011. 

As part of the Fintech Customer Experience team at Intuit, one of his most important responsibilities is to understand VoC, or Voice of Customer, across multiple products and channels such as self-help, in-product feedback, app store, and when customers speak or chat with Intuit support experts.

Outside of work James loves to spend time with his wife and two young children, start (and most times finish) DIY projects, watch and annoyingly quote movies & television shows, and is excited to start travelling to see friends and family again soon.

Connect with James on Instagram, LinkedIn and https://jamesvarughese.com/

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