Kel Kurekgi, Director of Support at Zapier, delves into the transformation of customer support teams, focusing on how to drop the victim mentality and gain a seat at the table. Kel discusses his journey from media to customer experience, sharing insights on overcoming challenges in the customer support sector. He emphasizes collaboration, empathy, and strategic storytelling as key elements in transforming customer support into a recognized business asset.

“We need to stop focusing on why we can’t do things and start focusing on what we can do. When people start realizing that the power is in their hands, to be able to tell the right story, their seat at the table, get their voice heard, that whole victim mentality in support will shift.” - Kel Kurekgi

Kel expands on how internal barriers, such as outdated mindsets or a lack of advocacy, can hinder support teams. By embracing strategic collaboration and owning their narrative, support leaders can redefine their value and influence company-wide impact.

Ken Mogensen, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Sneed Coding Solutions, discusses why treating BPO partners as direct reports transforms customer support into a sales engine. He explains vetting criteria, training approaches, and KPI alignment to ensure partners reflect the company’s values. Throughout the discussion, Ken shares lessons learned from scaling globally.

“Our partners should be committed to customer success because our success as a company and our growth are entirely contingent upon our customers growing and being successful. Our business partner should definitely have that same belief.” – Ken Mogensen

Ken highlights how applying core values, rigorous training alignment, and shared ownership transforms outsourced teams into trusted business growth partners. He explains how this approach supports global scalability, fosters deeper customer relationships, and cultivates a performance culture centered on results, not just transactions.

Peter Mullen, Strategic Brand and Growth Leader at Simply Systems LLC, discusses how customer experience can pivot from a cost center into a growth driver. He highlights a $3.7 trillion opportunity resulting from poor customer experience (CX) and explains why AI-driven personalization is now the new baseline. Peter outlines how immersive brand storytelling and C-suite alignment fuel BPO success.

“You want zero daylight between you and the brand you're supporting. You want a contact center that looks and feels like it's part of the company itself. You want your BPO partners to understand the brand storytelling, and you want the BPO team and everyone involved to fully buy into it.” – Peter Mullen

In this in-depth discussion, Peter Mullen illuminates how transformative leadership, rooted in resilience and personal adversity, reframes customer experience from a cost center to a strategic growth driver. He explores the $3.7 trillion opportunity lost to poor CX, details how AI-driven personalization is rapidly becoming a baseline expectation, and outlines pragmatic steps to align the C-suite's vision with business process outsourcing (BPO) partnerships for sustainable, revenue-focused outcomes.