Coworking with Val Geisler

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Val Geisler is the customer advocacy lead at Klaviyo, a data and marketing automation platform that helps entrepreneurs connect with their customers one-on-one. And before Klaviyo, she was an email marketing consultant for companies like Kettle & Fire, a bone-broth brand, and Refersion, a software firm. We’ll let her share more.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? My job is to listen to our customers every day, learn more about who they are, what they want most in the world, and how we can help them. My team and I are obsessed with improving how brands and customers connect, and digging into the best ways to use different channels to make lasting connections.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? Customer interview ride-alongs—a program that allows employees outside of customer advocacy to listen in on customer interviews.

One trend you’re most excited about: There has been a lot of disruption in our space in terms of regulations on third-party data, and we are helping our customers understand what this means for them and teaching them how to build a brand that withstands customer data privacy changes. It’s so exciting to see brands figure out how they can use owned marketing to foster better relationships with their customers and grow faster in ways they can control.

Hands down, the best fast food restaurant chain is…Chipotle. I can (and do?) eat Chipotle multiple times a week, and the fact that they launched a swag store…takes their awareness of the market to the next level.