Replica Surfaces, Dallas, TX, United States: Replica Surfaces applies' Extreme Empathy ethos across online platforms and social media to earn 95% 5-star customer satisfaction rating

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Replica Surfaces is the market leading eCommerce photography solution for small business owners and content creators. With tens of thousands of customers, a tight-knit online Community, thriving social media accounts, and over 4,000 five-star product reviews, customer service is Replica’s top priority. 

The founder of Replica Surfaces, Mandy Gleason, is a former physician. She knew that applying the same empathy from her bed-side manner to Replica’s customer service strategy would be key to creating a close bond with the customer, and ultimately to growing Replica. With this “Extreme Empathy” philosophy in mind, Liz Blundell, Replica’s Customer Success Manager, began applying these principles to customer service email communications in 2019. The response from customers was overwhelmingly positive. As Replica grew, so did the team’s understanding that customer service could play a role at multiple stages of the customer journey, not just email. These include website chat, social media direct messages, and text. In 2020, Liz designed, implemented, and iterated a system to ensure that customers experience "Extreme Empathy" at all touch points.  

Within Replica’s “Extreme Empathy” system, the Customer Care department considers the customer’s “5 E’s” at every touch point: Ease, Education, Emotions, Excitement, and desire for the Extraordinary.

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Since 2020, Replica has made significant Customer Care achievements by implementing their "Extreme Empathy" system.

1. Ease: Replica solves customers' problems fast. Replica’s average first response time is 6 minutes (industry standard is 8+ hours) and their ticket resolution time is under an hour (industry standard is 19.6 hours).
2. Education: Replica helps customers understand which products are best for their needs and teaches how to use them via YouTube videos, a thriving community, and 1-on-1 email interactions. These efforts contribute to Replica’s incredibly low return rate of under 1%.
3. Emotions and 4. Excitement are two sides of the same coin. Replica recognizes that customers are often reaching out with stress or worry, so agents ensure that customer concerns are met with personalized warmth and understanding. Whenever possible, the team strives to have the customer leave every interaction with excitement for Replica’s products. This method of validating emotions and converting them into excitement has led to a CSAT satisfaction score of ~95%. Industry standard is 77%.
4. Desire for the Extraordinary: Every Customer Care moment is an opportunity to create a champion of the brand. One way Replica achieves this is through an “above and beyond” return policy (e.g. replacing product a customer's partner mistakenly threw out). Agents also provide free consultations in which they look at a customer’s website to recommend products that suit their personal style. The effectiveness of these efforts is seen when praise for Replica’s Customer Care team land on social media, ads, YouTube comments, and surveys. 

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Exhibit 1 demonstrates Replica’s customer satisfaction score of nearly 95% during the Black Friday/Holiday season. This is especially impressive given the increased volume and complexity of tickets at this time of the year. 

Exhibit 2 shows Replica’s lightning fast customer response time both in first contact, but most importantly, in resolution time. Replica’s average first response time is 6 minutes versus industry standard of over 8 hours. Replica’s average resolution time is under an hour versus industry standard of over 19 hours. 

Exhibit 3 includes example reviews from Replica’s customer service post-encounter survey. This survey is sent following closure of every ticket and is the basis for Replica’s nearly 95% five-star rating. 

Exhibit 4 shares representative examples of the praise Replica’s Customer Care team receives on social media. These posts and comments were gathered from Replica’s Facebook VIP group and YouTube videos.

Exhibit 5 is a screenshot of a recent customer survey “Help us make what you want.” Replica asked customers for their input into designing new 2023 products and received over 1000 submissions. Average completion time was 17 minutes due the detailed optional responses that customers submitted. Replica’s customers take the time to do this because of Replica’s history of actively listening and creating products based on customer feedback. This survey gave Replica over 17K minutes of data that will ensure they meet their customers’ needs and continue creating products that truly improve their lives and livelihoods.

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Replica’s achievements in customer service are unique and significant for several reasons. 

First, Replica Surfaces is proving that an eCommerce brand can form deep bonds with their customers and grow as a business through the use of "Extreme Empathy" in their customer interactions. This is especially noteworthy in the eCommerce industry, where interactions with customers are often limited to screens and may be more impersonal. By providing high-quality products and an exceptional Customer Care experience, Replica stands out in an increasingly commoditized market and differentiate themselves from competitors.

Replica also stands out because of their history of listening to their customers and designing products that improve their lives and livelihoods. Because customers know they have a voice with Replica, a recent product design survey garnered over 1000 responses, with an average completion time of 17 minutes per respondent. 

Further, Replica's focus on the "5 E's" has resulted in an impressive Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score of ~95%, indicating that their customers are highly satisfied with their interactions with the company. This is especially significant because customer satisfaction is a key driver of customer loyalty and repeat purchases. Replica is able to foster customer loyalty and drive repeat purchases, which have meaningful impact on the unit economics of the business, including lifetime value (LTV) and new customer cost per acquisition (nCPA).

Replica's unique approach to Customer Care and their focus on the "5 E's" have allowed them to stand out in the eCommerce industry and grow 3x from 2019 to 2022.