Verizon invests in customer experience; names first-ever Chief Experience Officer

NEW YORK - Verizon is investing more in customer experience with the creation of an organization dedicated solely to creating the best experiences for customers and employees. Under Verizon Consumer CEO Sowmyanarayan Sampath, Brian Higgins has been appointed as the company’s first-ever Chief Customer Experience Officer for the consumer group. Former Walmart executive Dory Butler will join Higgins as senior vice president of Customer Experience, where she will lead the development and delivery of high-quality sales and service experiences focusing on the end-to-end consumer journey.

The Customer Experience Organization will invest heavily in transforming the way customers do business with Verizon, and how our employees serve them. Focus areas include AI and personalization, digital channel and systems functionality and delivering best-in-class experiences across all consumer touch points. The team will create a more simplified approach and help deliver customized experiences based on customers’ and employees’ unique needs.

“Everything starts with the customer, and we have a big opportunity to connect with them in a way we’ve never done before,” said Sampath, CEO, Verizon Consumer. “It begins and ends with the customer experience, which we are dedicated to improving, and the new Customer Experience organization is laser focused on just that. I have no doubt our customers will see meaningful benefits as a result.”

Higgins, a telecommunications veteran, previously served as senior vice president of Device Marketing and Consumer Product where he led all product and marketing for the Verizon Consumer Group. Prior, he held roles of increasing responsibility throughout Verizon including network implementation, product development and long-term technology planning.

Butler was recently tapped to join the team as senior vice president of Customer Experience. She comes to Verizon from Walmart, where she led Omni Customer Experience Product Management for the Walmart US Mobile App and Walmart.com. Prior, Butler spent 20 years at American Express where she led AmericanExpress.com globally in over 25 markets, overseeing product management, marketing and operations for the global web experiences.

Higgins’ team is also led by Lance Koenders, vice president of Experience Products and Chris Paul, vice president, Digital, Sales and Experience. Koenders, who previously led mobile product management at Verizon, will focus on developing new customer-focused products that are unique to Verizon and built solely to improve the customer experience. Paul, who has held digital marketing roles across Verizon, has responsibility for Digital Channels and Consumer Experience, including all digital sales and consumer-facing channels, with a focus on improving the customer’s digital experience.