Shelley Krasnick, Director of Customer Research & Insight @Nordstrom.
Shelley grew up in Philadelphia. When she was in high school (Moorestown) she wanted to be a 'clinical child psychologist' but she wasn't exactly sure what that was. She also played the string bass in school. She went to a college in Vermont, a liberal arts college where she studied psychology and music. She continued to be interested in psychology and music, and the effects music could have on a persons mood and emotions. She had a hunch that she could find a job that would connect the two. She then traveled across the country to try to figure out what to do, and who to ask for help. She was interested in the effects of sent, color, music and other senses and the effect it had in stores. She read a lot of articles in the library and asked professors for advice. Some professors suggested further study with a PhD and some suggested an MBA.
Before Shelley went back to school she wanted to have some work experience. She worked as a market researcher for a period of time - this job allowed her to be curious. She moved back to New York City to work as a market research assistant.
She went to the University of Texas at Austin to study for her MBA (Masters in Business Administration). The reason why she selected this MBA program over others was it encouraged entrepreneurship. She was able to study music and advertising and their effects on people.
After finishing her MBA she worked in marketing. The types of work she initially got required her to provide research on company logos (e.g., does this logo represent the product and brand?) and on the types of components and features a product should have (e.g., what are the most important components of a phone that make it appealing and useful to a customer).
Her MBA had provided her with a business perspective, and she'd taken a class called 'Customer Insights' - this was were she was able to dig into the topic she really liked. She was able to complete an internship with an Experience Management Design firm. They were interested in how to make environments welcoming (e.g., lights, colors, ambience, how a customer is greeted, what an customer facing employee might be called (e.g., Trusted Advisor vs Clinical Technician)
She continued to work for different companies in the role of market research but continued to expand her role where she could to include customer insight and experience work. She worked at Coco Cola, Microsoft and Starbucks.
When she was at Coco Cola she worked on a tea product and how to do research to understand how people read labels, how do people talk about tea, what would make them compelled to pick up a box of tea. While she was at Coco Cola she was able to explore how Media and Sponsorship on websites was useful to a company brand or product. She had to figure out how to measure whether a sponsorship investment was a good use of money for a company. For example, someone somewhere at Century Link, has to decide the investment of having Century Link sponsor the baseball field is a worthwhile investment - how does it help with customer loyalty to Century Link (or some other benefit).
Her current job is with Nordstrom where she manages the Customer, Research and Insights team. She loves her job as she loves shopping! She has been working on customer experience as Nordstrom say that Customer Service is the #1 priority of the company - they want to make the experience first class. Nordstrom sell things on line and in their stores, how does the company bring together the customer experience across both these areas. Shelley looks at satisfaction scores everyday to keep tabs on how the company is making their customers happy.
Shelley recommends if people are looking to work in the field of market research and customer experience they should find an area at college that focuses on being curious about people - for example studying marketing, sociology, anthropology, psychology and analytics might be good areas.
Nordstrom Fashion Ambassador Program LINK
If you're interested in a retail career Nordstrom offer a special ambassador program that introduces you to what it's really like to work in retail - you'll get behind the scenes tours of the stores, learn about how decisions are made about what products to put on the shop floor, and how they plan their fashion year. Program has been designed for High School Students.
Shelley grew up in Philadelphia. When she was in high school (Moorestown) she wanted to be a 'clinical child psychologist' but she wasn't exactly sure what that was. She also played the string bass in school. She went to a college in Vermont, a liberal arts college where she studied psychology and music. She continued to be interested in psychology and music, and the effects music could have on a persons mood and emotions. She had a hunch that she could find a job that would connect the two. She then traveled across the country to try to figure out what to do, and who to ask for help. She was interested in the effects of sent, color, music and other senses and the effect it had in stores. She read a lot of articles in the library and asked professors for advice. Some professors suggested further study with a PhD and some suggested an MBA.
Before Shelley went back to school she wanted to have some work experience. She worked as a market researcher for a period of time - this job allowed her to be curious. She moved back to New York City to work as a market research assistant.
She went to the University of Texas at Austin to study for her MBA (Masters in Business Administration). The reason why she selected this MBA program over others was it encouraged entrepreneurship. She was able to study music and advertising and their effects on people.
After finishing her MBA she worked in marketing. The types of work she initially got required her to provide research on company logos (e.g., does this logo represent the product and brand?) and on the types of components and features a product should have (e.g., what are the most important components of a phone that make it appealing and useful to a customer).
Her MBA had provided her with a business perspective, and she'd taken a class called 'Customer Insights' - this was were she was able to dig into the topic she really liked. She was able to complete an internship with an Experience Management Design firm. They were interested in how to make environments welcoming (e.g., lights, colors, ambience, how a customer is greeted, what an customer facing employee might be called (e.g., Trusted Advisor vs Clinical Technician)
She continued to work for different companies in the role of market research but continued to expand her role where she could to include customer insight and experience work. She worked at Coco Cola, Microsoft and Starbucks.
When she was at Coco Cola she worked on a tea product and how to do research to understand how people read labels, how do people talk about tea, what would make them compelled to pick up a box of tea. While she was at Coco Cola she was able to explore how Media and Sponsorship on websites was useful to a company brand or product. She had to figure out how to measure whether a sponsorship investment was a good use of money for a company. For example, someone somewhere at Century Link, has to decide the investment of having Century Link sponsor the baseball field is a worthwhile investment - how does it help with customer loyalty to Century Link (or some other benefit).
Her current job is with Nordstrom where she manages the Customer, Research and Insights team. She loves her job as she loves shopping! She has been working on customer experience as Nordstrom say that Customer Service is the #1 priority of the company - they want to make the experience first class. Nordstrom sell things on line and in their stores, how does the company bring together the customer experience across both these areas. Shelley looks at satisfaction scores everyday to keep tabs on how the company is making their customers happy.
Shelley recommends if people are looking to work in the field of market research and customer experience they should find an area at college that focuses on being curious about people - for example studying marketing, sociology, anthropology, psychology and analytics might be good areas.
Nordstrom Fashion Ambassador Program LINK
If you're interested in a retail career Nordstrom offer a special ambassador program that introduces you to what it's really like to work in retail - you'll get behind the scenes tours of the stores, learn about how decisions are made about what products to put on the shop floor, and how they plan their fashion year. Program has been designed for High School Students.