“The call center that built a COO”: What every CX professional can learn | Fahad Saif

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How a customer support representative scaled from taking 100 calls daily to leading operations at a global company—and what customer success teams can learn from his systems-driven approach.

The Customer Support Career Path That Changed Everything

Most executives come from finance or consulting. Fahad's journey from customer support to Chief Operating Officer at Repair Desk proves there's a powerful alternative path for support operations leaders.

Starting at Zong's contact center, Fahad handled frontline customer support before taking 100+ daily calls at a BPO. He then became the first customer support representative—and later first account manager—at Motive (formerly Keep Truckin).

"I realized early that solutions should scale, helping thousands of customers instead of just firefighting with a couple," Fahad explains.

This customer-first, systems-thinking approach became his pathway to executive leadership.

The Foundation: Cross-Functional Customer Advocates

The most critical element of an effective VOC program isn't technology or processes—it's people. "The important part of a customer voice of the customer program is to really have your customer advocates," Karen emphasizes. "It's not one individual that feeds into the voice of the customer program. It's really a whole cross collaborative and cross-functional effort.

"At Top Hat, Karen's team meets biweekly with stakeholders from across departments, including product and engineering teams who don't typically interact with customers. This isn't just about sharing data; it's about building empathy and context.

"Once everyone who is part of that program is on the same page and has that same thirst to really get the customer experience in a very solid place, the important part at that point is to understand that data will consistently come forward," she notes.

Why Customer Support Leaders Excel at Operations

Customer support professionals bring unique advantages to operations roles:

"When somebody comes from a traditionally customer-facing role, they have a strong pulse of the customer and higher empathy," notes host Majida Malik. "They pinpoint things others overlook because their priority has always been response time, giving customers what they need, and closing conversation loops."

This customer-centric perspective transforms support operations by balancing efficiency with customer impact.

Building Support Operations That Scale: The System Blueprint

Choosing the Right Customer Support Technology

Fahad's approach to building customer success and support operations centers on smart technology choices:

"Salesforce became too complex requiring dedicated teams. Zoho is more flexible and customizable—we wanted to move quickly and implement fast."

• Key factors for support operations technology:
• Customizability without extensive development resources
• Integrated ecosystem for seamless customer support workflows
• Quick implementation for faster results
• Self-service capability for operations leaders

The 360-Degree Customer Support System

Fahad built comprehensive customer intelligence systems providing:

• Automated note-taking and call transcriptions
• AI-powered response assistance for support teams
• Predictive signals for churn and expansion opportunities
• Integrated view of customer support interactions and product usage

"Customer support managers know daily activities before calls, get account summaries, and have notes automatically captured—very organized and actionable."

The Future of Customer Support Operations: 


AI + Human Connection

Fahad's vision for customer support evolution is compelling:

"Customer support managers will focus solely on meaningful interactions—phone calls, adding value—while tools support everything else."

This positions support teams as specialists in uniquely human aspects:

• Reading customer sentiment during interactions
• Identifying optimal moments for intervention
• Building genuine relationships that drive retention
• Understanding subtle signals preceding churn
• AI handles operational tasks: research, documentation, scheduling, and analysis.

Choosing the Right Customer Advocates

The most successful VOC advocates share one critical trait: curiosity. "That level of curiosity is so important because that individual needs to be curious about what the customer is feeling and thinking," Karen explains.

These advocates should also be natural connectors—people who will actively recruit others to join VOC sessions and share insights with their immediate teams. The goal isn't just to inform a small group but to create a ripple effect of customer awareness throughout the organization.

Closing the Loop: The Ongoing Challenge

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of VOC programs is closing the feedback loop with customers. While it's not realistic to respond to every piece of feedback, Karen's team has developed a tiered approach:

• High-friction bugs and prioritized roadmap items: Keep support tickets open until resolution and follow up with customers
NPS detractors:
• Account management team conducts follow-ups
Process improvements:
• Internal changes followed by proactive communication to affected customers when appropriate

The Real ROI of Voice of Customer Programs

The ultimate measure of a VOC program's success isn't the data it collects but the changes it creates. When done right, these programs don't just improve customer satisfaction—they reduce support volume, increase product quality, and create a more customer-aware organization.

As Karen puts it, building an effective VOC program requires moving beyond the surface-level metrics and creating "an entire program that's organized cross teams and goal aligned and value aligned." It's not about checking the "customer-centric" box—it's about fundamentally changing how your organization listens to and acts on customer feedback.

The companies that get this right don't just gather voices; they amplify them into actionable business improvements that benefit everyone—customers, employees, and the bottom line.

Want to learn more about building effective customer experience programs? Listen to the full conversation with Karen Lam on the One CX Podcast.

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