0→1 CX business unit for 55,000 customers.

The situation

The organisation had 55,000 customers and no dedicated customer experience function. Support was fragmented across teams, resolution times were unmeasured, and there was no SLA framework, no compliance system, and no single owner accountable for the end-to-end experience. The business was scaling; the customer operation was not.

The diagnosis

The problem wasn't effort — it was structure. There was no operating model to route, prioritise, and resolve customer issues against defined standards. Without SLAs, nothing was measurable. Without compliance systems, nothing was auditable. And without a single accountable unit, every improvement was a project rather than a process.

The fix had to be built from zero — a true 0→1 — not retrofitted onto existing workflows.

What I built

The CX business unit

I set up the customer experience unit from scratch — defining its remit, staffing model, reporting lines, and escalation paths. The unit owned the full customer journey end to end, from first contact through resolution, with clear accountability for every stage.

SLA framework

I designed and stood up the service-level agreement framework underpinning the unit — tiered response and resolution targets by issue severity, escalation triggers, and a measurement system that made performance visible in real time. SLAs weren't aspirational; they were operational, with owners and consequences.

• Tiered response targets by issue severity and customer segment
• Escalation triggers that routed at-risk tickets automatically
• Real-time dashboards giving leadership live visibility into resolution performance
• Weekly review cadence turning SLA data into corrective action

Compliance systems

I built the compliance systems to make the unit audit-ready — documented processes, data handling standards, and a controls framework that could withstand internal and external review. Compliance was designed in from day one, not bolted on after a finding.

• Documented processes for every customer-facing workflow
• Data handling standards aligned to regulatory requirements
• Controls framework with evidence trails for audit

Migration & resolution improvements

I led the migration of the customer base to a new platform — 55,000 customers moved with zero downtime — and re-engineered the resolution workflow itself. By eliminating handoff delays, introducing triage at first contact, and automating routine resolution paths, the unit cut resolution times by 70%.

What made it work

The unit succeeded because it was designed as a system, not a team. SLAs made performance measurable. Compliance made it defensible. The migration proved the operating model could absorb change without breaking. And the 70% reduction proved the workflow redesign worked — not in theory, but across 55,000 real customers.

Building from zero meant there was no legacy to negotiate. Every decision could be made against the standard that mattered: does this make the customer's problem go away faster, measurably, and defensibly?