Getting to Know Janelle Sallenave, Chime's Chief Experience Officer
Peter Johnson- Jan 3, 2024
- 5 min read
Every Sunday at five, Janelle and her two sisters had to learn about stocks, equity, budgeting, and other financial topics in what became an incredibly valuable lesson. She was fourteen at the time, and now recognizes the importance of financial literacy and how lucky she was to have acquired such knowledge. Being able to understand financial language, as well as how to take care of her basic financial needs, were all part of her mother’s hope that her girls would never be intimidated by a subject she believed they should be comfortable with.
When Janelle arrived at college, she was thankful for having been taught so much about managing money wisely. She even received a comic from her mum, with one of the lines in the caption amended. Janelle enthuses: “I think she was trying to tell me I was in control of my financial future. I felt empowered and I'm happy to be part of an organization that helps others to feel likewise.”
Janelle's earliest recollection is of watching Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, and a particular segment that had a strong emotional effect on her-- one showing a field trip to the Crayola factory. "Seeing the machines creating crayons was the most magnificent composition of motion and I was mesmerized," she explains. "I later learned that it was a producing process but, regardless, it helped me understand that I'm innately inclined towards systems which have an element of process. What fascinates me even more, though, are not those types of manufacturing processes, but service systems. It's service that I'm really interested in -- the creation of an experience, not just a product."
Janelle's progression in her job has brought her to Chime, where she says she's found much to be excited about. "Chime brings together the best of what I have done before - the ability to quickly expand without sacrificing the drive to overthrow the existing customs of the field - alongside a discipline I am passionate about: financial services. All the time I have remained devoted to making customer experiences with such services remarkable."
During her tenure at Schwab, Janelle gained an understanding of the ins and outs of the financial sector, and how to take a competitive stance. "When I came on board, Schwab had just started to make its mark and go up against the established players," Janelle recalls. "An important key to our success was to converse with customers to show them that we could be the better option for them to reach their objectives."
Janelle was taught to be very devoted to the customers she was helping at Schwab. “In the room with Chuck Schwab,” she recalls, “I always noticed how he'd examine a product or component and ask how we could make it as straightforward as possible for the customer. His primary concern was always how to make things convenient for the consumer, and then, afterwards, how to make it feasible for the firm.”
Starting out, she adopted the same strategy: comprehending what the consumer requires and figuring out how to construct for that. “It was totally focused on the customer first, the company second,” she states. “I learned a lot from it about making a company that has sustained success and is seriously committed to its customers and it solidified in me the idea that the customer experience is what truly makes a company stand out.”
When someone Janelle respected highly suggested that she talk with the leadership at Chime, a company of which she was unfamiliar, she was curious. She remarks, “There are individuals in our lives who, when they tell us to take notice, we ought to. Therefore, I had a conversation with Chime's COO from my recently vacated, echoing apartment. The way he spoke about Chime made me excited, not just because of its mission, but also as a result of its easy-to-grasp yet innovative solutions. I have learned that when an idea is so straightforward that other established companies copy it a year later, it is truly special. You can make a big impact on an industry if you take the time to listen to the clientele and incorporate a creative energy into the products and services you offer.”
At the end of the day, Janelle decided to go with Chime because of the values it shares and the atmosphere it promotes. She expressed, "Chime has developed a good understanding of its members and is able to innovate to meet their needs. I could tell that this was a place where I could be true to myself. I am confident that this is the kind of environment where I can bring value, get recognition for my work, and make a difference with a team of people I respect and enjoy working with."
Janelle employed by Chime devotes her time, attention, and energy attempting to grasp our members and how our goods and services are beneficial - or not - to them. She is continually contemplating how we can facilitate members and how our effort is for the purpose of their necessities.
Her team is dedicated to understanding the issues the company's members face and utilizing data and stories to inform its knowledge. They seek out potential points of failure in the user experience, and then develop new products to address them. According to Janelle, "We're always considering how to meet our members' needs, whether we're tackling an existing issue or constructing something entirely new. Bold leaps forward may matter, but our attention to minute nuances and errors matters, too. Every part of the user experience counts." As an example, Janelle and her team have implemented Live Chat as a customer service option and have used AI to improve the process by which callers to Chime are directed to the proper department.
Janelle brings her learning from Chuck Schwab into the conversation when considering how to better the membership experience - both big and small. She doesn't think about the ROI or whether improvements are worthwhile, but works with the mindset that Chime's focus should be on the members. All of their designs and interactions should be tailored to the members, as this builds loyalty and helps the company grow. According to Janelle, true, lasting growth doesn't come from short-term gains alone, but rather from earning - and re-earning - the trust of each member.
Janelle works towards creating the best member experience possible through both proactive and reactive measures. Teams work diligently to anticipate any problems members might have and address them before they arise, such as spotting signs of fraud or suspicious transactions. Janelle acknowledges that “Members don’t often see this,” yet emphasizes the importance of being proactive in protecting the members while keeping access to their money unrestricted. She describes it as a “delicate balance to strike.”
When an issue arises, it is essential that the team react quickly, taking measures to secure and protect the customer's account and help them restore access. Janelle explains, “We want our customers to feel that we are there to support them and, when they finish speaking with us, they can resume their activities with the assurance that their problem is solved.”
A substantial amount of Janelle’s group's proactive and responsive activities to safeguard members and upgrade their experience is outlined on Chime's Trust & Safety page. On that page, Chime members can discover the site's security controls, how their funds are secured, and what to anticipate from using the app. "Reinforcing our consistent dedication to the protection of our members' funds and identity is in direct agreement with Chime's values, and I'm very excited that we have so much essential information for our members in one spot," Janelle expresses.
Janelle explains that the synergistic effect of her team's proactive and reactive efforts fuels itself -- every time the team must respond to a client, it boosts their proactive methodology. “The net result is an advantageous loop to combat fraud, support our members in staying secure, and be there for them when required," she states. “At the end of the day, they’re who we do this job for.”
Comentários