I have reached my one-year anniversary working for 2Checkout. Last year, I was given an outline and a set of general goals that defined the job of Customer Advocate. Most importantly, I was given the room and options to take this position in a number of directions and to build on a sound base of providing vendor-centered assistance.

My most obvious contribution has been providing useful content for this blog space, but there is much more to Customer Advocacy. Often, unsatisfied people will not contact a company to express their dissatisfaction. Instead, they communicate this to their peers and this communication is happening more and more on the Internet. These are the folks I try to assist. My only priority in this is to make sure that the customers and vendors are provided with a satisfactory resolution or a clear explanation as to why their desired resolution could not be provided. Rather than waiting for someone to make contact, I am actively looking for people to assist.

What’s coming in the next year? I will continue looking for and assisting vendors resolve issues, noting trends in vendor’s needs and advocating that we meet those needs. I also will continue to provide content for our blog as well as seeking knowledgeable guest bloggers to help provide you with the information you need to run your business.

More importantly, I will be a more active participant on various online forums. This will allow me to clarify some common misconceptions about 2CO, and e-commerce. I am a voice for our vendor-base, and will use my position to bring up issues and recommendations that come from you, our vendors.

-Bion is 2CO’s Customer Advocate.