Customers help each other. They share experiences, test products and tell us quite clearly what is not working. To me, it was clear there was more here than support. The work starts with making that potential useful for customers and the business.
Telefónica Germany / o2 · 2015–2021 freelance consulting, co-product ownership and community programme management; since 2021 Senior Community Program Manager and Product Owner.
The starting point: Service came first
The o2 Community launched as a support forum in 2010. When I joined in 2015, peer-to-peer help was already an important part of it. But customers were also sharing product feedback, describing everyday experiences and looking for conversations beyond individual questions. The knowledge was there. The task was to make it more systematically useful without losing sight of service.
My role: Connecting strategy with everyday practice
From 2015 to 2021, I worked on building and developing the community as a freelance strategic consultant, Co-Product Owner and Community Program Manager. Since 2021, I have owned the programme as Senior Community Program Manager and Product Owner. A long-term freelance engagement became a different form of responsibility.
My work includes strategic direction, development of the service and engagement model and collaboration across the business. Product development, customer service, analytics, communications and technology partners bring different requirements. My job is to connect them with what customers actually experience.
What we changed
We broadened the focus beyond individual support questions to include feedback and insights, product testing, shared experiences and editorial content. Programmes and formats create opportunities for customers and specialist teams to talk directly. Feedback becomes useful when someone follows it up and can close the loop.
Another part of the work involves the team and engaged members. Expert programmes, coaching and community operations belong together. Customers need reasons to enjoy sharing what they know. The team needs direction and ways of working that support useful answers and personal relationships. We cannot solve every issue immediately. We can still take it seriously and explain openly what is possible.
Platform ownership is part of this too: from tendering and vendor management to strategic development with Gainsight. Prioritising requirements, working with the technology partner on its product roadmap and keeping operations in view are all part of community work. Even the best idea is of little use if nobody can work with it.
Results in their reporting periods
2022: other community members provided 60% of solutions. In Q4, the community NPS was 15 points higher than in the same quarter a year earlier. These are two different measures: peer-to-peer help and the reported development of the customer experience.
As reported in Q1 2023: the programme report recorded around one million deflected service contacts per year. This contact-deflection figure describes the programme’s reported contribution; it is not a count of individually verified avoided calls.
2023: the community reached the milestones of 750,000 registered members and two million posts. A Gainsight GameChanger Award followed in November. These results reflect the community, the team and many colleagues across the business, not one person working alone.
What I take from this work
Community can reduce the burden on service. Its value does not stop there. It reveals how customers experience products, what knowledge helps them and where a business can improve. Turning that into more than a folder full of feedback takes people who listen, take responsibility and connect the conversation with the teams who can act. That is the part of the work that still interests me most.
Explore the article series on support, self-service and relationships · About the award
Back to selected experience · Challenges and how I could contribute
About the figures and logos
The figures describe historical programme reporting, not current performance or a controlled measurement of my individual impact. The contact-deflection figure is a reported programme measure, not a count of individually verified avoided calls. Different reporting periods are stated separately.
Logo files: o2 · Joyn · E-Plus · Ticketmaster · Audi. These files are identified as public domain on Wikimedia Commons; trademark rights still apply. They identify the work described here and do not imply endorsement.