Context
Sunrun, the nation's largest residential solar company, was growing rapidly but struggling with customer satisfaction. Long installation timelines, poor communication, and operational complexity created friction at every touchpoint. NPS hovered in the low 40s - concerning for a premium consumer brand.
I joined as an operations coordinator and progressed through roles focused on improving the customer experience across sales, installation, and service.
My Role
Over five years, I wore multiple hats:
Operations (2017-2019)
Managed field operations coordination, identified bottlenecks in installation scheduling, built relationships with installation partners.
Program Management (2019-2020)
Designed and launched customer communication programs, rebuilt post-installation survey system, coordinated cross-functional improvements.
CX Leadership (2020-2022)
Led customer experience strategy, owned NPS metric and improvement initiatives, managed vendor relationships and technology implementation.
Approach
Data-Driven Diagnosis
I started by analyzing thousands of customer feedback responses to understand root causes. The problem wasn't a single failure point - it was system-wide friction. Customers felt uninformed, timelines were unpredictable, and accountability was unclear.
Quick Wins First
Rather than pursuing a massive overhaul, I focused on high-impact, low-effort improvements:
- Redesigned installation confirmation emails with clearer timelines
- Built automated milestone notifications (permit approved, equipment shipped, etc.)
- Created a post-installation checklist to reduce service calls
These small changes showed immediate results and built organizational buy-in for larger initiatives.
Systematic Redesign
With momentum established, I led a comprehensive redesign of our customer journey:
- Mapped every touchpoint from contract signing to final inspection
- Identified 23 moments that mattered most to customers
- Built communication templates and automated workflows
- Trained 200+ team members on new processes
Behavioral Insights
The biggest breakthrough came from applying behavioral science principles. Customers didn't just want faster installations - they wanted predictability and control. I introduced:
- Progress tracking portal with real-time updates
- Proactive delay notifications with revised timelines
- Optional appointment rescheduling (reducing no-shows by 30%)
Impact
Business Metrics:
- NPS increased from 42 to 58 over 18 months
- Installation cycle time reduced by 12 days
- Post-installation service calls decreased 23%
- Customer referrals increased 31%
Organizational Change:
- CX became a cross-functional priority, not just a support function
- Program scaled to 15+ markets across the US
- Established CX metrics as executive KPIs
Personal Growth:
- Learned to influence without authority across sales, operations, and product teams
- Developed skills in program management, stakeholder alignment, and change management
- Built confidence running large-scale initiatives with measurable impact
What I Learned
Scale requires systems. Manual workarounds work until they don't. The programs that lasted were those built into workflows, not layered on top.
Empathy + data wins. Customer feedback alone doesn't tell you what to build. Data alone doesn't tell you what matters. You need both.
Change is slow, then fast. The first six months felt like pushing a boulder uphill. Once momentum built, improvements compounded quickly.
The Sunrun experience taught me how to drive change in complex organizations, balance competing priorities, and translate customer insights into operational improvements. It's where I fell in love with cleantech and realized the power of great customer experience to accelerate adoption of sustainable technology.