St. Croix-born Sharifa Garcia has launched Experience Advantage LLC, a consulting firm that helps businesses improve customer service, which, according to Garcia, leads to greater customer loyalty and increased revenue. The company is offering a free initial consultation to businesses and can be contacted via its toll-free number: (800) 914-3114 or at www.expadvantage.com.
“Tourism, primarily a service industry, is the largest industry in the U.S. Virgin Islands, accounting for 80 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employment,” Garcia said. “However, travelers to the Virgin Islands are increasingly faced with customer service problems. Developing real solutions for customer service problems is a necessity for the survival of the V.I. economy, especially in light of the 2012 closing of Hovensa.”
Experience Advantage helps businesses improve their customer satisfaction scores, boost employee satisfaction and increase revenue. The company offers services such as employee and customer surveys, and focus groups. It also assists businesses with business process optimization to improve metrics, such as customer wait time and first contact issue resolution. The company helps businesses look at operations from a customer’s point of view.
CEO Sharifa Garcia is a graduate of St. Croix’s St. Joseph High School. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Vanderbilt University and also holds an MBA from Emory University. Garcia is also a certified project management professional (PMP) and has earned a ‘Six Sigma Green Belt.’ She has worked in upper-level management in the customer service division of a Fortune 100 Company for the past several years.
“People are complaining about customer service issues after traveling to the Virgin Islands. Therefore, finding a way to address this problem is nothing short of a must for the Virgin Islands tourism industry as a whole. Experience Advantage can help us achieve that goal,” Garcia said.