Former CMO of Microsoft APAC Chad Pearce joins Zendesk

Former chief marketing officer for Microsoft APAC Chad Pearce has been appointed by customer service software company Zendesk as its VP of APAC marketing. Based in Sydney, Pearce brings over 15 years of integrated marketing experience to Zendesk, and will be responsible for developing and executing the company's regional marketing strategy for APAC’s commercial and enterprise businesses while working closely with the sales team.

Reporting to Jeff Titterton, chief marketing officer at Zendesk, Pearce will be leading a team of over 20 members in APAC across various key disciplines including field marketing, campaigns and digital.

Pearce helmed the role of CMO at Microsoft APAC for over two years. Prior to this, he led teams at Salesforce and Fuji Xerox. At Salesforce, where he worked for over four years, he took on the roles of director in digital marketing, APAC, followed by director of digital and Asia integrated marketing, APAC, and director of commercial and digital markeitng, APAC, as stated on his LinkedIn page.

According to Zendesk, the recent expansion of the leadership bench signals the company’s "commitment to helping businesses in the region deliver the best customer experiences, which are particularly critical during these unique times". 

Separately, Zendesk recently bolstered its APAC leadership with two senior hires, Wendy Johnstone as regional chief operating officer and Gari Johnson as senior vice president, Sales, APAC. Together, Johnstone and Johnson were tasked to help the APAC business navigate the challenging times to support Zendesk’s long-term goal of becoming a multibillion-dollar revenue company.

Recently, Zendesk also launched a new Zendesk Startups CX Benchmark Report, documenting how early-stage startups that invest in customer experience (CX) outperform their peers. Most surprisingly, more than 70% of startup founders and decision-makers reported they do not have a formal customer support strategy in place.  

The report identified six actions companies should focus on to operate like a fast-growing startup within their first two years, in order of priority:

-Set up a customer support function that prioritises speed and convenience for both your customers and service team.
-Add live channels, such as phone and chat, which are faster alternatives to email and web ticketing.
-Launch messaging channels, like social media and WhatsApp, to reach customers on the channels they use in their day-to-day lives.
-Establish an FAQ or help center, and include at least 30 articles that answer frequently asked questions.
-Introduce at least one new app or integration to your customer support platform every six months to increase support agent productivity and streamline workflows.
-Keep first reply times and resolution times down to three to eight hours.

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