What does it take to lead a global team delivering live support to life sciences professionals around the world? For Devan Chandler, Director of Customer Service at ZAGENO, the answer lies in adaptability, empathy, and a relentless commitment to customer satisfaction. Here’s a look at how she leads her team to provide top-tier support while shaping the future of customer service at ZAGENO, the industry’s leading lab supply marketplace.
Starting the Day with Twin Energy
Before Devan even opens her laptop each morning, she starts her day with high energy, wrangling her adorable twin toddlers! “Coming to work is actually more calming,” she jokes. Along with the focus her job brings, Devan loves that each day is different and never “typical”—just like the unique services her team provides.
No Bots Here
At ZAGENO, Devan leads a global customer service team dedicated to providing fast, effective, and personalized support. Located across Europe, Asia, and Africa, her team offers live, human-centered assistance across multiple channels. Handling everything from order tracking to account setup, her team is proud to consistently achieve an impressive 4.97/5 customer satisfaction score. “When you contact ZAGENO, you can quickly reach an actual human, with no bots or email forms,” says Devan.
From Luxury Travel to Lab Supplies
Devan’s customer support career began in the travel industry, where she helped schools coordinate overseas trips for students and managed sensitive interactions with concerned parents. She credits this experience with preparing her for any support scenario. After roles at TripAdvisor in luxury travel and a fintech startup, Devan came to ZAGENO, where she’s spent the last five and a half years.
Smooth Landings for New Customers and Suppliers
A key part of Devan’s role is onboarding new customers and suppliers. For customers, her team provides clear, step-by-step guidance through platform features, helping them get up to speed quickly. With suppliers, Devan’s team often makes new suppliers available to customers within a single day to minimize downtime, which is a huge convenience for pharma customers used to waiting weeks to purchase from a new supplier. Devan also oversees integrations, ensuring that both current and future customer systems and tools align seamlessly with ZAGENO’s platform.
The PB&J of ZAGENO: Customer Success and Customer Service
If you’ve read the other installments in our Day in the Life series (and if you haven’t, be sure to check them out after finishing this article), you’ll remember our features on Customer Success Managers (CSMs) Sally Wiebe and Sarah Yusupov. You may be wondering about the differences between the CSM and Customer Support teams. While these departments play distinct roles, they work together complementarily. CSMs take a proactive approach, helping clients set goals and maximize their platform usage through ongoing, strategic support. Customer Support is available 16 hours a day to handle immediate needs, such as order inquiries or troubleshooting, via live chat, phone, and email. Together, these teams ensure that clients receive both the long-term guidance and the on-demand assistance they need.
Helping Customer Voices Be Heard
Devan’s team works closely with ZAGENO’s Customer Success, Product, Sales, and Operations teams. By partnering with Customer Success, Devan’s team ensures that critical issues are escalated and resolved collaboratively. Feedback on orders or suppliers flows to Operations, while product insights and suggestions are shared with the Product team to help improve the platform. Supplier Sales and Marketing are also involved, giving Customer Support a unique role in connecting departments and ensuring that customer feedback drives real improvements. “We want to make sure our customers feel heard,” Devan emphasizes.
What’s the Most Important Quality?
“Empathy is the number one characteristic in customer support,” Devan explains. This value is instilled in her team from day one through a comprehensive training program that goes beyond just technical skills. By focusing on the unique challenges of the life sciences industry, Devan ensures her team approaches each interaction with genuine care. For instance, when necessary, her team assists customers in finding suitable product alternatives when a preferred item is unavailable.
Human Touch and High-Tech
So, what is Devan’s vision for the future of Customer Support at ZAGENO? "Utilizing AI to offer more self-service and real-time solutions for customers," she says. However, in an era increasingly driven by automation, Devan believes in striking a balance. “There’s no replacement for the human touch,” she says. By combining her team’s real-time assistance with plans to integrate more AI-driven tools, Devan ensures ZAGENO’s support remains both innovative and personal.
Want to learn how Devan and ZAGENO bring the human touch to lab supply customer support? Reach out today!
About Devan
Devan Chandler-Blood, based in the Greater Boston area, joined ZAGENO in May 2019. As the Director of Customer Support, Content Support, and Customer Onboarding at ZAGENO, she leads efforts to ensure exceptional service for biotech and pharmaceutical clients in need of lab supplies. Known for her customer-centric approach, she excels in problem-solving and building support strategies that enhance client satisfaction and trust. Her role combines deep industry insight with a passion for effective and empathetic solutions.
