At The Watercooler

At the Watercooler with Keith Gorney

Keith Gorney, supply chain professional services head at Pivotree, walks the journey with clients to drive world class frictionless experiences for their customers and ROI for their organization.

Photo: Networld Media Group

May 10, 2024 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com

Describe your current role:

In my current role, I support our global supply chain organization in driving value for our clients with professional and managed services resources. I engage with our clients to ensure we are not only meeting our commitments for the solutions we have helped build, but we walk the journey with them to drive world class frictionless experiences for their customers and ROI for their organization.

What inspired you to work in your industry?

I spent 13 years working on enabling OMS across all customer channels which opened my eyes to the full spectrum of supply chain complexities. In the commerce supply chain world, there are no limits to optimization, creativity and competitive innovation. Not only do we get to transform the landscape of our client's supply chain, we get to provide best practices, operational excellence and a foundation that they can continue to build on. Partnering to provide ROI with our clients and then helping them achieve more is extremely rewarding.

What's a common misconception people have about what you do?

The common misconception people have is that I'm an 'IT Guy'. Don't get me wrong, I love the gear. But I would struggle to write an SQL select statement. The art of piecing together numerous processes, optimizing the execution of systems working in harmony, and delivering on a customer promise is where supply chain truly drives value for organizations. My job is to help our clients achieve that customer promise consistently by putting all the pieces of the puzzle together.

What industry trends do you think don't get enough attention and why?

One trend that I would like to see more of is organizations monitoring and managing their supply chain KPIs. There are so many opportunities to improve customer experience, reduce out of stocks, minimize returns, drive additional sales within the supply chain world and I don't see organizations taking advantage of the wealth of data they have at their disposal. One example - I saw an organization that felt great about a 6% return rate. When we dug one layer deeper, we found 40% of all returns were in 4 categories. The data showed inconsistent product details, wrong color schemes and poor packing were driving the majority of those returns. This information was golden; we worked with the client to isolate and fix the root cause, ultimately improving their customer's experience, saving them money and the hassle of managing all these returns.

What advice would you give to someone just starting out in your industry?

Be curious. Do not settle for good enough; optimize how you approach your work and deliver it with consistent quality. Never be afraid to challenge a suboptimal solution just to meet a deadline. Your clients will appreciate transparency over workarounds and band-aids.

Where did you grow up and how did your upbringing impact the person you are today?

I moved around a bit growing up. Syracuse, NY to Concord, MA to Minnetonka, MN. I have 4 older sisters and an older brother. My parents have been married for 62 years. Having parents and older siblings as role models (of what to do, and what not to do ) and always knowing you are supported in life truly helps ground someone in what is important. It is having that foundation in life that has impacted how I operate in my role.

What's one interesting thing about you that even the people you work with every day probably don't know?

My amazing wife, Susan and I have eight children between the two of us. We each have four children from previous marriages. They range in age from 19 down to 12 (six girls and two boys). Reese, Harper, Lauren, Lillian, Stella Jon, Teigen and Leighton. If you want to know what supply chain optimization is, you should see us grocery shop!

Is there anything else you would like to tell people about yourself or your company/organization?

I have the honor of partnering with and supporting amazing people in my group. The Pivotree organization is packed with industry expertise across the entire Commerce ecosystem, from the platforms and processes that help build our clients' brand reputations and trust their customers will find, buy, get, and keep what they are shopping for, to the data that drives and underpins each stage of that value chain. Just have a chat with us and see how we can support you. We focus on value-driven results, not implementation selling.

About Judy Mottl

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Judy Mottl is editor of Retail Customer Experience and Digital Signage Today. She has decades of experience as a reporter, writer and editor covering technology and business for top media including AOL, InformationWeek, InternetNews and Food Truck Operator.

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