Just Say Joy
Joy is such an important value to Week of the Website that we’ve crafted an entire role devoted to it. Meet Samantha Gong, our official Joy Concierge. In addition to keeping the WOTW train on the tracks with her awe-inspiring admin work, Sam ensures that clients and team members alike feel that signature WOTW joy throughout their time with us.
Here, Sam shares a little about her special role.
What does it mean to be a joy concierge?
Samantha Gong: The biggest thing that comes to mind is that I’m helping push forward the client experience. We send notes and little gifts to clients, and that’s the biggest client touchpoint that I have. I need a little information from them, and I send them something nice and a note. That’s the biggest part. A smaller part is being part of team meetings and researching different opportunities or gifting options. So we have a few different options for different price points — even other ideas, not just gifting, it’s not always physical.
So at the end of an engagement you send a note and a token to a client?
SG: We send a handwritten note and a gift. Right now, it’s a GrubHub gift card to say, ‘Thanks for all the hard work we’ve done together, it was so great working with you, have your next meal on us.’ Everything is so virtual, and some people are in New York or on the West Coast. It’s just a way to give them something quick and say, enjoy your next meal!
Any other joy initiatives?
SG: The other big thing is holiday gifting, because we want to appreciate all of our employees. They do so much. Just deciding on something that felt personal, especially because we mostly talk to each other on Slack or Google Meet. We went with something Chicago, because that’s where Kelsey and Mal and Katie live. [Editor’s note: the gift was Garrett’s Popcorn.]
How else does the role show up in your day-to-day?
SG: It sounds boring, but it’s internal admin stuff — making sure I have the right information and I’m sending things to the right people and placing the order, or research to make sure we’re making the right decision. Joy concierge as a title feels external and client facing, but it’s mostly like, what do we think about this, or what’s the budget for this? Which isn’t always very cool, but it’s fun because you know it’s going to be something bigger in the end. It’s not bells and whistles at every moment, but it’s important.
How does it feel to know you’re this conduit of joy?
SG: I’m not going to lie, it’s a bit nerve-wracking. Because you are the LAST touchpoint before people go off and do their own thing, and I want to make sure it’s a good touchpoint! I want to make sure I get it right. But it’s also really cool, because even though I wasn’t directly part of the project — I wasn’t developing or project managing or copywriting — I can still be part of the whole collaboration.
At the end, I also screenshot their site if it’s live and launched and write a little bit in our portfolio, and these end up on Instagram stories. So I get that last amazing moment, like, this is our website and this is how cool it looks. I know how much went into it so it’s super great. I’m so glad you like it, I’m so glad you feel like it was worth it, and here’s a little gift from us to you.
That is a part of your job, creating the celebration of the launch. You toss it into the world and have everyone celebrate the work that was done.
SG: Yeah, it’s like a little event. Seeing everything come together is so cool.
If you had an unlimited joy concierge budget, what would you send at the end of an engagement?
SG: I’ve been really into this flower company, Fresh Sends. It’s next-day shipping, and you send a bouquet with a little note. I know it’s super basic, but I think flowers are something nice that you don’t typically get for yourself. They can be celebratory and fun when you’re like, I just launched a website! I also feel like obviously it’s amazing if you had an unlimited budget to create this beautiful client experience, but it can also be your daily interactions and making sure clients and team members feel heard and seen, which I think is a really big part of the process.
So as much as joy concierge is such a fun title, I feel like everybody involved is part of that by showing up and all those little things that make the client feel like, I love this. I’m so glad I chose you.