Wildfires, floods, total loss — what happens when disaster strikes and people need help navigating the chaos?Gavin Blair, COO of Bright Harbor and former CX leader at Lemonade, joins Lauren Wood to break down why disaster recovery is failing the empathy test — and what needs to change. From the California wildfires to the broken insurance system, Gavin reveals how frontline teams can rebuild trust in the moments that matter most. This conversation covers why insurance is so difficult to navigate, how Bright Harbor is reshaping disaster recovery with AI and human connection, and the simple CX strategies that can turn devastation into a structured path forward.If you think empathy and efficiency can’t coexist in high-stakes CX, think again. Key Moments: 00:00: Who is Gavin Blair, COO of Bright Harbor?02:17 Bright Harbor's Mission and Inception04:08 Challenges in Insurance CX06:18 Empathetic CX Through Disaster Recovery11:08: Citizens’ Optimism & Resilience After LA Fires14:51: Training Empathetic and Responsive Teams23:05 Role of AI in Enhancing Empathy33:51 Why Responsiveness is the Most Important Part of CX41:43 Gavin’s Advice for CX Leaders Everywhere –Are your teams facing growing demands? Join CX leaders transforming their AI strategy with Agentforce. Start achieving your ambitious goals. Visit salesforce.com/agentforce Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at mission.org
Chapter 1: Who is Gavin Blair and what does Bright Harbor do?
I have been blown away by the resilience, focus, and even at times, optimism around folks who have just lost everything that they have. In Southern California, some residents are finally getting to see what's left of their homes.
I want to get into how you support people through this insanely crazy time.
There's nothing more awkward than jumping on the phone with a disaster survivor and saying, how's it going? It really doesn't land well. And you learn that very fast.
It's not enough to just listen to someone. They need to get that you're listening.
We're starting every conversation with, how are you holding up? And it just lets people immediately know what you're acknowledging about their situation. And even in the formalities of starting the conversation,
When there is a disaster happening that we just change our tone and show that empathy, ask a different question. How are you hanging in there? It's such a small shift, but it has a massive impact how that customer is going to feel. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Experts of Experience. I'm your host, Lauren Wood.
Today, we are speaking to Gavin Blair, the COO of Bright Harbor, where we will be exploring how Gavin and his team are rebuilding trust in moments of total loss, quite literally. After helping Lemonade reinvent their customer experience, Gavin's now tackling one of the most emotionally charged challenges in business, guiding families through wildfires, floods, and climate disasters.
We're going to dig into how frontline teams are showing up for customers in these dire situations, how AI is enhancing human connection, and why most disaster recovery operations fail the empathy test.
And I will say that this is an extra special episode for me because after the devastating California wildfires that have impacted many of my close friends and neighbors, as well as just barely missing my home, we are going to talk about really what's happening in California and how Bright Harbor is supporting so many people in need. Gavin, thank you so much for coming on the show.
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Chapter 2: What challenges does the insurance customer experience face?
And as you just explained, the complexity of the aftermath is crazy. Quite insane. And so I'm curious to know, because you've worked in the insurance industry for a long time, can you tell us a little bit about why it's so difficult for... people who have dealt with a natural disaster affecting their home?
Why is it so difficult for them to actually get the insurance support that they've been paying into?
It's kind of a confluence of events happening. One, the insurers in and of themselves are overwhelmed and they deal with unprecedented amount of demand and support that's needed. And Some of these insurers are the larger employers in the U.S.
They have hundreds and thousands of customer-facing roles, but they still take advantage of third-party resources to help flex up when these events happen because the art and science of trying to anticipate catastrophes and then how to staff against them is... I don't think something that will ever necessarily be solved. So there's that piece.
I think then there's in and of itself the already kind of convoluted and difficult path of navigating your insurance policy and your coverages and the workflow there that itself is already difficult in normal times. And then I think the third layer to it is ultimately the unique set of circumstances and needs that each person has that the system is not built around.
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Chapter 3: How can empathy be integrated into disaster recovery?
And I'm sure we'll talk more about it later, but it's one of the big things that's missing is just that lens that is looking at what you're dealing with, with your family, your financial situation. your needs, you know, all of the above.
And I think that's why I, part of the reason why I wanted to have you on the show is that the experience of going, like the loss itself is a terrible experience. I have many people close to me who are going through this right now, but then the actual rebuilding experience is like, also awful.
And that is such a moment where we can be helping people to navigate such a complex situation, which is exactly what Bright Harbor is here to do. And so I'd love to learn a little bit about how are you supporting clients through that? Can you give us a bit more of a picture in terms of what is the experience you are trying to create for those who are working with you?
Chapter 4: What role does AI play in enhancing customer experience?
Chapter 5: How can teams be trained to support customers in crisis?
And Joel is actually a good friend of mine. And so I've seen him build Bright Harbor and kind of what was inspiring him to create this company, which is... In this moment, I am really, really seeing the incredible impacts that Bright Harbor has. And so in this moment, obviously with everything that's happened in Los Angeles of late, there are so many people who are in need.
And as you just explained, the complexity of the aftermath is crazy. Quite insane. And so I'm curious to know, because you've worked in the insurance industry for a long time, can you tell us a little bit about why it's so difficult for... people who have dealt with a natural disaster affecting their home?
Why is it so difficult for them to actually get the insurance support that they've been paying into?
It's kind of a confluence of events happening. One, the insurers in and of themselves are overwhelmed and they deal with unprecedented amount of demand and support that's needed. And Some of these insurers are the larger employers in the U.S.
They have hundreds and thousands of customer-facing roles, but they still take advantage of third-party resources to help flex up when these events happen because the art and science of trying to anticipate catastrophes and then how to staff against them is... I don't think something that will ever necessarily be solved. So there's that piece.
I think then there's in and of itself the already kind of convoluted and difficult path of navigating your insurance policy and your coverages and the workflow there that itself is already difficult in normal times. And then I think the third layer to it is ultimately the unique set of circumstances and needs that each person has that the system is not built around.
And I'm sure we'll talk more about it later, but it's one of the big things that's missing is just that lens that is looking at what you're dealing with, with your family, your financial situation. your needs, you know, all of the above.
And I think that's why I, part of the reason why I wanted to have you on the show is that the experience of going, like the loss itself is a terrible experience. I have many people close to me who are going through this right now, but then the actual rebuilding experience is like, also awful.
And that is such a moment where we can be helping people to navigate such a complex situation, which is exactly what Bright Harbor is here to do. And so I'd love to learn a little bit about how are you supporting clients through that? Can you give us a bit more of a picture in terms of what is the experience you are trying to create for those who are working with you?
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Chapter 6: What advice does Gavin have for CX leaders?
I share that sentiment and I haven't been talking to as many people as you and your team have by any means, but I've been so incredibly blown away at how LA is showing up. And like you said, it's really this community effort to support one another. And it's moments like these, I think, where we need to come together and we really see the beauty of humanity despite immense devastation.
So I'm happy to hear that. So let's talk a little bit about how you create your experience and really usher people through this difficult time. And I know you and I had chatted about how
At Lemonade, as you were building up the CX team, you really learned how to speak to people when they are going through these difficult moments and how your frontline team, your agents can really communicate in a way that empathizes with where someone is at.
So can you tell us a little bit about how you are training your team, both in how you have in the past, as well as at Bright Harbor, to really... communicate when you have a customer or a client who is going through a very difficult time. I think this is an important lesson for everyone in CX, just to put that out there before I let Gavin answer, because...
We've all had those really difficult customers. And in this type of moment, it's like the extreme because of what the customer is going through. So tell us a little bit about how you approach it, Gavin.
Yeah, I want to highlight that. I think you get a lot of the best version of people showing up in these instances, which is, again, incredible. I think there's a few key elements to what we're talking about. A, it's being very deliberate and having a plan around what...
quality and what interactions look like to a level of specificity where people can take the values you have as an organization or as a team and see its direct application. You're training them on when to acknowledge the emotional side of feedback. It's often at the very beginning of an interaction with a customer.
You want to almost like level set with them in a way that isn't pandering to them either. It's, I see you, I understand, and I'm giving you the right level of empathy and sensitivity to what your situation is.
And it's also then about knowing when to switch that off and move forward and to not play an outsized role in trying to dwell on or reflect on something that, look, at the end of the day, we think people are working with us because they want structure and they want actions and they want answers. And so that's very much the focus of what we try to do.
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