STARTING A NEW TEAM: ECOMMERCE MANAGER SHELLY RIEDEL LEADS AGENTS OF CHANGE TO OPTIMIZE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Throughout her Textron Aviation career, Shelly Riedel has been recognized as a customer support expert. Her experience also lies in working with IT employees to ensure every customer’s satisfaction remains high long after emails and face-to-face interactions.

It’s why in early 2020, she took her decades of knowledge in both fields to go into a managerial position on the eCommerce team at Textron Aviation. As an eCommerce manager, Shelly works closely with various departments to continuously update and improve the company’s parts website, a key component of the Parts & Programs division tasked with supporting Cessna, Beechcraft, and Hawker operators around the world. 

Two years after forming and recruiting its first employees, the eCommerce team is now growing and focusing on future projects.

For aviation professionals like aircraft mechanics and directors of maintenance, the Textron Aviation parts website is a tab constantly open on their web browser, Shelly said. Every day, its pages are visited by thousands of operators seeking to purchase, repair or exchange aircraft components.

“It’s not just a website to buy something for an aircraft,” Shelly adds. “It’s a tool for them to do their jobs.”

Although the parts website was already live and fully developed, it also needed additional content to enhance its functionality, Shelly said. That’s when she submitted a proposal highlighting the benefits of a dedicated eCommerce team backed by cross-functional collaboration with engineering, IT, marketing and customer service departments. The plan was ultimately approved, giving Shelly and other Parts & Programs leaders the green light to form a new team.

“There was a core group of people who knew we needed a bigger, designated team to bring the website to the next level and they allowed us to focus on it,” she said.

That next level included restructuring the website’s backend and user interface, to help customers quickly locate correct aircraft parts and file warranty claims.

Analysts specializing in search engine optimization (SEO) joined the team to write detailed product descriptions and identify frequently searched keywords during the purchase process. Photographers soon followed to capture images of thousands of aircraft parts housed across three facilities in the company’s Wichita, Kansas headquarters.

Today, Shelly manages a team of business analysts who use customer feedback to find new ways to improve the user experience for site visitors.

“Our role is to find out what the customer wants and then translate it to IT, who helps us make their feedback reality,” she said.

As one of the team’s two managers, she’s responsible for scaling the growth and responsibilities of the eCommerce operation, and helping new employees integrate into their roles. There was a learning curve as she transitioned from leading projects to leading people, she said.

“The thing that’s still exciting is seeing ideas come to life, it’s just that now I guide others so they can do it easily and with the support they need,” she adds.

Among her colleagues, Shelly is also recognized as a leader who encourages everyone in her department to take risks and bring their ideas to the table. She describes the eCommerce team as “collaborative by design.”

“We value your ideas and we ask you to lead projects,” Shelly said. “When you’re here, you’ll have a chance to dive right in.”

To join Shelly’s team, visit the Textron Aviation careers website and view all available eCommerce jobs.