OCR Employee Spotlight
Chuck Nagel
Position at OCR:
Vice President of Customer Success
Number of Years at OCR and in the Sector:
I’ve been with OCR for three years now, and prior to joining OCR, I’ve been a trade compliance practitioner in the aerospace and defense industry for approximately sixteen years.
Can you tell us about your experience in the industry, and how it has changed over the years?
I break up trade compliance into decades. When I started right out of college, in 2004-05, that was when the State Department imposed significant consent agreements on the industry, and that’s where trade compliance really formed as a true career path for many individuals. This decade of shifting from manual to automated processes is what forged the path for OCR and the current success we’ve had. When we exited the 2000s and entered the 2010s, that really became the decade of export control reform. We saw this shift within industry where we had a blended world in which you needed expertise in both departments of ITAR and EAR.
Most recently, this is the decade of sanctions enforcement. After the Russia-Ukraine war, the amount of sanctions, both domestically and globally, that have been imposed have forced companies to comply with new requirements. This decade is a shift into a new mindset – as a trade compliance professional, no longer do you just need to know export regulations, you need to become very knowledgeable on sanctions and the risks of doing business internationally.
What inspired you to come work with OCR?
OCR has always had a close place in my heart, and this goes back to 2005 when I was first introduced to the EASE product. Over the course of my career, every company I’ve been with has implemented the OCR EASE modules. OCR has truly been weaved into the fabric of my career.
What inspired me to work at OCR is that OCR is in a very unique position. The EASE product is the only one-stop-shop out there for trade compliance professionals to do their entire job from cradle to grave. As amazing as that is, there is always an opportunity to make the product better, from user interface to the buildout of additional modules and enhancements. That’s what really inspired me to come to OCR – the opportunity to help steer OCR into the future for the next ten to twenty years.
As Head of Customer Success, how do you define customer success? What is your vision for the department?
Customer success to me is ensuring that OCR becomes a true partner with our customers. Our customers should know they can rely on us from both a product and support standpoint to ensure that we’re holding their hand and experiencing their trade compliance automation journey together. We want to show our customers that they’re part of the OCR family, and that we’re executing to a level that they expect.
Our vision is to become a great partner, and put in the best policies and procedures here at OCR to ensure that our customers have a consistent experience with OCR. We’re doing a lot on the implementation side to make sure that our customers’ implementation experience is good, and that we can roll out documented processes, automated training, and reference materials.
What’s some advice that’s stuck with you?
My first advice is to listen. Listening is actually a tough skill to learn. That’s something that’s been instilled in me for the better portion of my career – actually taking stock of what our customers and employees are saying, so we’re providing the right solution to them.
The other advice that’s stuck with me is that you’re only as good as your team. Over my career, I’ve built teams where we’ve truly become family. You help develop skill sets for your team and provide a career path where they feel valued. Ultimately with your individual success, it will take your team to make you successful.
