Reading Between the Lines: WMG Graduate, Xavier de Wasseige, is enhancing customer understanding for companies

The WMG course was a fast track to career advancement.

Making sense of client feedback is essential for any industry from healthcare to hospitality. And a customer’s opinion of the milkshakes or quality of nursing care is just one aspect of their experience.

“Good service is essential to a company’s survival,” explains Xavier de Wasseige, a senior technical account manager for US software company Qualtrics.

“But every customer expresses what they do or don’t want differently, and cultural differences have an impact. In Belgium, people tend to only give feedback when something’s bad, not when it’s good. Other people might rate a coffee shop highly because they met their future wife there, not because of the croissants.”

That’s why you need software to interpret the data, says Xavier who studied MSc e-Business Management from 2019 to 2020.

The science of ‘translating’ comments from a customer survey or social media is Xavier’s area of expertise. His skill is to make sense of the data and the challenge is then to filter out the irrelevant or ‘noisy’ information. Called sentiment analysis, this ability is sought after by employers in a data-driven world.

Fluent in five languages and a masters already to his name, it is hard to believe that Xavier lacked confidence when he arrived at WMG. But the 29-year-old, who grew up in Belgium, describes himself as a ‘wanderer’ who felt he was lagging behind his peers. What’s more he suffers from dyscalculia – taking more time than others of his age to process maths.

“It took me time to realise what I was capable of,” he says. “WMG gives you everything you need – you just have to ask”.

He describes the experience gained at WMG as the equivalent of five years in a job and a ‘fast track to career advancement’. He adds: “By going to WMG, I was able to match people my age – and now be in front of them.”

His current role requires basic level data science whereas his MSc course provided him with advanced skills. However, Xavier would be unable to progress without this sophisticated level of understanding. With his new sense of purpose, the sky really is the limit for this WMG graduate.