[CX Stories] Natascha Koblov, Head of CS + Marketing Manager at Piñata Rent

Introduction

Natascha is the Head of CS and Growth Marketing Manager at Piñata Rent with 15 years of experience in marketing and advertising across Europe and the US.

Piñata Rent is a rewards and financial wellness platform for renters. Designed to empower renters, Piñata makes it easier to turn rent by turning someone’s biggest monthly expense into a path toward financial growth.

Interview

1. How did your journey into CX start, and how did you know it was your calling?

I've always gravitated toward customer-centric companies, even back when I had my own agency. I’m drawn to brands with a clear vision and strong culture, and that’s always been a focus for me.

With Piñata, I was especially inspired by our CEO, Lily Liu. She’s amazing and has a strong track record. Her vision to transform the rental experience really spoke to me—rewarding renters for their biggest monthly expense while also helping improve their financial well-being.

Piñata is a rewards program that incentivizes on-time rent payments. Renters earn points that can be redeemed for gift cards, cash back, and exclusive experiences through our brand partners.

It’s about turning something stressful—paying rent—into something positive and rewarding.

What really drives me is the impact we can have. Around 22% of Americans don’t have a credit score, and 12% have a score below 600. That’s a huge opportunity to make a real difference.

2. Can you share a memorable experience with a customer?

We have about 30 ambassadors I know by name because I connect with them directly. One that really stands out is Kai. He’s a young, super positive guy who shared how a few years ago, he was struggling financially and had a lot of debt.

Since joining Piñata, his credit score improved significantly, which opened up new opportunities for him.

He’s now leasing a car he’s really proud of and often sends us videos of it, just to share how far he’s come.

Seeing the joy it brings is incredibly meaningful.

Another ambassador, Shardannay, is a hardworking mom of three. She often reaches out to ask if there are any content opportunities because she wants to earn extra incentives—like getting a birthday gift for her kids with her points.

We also run a monthly giveaway where users can redeem a few points for a chance to win a free month of rent. I personally reach out to the winners, and it’s always such a beautiful moment.

These experiences remind us that what we’re doing is real and impactful. We want our community to feel seen, valued, and inspired—to know they could be next.

That authenticity is what builds a true connection and creates a snowball effect of positivity.

3. What’s unique about the way CX is run at Piñata Rent?

What’s unique about how we run CX at Piñata is that it’s not just about solving problems—it’s about building meaningful, value-driven relationships with both our renters and our B2B partners.

While most of our revenue comes from property management companies and landlords, we never lose sight of the end user: the renter.

When I joined, the company was very sales-driven, focused mostly on property managers. Since then, we’ve shifted to truly center the renter’s experience.

For us, CX means having a rewards-first mindset—transforming rent, which is typically a financial burden, into something that feels positive and rewarding. That shift creates an emotional connection with our brand.

We believe deeply in community. Our Ambassador network isn’t just a list—it’s made up of real relationships. I know many of them by name. They’ll reach out directly and say, “Hey, I want to earn a few more points—can I help out?” And we respond personally.

4. What was the process of building the Ambassador program from scratch?

Honestly, it all started pretty organically.

We began by growing our followers and running early campaigns like “Win a Month of Free Rent”.

From there, we launched a bigger “Win a Year of Free Rent” campaign, and that really helped grow our audience.

Once we had a base of engaged users, we started reaching out directly—just looking at who was following us, who was already a user, and emailing them to ask if they wanted to be an ambassador. A lot of them said yes.

That’s when we created a landing page and started promoting the idea of joining “Renter Nation,” our ambassador community. It just kept growing from there.

Even now, it’s all very hands-on—we still communicate with our ambassadors one-on-one, mostly through email or Instagram DMs. It’s personal, and we like to keep it that way.

5. What are the biggest CX challenges you're trying to solve at Piñata?

One of our biggest CX challenges at Pinata is helping users truly understand and get the most out of the product—whether that’s reporting rent to build credit or redeeming rewards.

Credit building is tricky—it’s not something people wake up excited to do. For many, checking their credit score feels intimidating. It’s similar to going to the gym: you know you should do it, but it’s easy to put off.

So a big part of our work is education—helping renters understand the long-term value and guiding them through the journey in a way that feels approachable and supportive.

Every renter’s situation is different, so we try to offer personalized guidance. It’s not a one-size-fits-all experience.

And to make that work at scale, we’re investing heavily in automation—tools that help us maintain that personal touch even as we grow. AI is going to play a bigger role in that.

6. What is the most rewarding part of leading a CX team?

The most rewarding part of leading a CX team is hearing from customers who are genuinely delighted with our membership.

You feel like you’re making a real impact in people’s lives—and that’s what it’s all about.

We also make a point to celebrate every small win. For example, we run a monthly giveaway in the app for a free month of rent, and when the winner sends in a thank-you video, we all celebrate it in our Slack channel.

It’s a reminder of the joy we’re creating—and not just for the CX team. We share these moments across the company so that everyone feels connected to the impact we’re having.

Ultimately, those little moments of joy—both for the customer and the team—are what make this work so meaningful.

7. If you could give your past self one piece of CX advice, what would it be?

When I started my career, CX wasn’t even its own department. It was often folded into marketing—if it was considered at all. But things have evolved.

Now, more companies are starting to understand that customer experience deserves its own seat at the table. Still, I think we’re not all the way there yet.

What I’ve learned is that CX isn't just about solving problems—it’s about creating frictionless, delightful experiences that keep people coming back.

That means we need to be thinking about customer retention as a core business driver.

The best CX leaders are the ones who can bridge that gap—who can advocate for retention as a growth engine and make sure their companies see it that way too.

Thank you so much to Natascha for being part of this interview! You can connect with Natascha on LinkedIn and check out Piñata Rent.

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