Customer Success: Pivot Your Career

In this episode of the CS Pivot Your Career podcast, join hosts Alex White and David Lokietz as they welcome special guest Caroline Grant, Sr. Director, Strategy at Concentrix. Caroline dives into her extensive experience with evolving customer needs in the Customer Success landscape. She'll share actionable strategies for navigating these shifts, offering practical advice on managing customer expectations while simultaneously crafting solutions that benefit both the client and the vendor. This discussion highlights the critical roles of communication, trust, and transparency in identifying the right offerings and successfully adapting to ensure satisfaction within Customer Success relationships.04:37 Caroline's Journey into Customer Success10:54 Consulting Insights and Career Advice22:27 Challenges in Product Ownership23:01 Mindset Shift in Digital Product Management25:12 Adapting to Technological Changes and AI33:26 Successful Client Engagements36:11 Building Long-Term Client Relationships39:34 Final Thoughts and Takeaways

Guest Matthew Rinker, Enterprise Customer Success Manager for DocuSign, joins the Customer Success Pivot Your Career podcast with co-hosts Alex White and David Lokietz. Matthew shares insights from his journey from consumer hardware to SaaS, highlighting the importance of consultative selling, strong customer relationships, and the evolving roles in customer success. Learn what it means to be an Enterprise CSM and the challenges encountered and how to manage these effectively.01:47 Role of Procurement in Renewals12:34 Account Management vs. Customer Success18:55 The Importance of Customer Success Mindset27:44 Customer Success Models and Strategies38:50 Enterprise Customer Success Insights42:52 LinkedIn Tips for Customer Success Professionals45:31 Alex & David Wrap Up

Guest John Huber, founder of Customer Success Architects, joins the 'Customer Success Pivot Your Career' podcast with co-hosts David Lokietz and Alex White. John shares his extensive experience in customer success, which spans over 20 years and includes roles at five different B2B SaaS companies.The discussion covers various aspects of customer success, including Leadership on Demand services, Advisory consulting, and Specialized Coaching. John explains how he helps SaaS companies manage customer health, churn, and renewals. Additionally, he highlights the importance of cross-functional alignment and strategic customer engagement to drive retention and growth. A don’t miss episode!02:16 Introducing Today's Guest: John Huber04:55 Leadership on Demand19:50 Challenges in Early-Stage Companies26:32 Operationalizing Customer Health Data30:49 Company-Wide Customer Success Mindset36:58 Coaching Services and Career Development41:20 Final Thoughts and Career Advice

Sri Vidya Annapragada, Head of Technical Program Management, Device Cloud at Google discusses the unique challenges in the retail industry, the importance of cross-industry learnings, and strategies for effective digital modernization. There is a diverse topics such as navigating priorities in enterprise-level customer success, and the importance of empathy and agility. Sri emphasizes the significance of connecting, communicating, and collaborating with customers, and shares anecdotes from her career across Oracle, Salesforce, Apigee, and Google.You don’t want to miss this episode!

In this special anniversary episode of 'Customer Success: Pivot Your Career,' hosts David Lokietz and Alex White celebrate one year of podcasting.Guest Chris Fernandes discusses how AI is revolutionizing how people work, how to get started with AI and more importantly the impacts on customer success and how it can turn your focus from reactive to proactive relationship building.Get out of the weeds and learn about AI so you can spend more time on what matters in Customer Success!00:00 Anniversary Edition Opening (submit your ideas)03:30 Episode Opening07:05 Chris Fernandes42:35 WrapUp Discussion

James Lawson, Chief Customer Officer at Service Genie and founder of the River Consultancy Group, shares his insights on the 'Customer Success Pivot Your Career' podcast.CS as a competency, not a departmentConcept of peak to endFocus more on direction vs impactsUse marketing in CS, both externally and internallyCAT model for scaling startupsThe discussion explores how James’ marketing experience helps him in CS both with his customers and to internally market CS.  Discussions also include CS as a competency, not a department and focus more on direction vs impacts.  Additional topics include the evolving role of AI in customer success, the importance of personalized customer journeys, and James also introduces the innovative CAT model for scaling startups without traditional sales teams, focusing on building efficient customer account teams.

In this episode of the CS Pivot Your Career podcast, hosts Alex White and David Lokietz speak with special guest Drew Cather, General Manager at Trace3, emphasizing the significance of building long-term client relationships by acting as trusted advisors.Drew shares insights on managing client expectations, handling project challenges, and leveraging educational initiatives like a mini-MBA to empower both clients and internal teams. The episode highlights the significance of trust, transparency, and robust communication in creating successful, enduring CS partnerships.

The Customer Success Pivot Your Career podcast’s guest, Carol Crowe, a Customer Success Executive at Google, shares her journey from technical support to CS leadership. Carol emphasizes the importance of building trusted advisor relationships both with customers and internal teams. Key topics include communication, empathy, and leveraging AI for efficiency. The discussion also highlights how to maintain and nurture these relationships, particularly in large enterprises, and offers practical advice for CS professionals.

Carly Agar is founder and CEO of Carly Agar Training, who specializes in career coaching for CS job seekers. Carly shares common pitfalls in the job search process, and the importance of refining job seeking skills. Key topics include optimizing resumes and LinkedIn profiles, using AI effectively without over-relying on it, and the value of drawing parallels from previous roles. Actionable advice for both new and experienced CS professionals!!!

Our final episode is 2024 YEAR IN REVIEW! If you are new to our podcast, this provides highlights from all our 2024 interviews so you can go back and listen to the episodes that resonate with you. In the Customer Success Pivot Your Career podcast, hosts Alex White and David Lokietz provide an overview of its first-year episodes, discussing insights and key takeaways.  Guests included Steve Pino, Noah Little, Pranav Parekh, Jennifer Albrecht, Elizabeth Italiano, and John Gusiff, highlighting discussions on operationalizing customer success, relationship building, storytelling, change resilience, and business acumen.  See you in 2025!!! Books Referenced; The Seven Pillars of Customer Success by Wayne McCulloch Pillar 1: Operationalizing Customer Success Pillar 2: Onboarding Pillar 3: Adoption Pillar 4: Retention  Pillar 5: Expansion Pillar 6: Advocacy Pillar 7: Strategic Advising Customer Success by Nick Mehta Law 1: Sell to the Right Customer Law 2: The Natural Tendency for Customers and Vendors Is to Drift Apart Law 3: Customers Expect You to Make Them Wildly Successful Law 4: Relentlessly Monitor and Manage Customer Health. Law 5: You Can No Longer Build Loyalty through Personal Relationships Law 6: Product Is Your Only Scalable Differentiator (somewhat) Law 7: Obsessively Improve Time-to-Value (Briefly) Law #8: Deep Dive into Customer Numbers (High level) Law #9: Numbers Don’t Lie, Use Them to Win! Law #10: Everyone Needs to Be on Board!

In this episode of the CS Pivot Your Career podcast, hosts Alex White and David Lokietz speak with John Gussif, Managing Partner for Customer Centric Solutions. John shares his journey into customer success and emphasizes the importance of a well-defined customer experience strategy. He delves into the bowtie model, which connects acquisition and expansion phases, and the importance of maintaining a robust voice of the customer program.  Other topics include the significance of understanding and measuring business values and outcomes and identifying and tracking buyer personas.  

Part2 of our conversation with Elizabeth Italiano. In the Customer Success Pivot Your Career podcast, hosts Alex White and David Lokietz discuss customer success strategies with Elizabeth Italiano, Founder & CEO of the consulting firm, What Not To Do (WNTD) Partners. Discussions include the impact of Gen AI, developing truly personalized customer engagements and evolving customer success into a revenue center. Elizabeth also shares her experiences and insights on go-to-market strategies, business acumen for CSMs, and the value of identifying ideal customer profiles.

In the Customer Success Pivot Your Career podcast, hosts Alex White and David Lokietz discuss customer success strategies with Elizabeth Italiano, Founder & CEO of the consulting firm, What Not To Do (WNTD) Partners. Discussions include the impact of Gen AI, developing truly personalized customer engagements and evolving customer success into a revenue center. Elizabeth also shares her experiences and insights on go-to-market strategies, business acumen for CSMs, and the value of identifying ideal customer profiles.

In the CS Pivot Your Career podcast, we have a conversation with Jennifer Albrecht, a Customer Success SVP and Revenue Leader for Higher Ed SaaS companies. She shares valuable insights on change resilience, highlighting the importance of embracing mistakes, maintaining transparency, and fostering a feedback-driven culture. Key topics include expanding your "Lego set", outcomes vs outputs, account multithreading, tech consolidation opportunities, and the idea that achieving "inbox zero" doesn't achieve business outcomes.

The 'Customer Success Pivot Your Career Podcast' hosts Alex and David have a conversation with Pranav Parekh, Chief Customer Officer at Imply. Pranav shares his philosophy on customer success, emphasizing the importance of being customer-centric, building high-performing teams, and fostering a collaborative culture. They highlight how true leadership makes others better both in the leader's presence and absence. Additionally, practical insights on driving customer success, the role of executive communication, and how to handle revenue-related tasks within customer success.

In this episode of the 'Customer Success Pivot Your Career' podcast, hosts Alex and David discuss job-search strategies with Noah Little, a Senior Enterprise Customer Success Manager at recharge & CS Coach for landing your next CS opportunity. Noah shares insights on navigating job markets, crafting compelling resumes, and leveraging storytelling in interviews. He emphasizes the importance of documentation of achievements and seeking direct feedback for improvement. The conversation highlights the evolving landscape of customer success roles and practical tips for standing out to recruiters.

In the first episode of the Customer Success: Pivot Your Career podcast, hosts Alex White and David Lokietz have a conversation with Steve Pino, SAP National VP North America, Cloud Success Services focusing on data and analytics. They discuss the importance of relationship building in customer success, the evolution of customer success from on-premise solutions to enterprise cloud software, and the approach to solving clients' issues through trust and periodic check-ins rather than a sales-centric perspective. Pino shares examples from his career, emphasizing the value of understanding and adapting to clients' needs, implementing a rescue renewal program for underutilized software, and strategies for becoming a trusted advisor rather than just a vendor. The discussion also covers advice for hiring in customer success roles, focusing on teamwork, the we vs. me mentality, and the significance of building collaborative relationships within the company and with the clients to ensure mutual success.

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