I’ve seen Customer Success evolve into an indispensable function at enterprise companies and cloud startups. It’s become more product-focused and collaborative. The Customer Success checkbox is necessary to ensure growth and prevent churn. I was more hands-on when I began my CS journey. It helped me understand and operate in the realm of Customer Experience, a close cousin to Customer Success.

Customer Success Experience

Based on my experience, the industry has scaled and generates instant value for fast-growing tech companies. Successful stories are being told every day by my clients thanks to customer success management.

Truth be told, I wish there were standard operating procedures (SOPs) for Customer Success similar to the Customer Experience industry. Customer Success doesn’t have official certifications or industry-approved playbooks. There is no single formula.

I share my experiences and curate as much industry knowledge as I can on this blog. I recommend a couple of books for anyone new to the industry: Customer Success by Nick Mehta, Dan Steinman, and Lincoln Murphy and Chief Customer Officer 2.0 by Jeanne Bliss

Saleforce Experience

My journey just prior to Customer Success was in the Salesforce consulting world. I continue to support large Salesforce-related engagements. The Salesforce ecosystem helped spawn startups built on its platform. I’ve been able to help with some of these startups’ Customer Success programs.

Moving forward, companies like Salesforce that promote a customer-centric culture, implement user-friendly tools, and enable the rapid-fire launch of products will thrive in a post-pandemic economy. I’m proud to have contributed to several companies’ growth as a consultant. The single KPI which contributed most to my clients’ success is product adoption (blog post).

Customer Success Events

In addition to consulting, I was heavily involved in the professional events space. The CS industry will continue to evolve. I enjoy expanding its ecosystem. Look forward to being involved again in promoting events related to CS/CX/Social impact.