New Here....Let's give you a proper welcome

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  • Jeremie Halimi
    Jeremie Halimi Member Posts: 3 Navigator
    Office Hours Host 2022 GGR Blogger 2022 First Anniversary
    edited October 2020
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    Hi there,
    I'm Jeremie, CSM Team Lead in Cloudinary.

    I'm here a while already, mostly reading and following discussions, and I decided this week to take a bit more active part in that wonderful community.
    As a fresh Team lead, challenges are raising and it's always helping and insightful to check & see what others do...

    Best Regards
  • Cornelia Trifu
    Cornelia Trifu Member Posts: 1 Navigator
    edited October 2020
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    Hello everyone,

    I'm Cony, currently CSM for Chef Software based in London. I am a tenacious Customer Success professional, constantly striving for better ways to reduce churn, build stronger executive relationship and leverage that to achieve on business outcomes stated and make IT operators lives better through continuous automation. 

    Due to recent acquisition of Chef, I find myself in search of another role, so reach out if you know of any openings in Customer Success in EMEA.

    I joined this group because I want to continue building skills in CSMing and learn best practices and share examples of what works and what doesn't work from my experience so far.

    Happy to connect with like-minded folks here and on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/corneliatrifu/

    Have a great day ahead.

    Best regards,
    Cony

    Cornelia Trifu
    Customer Success Manager EMEA
    Chef Software Inc
  • Brian Crumby
    Brian Crumby Member Posts: 1 Navigator
    edited October 2020
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    Good morning.

    My name is Brian Crumby.  Highly excited to use the momentum from my previous job as a CSM for small startup company to a larger organization with more established playbooks/frameworks.  Landed a new role as CSM, Strategic Accounts for ServiceTitan.  My previous experience has been an IT professional for several industries such as EDI/ERP, energy, and railroad logistics. 

    Looking forward to great conversations to grow and learn!

    Have a fantastic day!
  • Markus Kjelsrud Pedersen
    Markus Kjelsrud Pedersen Member Posts: 2 Navigator
    edited October 2020
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    Hi everyone, I'm Markus!


    I've been a member for some months now, and I've been looking forward to a post like this.

    I'm working as a CSM for 24SevenOffice. We have just started to approach the CS way and are pretty new to this process of work. Right now we are just consuming and absorbing as much information as possible, but we are moving forward fast. 

    The CS team were under the sales department and we worked more with sales and administrative upsales. Now we got our own portefolio and we are moving towards working with our customer so they can reach their goals. As for now we using spreadsheet to keep up with our portefolio, but we want to move towards a CSM tool at some point.

    Looking forward to connect with you guys.

  • Lisa Walsh-Cooper
    Lisa Walsh-Cooper Member Posts: 1 Navigator
    First Anniversary
    edited October 2020
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    Hi there!

    I've been a passive observer of GGR for a few months and only recently revisited to become more active.

    I am currently working as Customer Programs and Training Manager for a company that is rapidly growing and trying to scale appropriately. I have been working in the CS space now for 8+ years - beginning in support, working my way into Training, Account Management, and CS Team management.
    I started my current role 11 months ago and was definitely not prepared for the career change to be simultaneous with the world changes - it's been an adventure!
    It is a completely different role for me as it's even more dynamic than most of my CS experience and involves having my hand in a number of the organizations pots, so to speak. I am still finding my footing and am looking forward to learning from the shared experience of GGR members!

    Thrilled to be here and have the opportunity to connect and learn from everyone!

  • Christopher Simpson
    Christopher Simpson Member Posts: 9 Seeker
    edited October 2020
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    Hey everyone, my name is Chris Simpson and I am Head of Customer Success for Direct Commerce in San Francisco.  We are a small and growing Fintech organization and I joined this group to connect with other CS professionals. 

    I believe passionately that long-term, profitable relationships are forged by understanding customer's needs, goals and objectives and aligning to achieve them together.  Having spent much of my career in Sales, with a Customer Success strategy, I am excited to focus on building a world class Customer Success team.

    I'm look forward to meeting and collaborating with like-minded colleagues.

    Best,

    Chris
  • Ratan Mehta
    Ratan Mehta Member Posts: 3 Navigator
    edited November 2020
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    Hey GGR community!

    I joined two days ago, super super excited to be here. 

    I'm hoping to connect with someone who's willing to share what their day-to-day is like as a CSM/manager.

    I understand that the ideal CSM wears lots of hats and I def want to learn.

    Thanks!

  • Heather Leventry
    Heather Leventry Member Posts: 5 Seeker
    First Anniversary Photogenic
    edited November 2020
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    Hello Everyone! I'm here because I love communities and feel like we are only as powerful as our network. I am here to connect with new people and to help others. Check out my content on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatherleventry/ or ask for a meeting to discuss ways I can help you. One fun fact about me is that I am obsessed with making impactful PowerPoint Decks. 
    #CustomerEducation
    #learning
    #training

  • Fabien OUARET
    Fabien OUARET Member Posts: 2 Navigator
    edited November 2020
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    Hi guys, I'm Fabien! Glad to be on board :)

    I'm head of Customer Success within a French Saas Company. 

    I'm here to share my own experience as CSM, Team lead and now Head of CS. We have plenty challenges to face especially in this period; so let's share our ideas, good vibes and experiences!

    Best Regards
  • Yanira "Janita" Sesniak
    Yanira "Janita" Sesniak Member Posts: 53 Expert
    edited November 2020
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    Welcome to the community @Natalia Chaudhry!
  • Tim Gilhooly
    Tim Gilhooly Member Posts: 17 Thought Leader
    Photogenic First Anniversary First Comment
    edited November 2020
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    Hello Everyone,

    I am excited to join this community and contributing.  I come from an industry that is decimated right now, Events and Conventions.

    My purpose for joining the community is to align myself with professionals in Customer Success, listen, learn, and grow. My goal is to land a role as CSM.  Why would I want to take such a bold move?   I find many similarities in my position as Sr. Event Services Manager that relates to a Customer Success Manager.  Here are just a few examples:
    • An Event Services Manager is a "client facing role" working with clients such as Event Marketing Managers & Director of Meetings. Very Similar to a CSM engaging with many different customers.
    • An Event Services Manager engages with clients during the "post-sale" phase.  Partners with meeting/convention planners, event marketing to transition to the planning process (project management or Success Plan in the CS world ).  I find this very similar to a CSM delivering the onboarding and setting the expectations upfront
    • An ESM is responsible for managing an account, fostering client relationships, identifying upsell opportunities, cross-collaboration (Front Desk, Reservations, Catering, Culinary, AV, Production) wearing many hats. Very similar to a CSM working with Product Team, Engineering, Sales, Marketing.
    • An ESM Facilitates Planning Sessions and Site Visits at Hotels/Resorts. Also, facilitates Pre-Convention Meetings.....Acting as a "client advocate". Forsters strong relationships. Similar to a CSM as a  "Voice of the Customer"
    Overall, An Event Manager is responsible for planning/executing a successful conference for an organization, acting as a "trusted advisor" for clients/customers, and delivering successful outcomes resulting in repeat business (Retention)

    I would love to hear everyone's thoughts or suggestions on the transition! 

    Thank you! 

    #Customer Success
    #Trusted Advisor
    #Outcomes
    #Coachable


  • Banafche Garnier
    Banafche Garnier Member Posts: 4 Navigator
    edited November 2020
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    Hi everyone,

    I joined GGR last week and have been closely following the great topics discussed at this forum. I am responsible for global sales at Practical CSM, and my primary goal is to learn from all of you in this community. I am eager to learn more about the challenges and opportunities the CSM professionals are facing today and how the role is evolving. 
    Really excited to be here, and I look forward to exchanging and networking with everyone!


    Banafche Garnier
    Global Sales, Practical CSM
  • Vijay Mehrotra
    Vijay Mehrotra Member Posts: 1 Navigator
    First Anniversary Photogenic
    edited November 2020
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    Hi all:  I'm Vijay Mehrotra and I am a Professor at the University of San Francisco's School of Management, where we have been training our MBA students in Customer Success Management for the past three years (the first academic program of its kind in the world).  Our graduates work in Customer Success and CS Operations at a wide variety of companies including PayPal, Salesforce.com, Zuora, Macys.com, Mode, Bloomberg, and Amplitude Analytics. 

    I've been watching the GGR digests with great interest for the past few months and appreciate the wisdom and perspectives that so many folks have been kind enough to share. 

    Between teaching and research, I anticipate having regular requests for the community - as well as a steady stream of talented candidates coming out of our program each year.  

    It's good to be here, and look forward to continued interactions with this wonderful group of talented professionals.
  • Cristina Vatavu
    Cristina Vatavu Member Posts: 2 Navigator
    edited November 2020
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    Hi everyone, glad to be here!

    I'm pivoting my career from sales /account management /finance consultancy in the Banking industry to a CS role in the Tech (FinTech/Saas) industry.

    Why?

    Because I love to build long term relationships, demonstrate value to customers, understand and help them to achieve their goals. I found all this and much more in the CS world and became fascinated by it!

    I joined this group because I want to learn more about CS  and best practices in the field.

    Looking forward to connecting with you all!

    Cristina Vatavu

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristina-vatavu/

  • Kelly Bryan
    Kelly Bryan Member Posts: 2 Navigator
    edited November 2020
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    Hello, I am Kelly Bryan! 
    I just joined GGR recently for the main reason to learn more about CS as I have been in Sales for many years.  I would like to make the pivot from outside sales to CS  as my passion is building rapport with the customer and watching them grow. I am looking for Healthcare Software since most of my experience is in Healthcare and IT.

    I would like to learn more about CS  and make some connections.
    Here is my linkedin connection.
    www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-bryan1021

    Thank you
    Kelly Bryan
  • Madhur Choudhary
    Madhur Choudhary Member Posts: 2 Navigator
    First Anniversary Photogenic
    edited November 2020
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    Hi everyone, 

    Just joined GGR a week ago and have enjoyed the office hour session last Thursday! Still exploring the forum/discussions and I have to say - such an amazing group of people, all working in CS!

    About me - I've spent a major portion of my career in technology development and implementation before getting fully involved in CS a few years ago for a Marketing and Analytics based B2B SaaS company. It has been a fascinating journey to look at our company and it's value proposition from the client's perspective!

    I'm looking forward to learning from this awesome community and contributing a bit with my own learnings!

    Madhur

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmadhur/

  • Kimberly Bara
    Kimberly Bara Member Posts: 5 Seeker
    edited November 2020
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    Hello, so excited to be joining such an active and passionate community!

    Like many others, I am transitioning from B2B sales and into CS.  

    I have been taking time to sharpen my transferable skills and upskill where needed, and soak up all of the great content available from CSMs and the CS communities.  Some days I feel like I am trying to drink from a fire hydrant! You are an amazing group of contributors and I cannot thank you enough for sharing your experiences.

    I am looking forward to expanding my network and becoming more active myself.

    Regards,

    Kimberly Bara

  • Sascha Huesing
    Sascha Huesing Member Posts: 1 Navigator
    edited December 2020
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    Hello everyone,

    I was told that I should register here, because this is one of the few forums about CS. Here in Germany CS is not yet lived as in the USA and therefore there is no real community of professional CS people.

    I'm running the CS of a SaaS company that specializes in content automation and in my team I have four CSM's and two automation specialists who implement and maintain processes in tools like ChurnZero, Copper, Chargebee, Zapier and others.
    We have already been living the CS 'as it should be lived', so the company is more or less built around the CS, or the CS intervenes in the other departments and is respected and accepted there. What I am very interested in is how to relieve the CSM's of workload by automating processes so that they can focus on their main tasks. We have already automated the onboarding and the support issue well, my current task is the Customer Journey in the first and second year with us.

    I don't know (yet) how you implement the automated CS processes in your departments, but that's exactly why I'm here and looking for your expertise. I hope very much that I can exchange ideas with you and that we can take a step forward together.

    I am also always looking for good CS books. I already know some of them, which can be found as recommendations in the various blogs, but I really haven't found the answers I'm looking for. It seems to me that they are "just" old sales metrics that have been adapted to CS a bit, but don't really go into depth.

    So, I am looking forward to exchange with you and if you have questions or suggestions, please let me know.

    Greetings from Germany

    Sascha
  • Antonio Sierra
    Antonio Sierra Member Posts: 6 Seeker
    edited December 2020
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    Hi Everyone, happy to be here!

    My name is Antonio and I head Customer Success at Gigwell (HQ in the Bay Area). We're a B2B SaaS platform that streamlines the booking process between entertainers (i.e. Speakers, Musicians, Influencers, Comedians, etc) and the talent buyer (often venues and brands).  I'm in charge of the end-to-end customer lifecycle.

    My goal is to network, learn, and share best practices with other folks in the industry.

    Looking forward to connecting with you all!
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonioasierra/
  • Kevin St. Cyr
    Kevin St. Cyr Member Posts: 2 Navigator
    First Anniversary
    edited December 2020
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    Good morning,

    I joined GGR  a few weeks ago, and I am looking forward to being part of the community.  My goal is to listen, learn, and hopefully add value to the conversation.  I want to learn more about Customer Success and how organizations leverage the function to ensure their customers realize the product's full benefit.  Although I believe that, systemically, the function of Customer Success is similar within companies, I also believe it is nuanced.  Understanding this will help me add value to my customers. 

  • Renata Dinamarco
    Renata Dinamarco Member Posts: 3 Navigator
    edited December 2020
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    Hello everyone!

    I am new to GGR. I've recently begun working at a health tech AI startup to stand up and lead the Customer Success organization. My experience as a CSM in the past was a bit nontraditional, so I'm hoping to learn what the true industry standards are by following this community. I also hope to hear from experienced CS Leaders about how to lead the team I'll eventually build (segmentation, incentives, roles, sub-departments, etc). 

    Thank you!

    Renata

  • Mikael Magnusson
    Mikael Magnusson Member Posts: 1 Navigator
    edited December 2020
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    Hi All, Mikael here! 

    I joined a few moments ago after seeing a post on linkedin. I am a CSM for Episerver, based in Stockholm. I've been in the field of CS since 2015, and if counting Customer Service another 5 years. Currently I am working the enterprise segment, while enjoing life with my wife & two kids, and fluffy white goldendoodle :)

    My career started in the Bay Area, taking my first CSM gig in Saas. Family took me to Stockholm where I spearheaded a new Success Dept. at a hyper growth Lead-Gen startup. Learned a lot along the way; working in the Saas Mecca of San Francisco, building something awesome from scratch, navigating cultural differences, and adapting my role & approach to all kinds of customer segments.


    I am here to get more perspectives on the world of CS, and learn from the collective whenever I can. Happy to share experiences as well. 

    Best,

  • Kyle Kendall
    Kyle Kendall Member Posts: 6 Seeker
    edited December 2020
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    I have been on the periphery  for awhile and while it is not yet 2021, need to get more engaged.

    My name is Kyle Kendall and I am a Sr. Director of CS at an AI startup in the bay area.  I have worked for startups, midsize and very large enterprise software companies for the past 25+ years in various IC and Management roles all around Customer service/success/experience.

    I am hear to share my experiences and learn from others on how we all approach what I feel is one of the most important functions in any company...from the local sandwich shop to the largest enterprise.

  • Nathan Mills
    Nathan Mills Member Posts: 1 Navigator
    edited January 2021
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    Hello all and happy 2021! 

    I'm Nathan Mills, CSM for Localize.city, and current MBA student at Baruch College. I am a graduate of The Juilliard School and had a previous life as a professional classical musician (oboist). I have performed concerts on *almost* every continent...still working on Africa and Antarctica. Outside of work, I love cooking and goofing off with my miniature pekingese-poodle mix Bear. 

    My current job is centered around being an effective communicator, being great with customers, and being a natural problem solver - all things that come naturally to me and work I enjoy doing. That said, I would love to push beyond solving existing issues and move into proactively improving customer experience and retention. Obviously, putting out fires is a part of every job - but I would love to put down the fire extinguisher more often and focus on larger goals of CS (apologies for the dorky analogy). I'm excited by the opportunity to think more conceptually about how CS is defined in our company and as a whole in this forum!



    Best,
    Nathan
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-mills-99885682/
  • Larry Barker
    Larry Barker Member Posts: 2 Navigator
    edited January 2021
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    Hi folks,

    It's great to be a part of the community here. I'm relatively new to the customer success space, but I'm tasked with building out the team at our startup. I've spent the last 7+ years working primarily in Support and Operations, so I've got a lot of tactical questions on organizing a Customer Success Team and driving up engagement from SMB customers (we create tech for dental practices, most of which are small operations).

    Looking forward to participating and learning more!

    -----

    Larry Barker
    Senior Manager, Customer Operations
    Opencare
    --------

  • Katie Baker
    Katie Baker Member Posts: 9 Seeker
    edited January 2021
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    Hi Everyone!

    I'm very excited to have come across this community, and look forward to learning and sharing information!
  • Lars Steffen
    Lars Steffen Member Posts: 1 Navigator
    edited January 2021
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    Hey Community, 

    I worked in the Ad-Tech /Martech world for 8 years, starting in Germany, going to the UK, and ending up in New York 5 years ago. 

    In my previous CSM roles, I was strategically solving challenges faced by some of the world's leading global Brands, Platforms & Publishers across workflow &  technology with a sharp focus on near-term growth. 

    I'm seeking new opportunities within the CSM world, so my primary goal is to network with this great community and get some guidance and leads through my job search.

    Please free to connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lars-steffen-b7b23892/

    ------------------------------
    Lars Steffen
    ------------------------------
    -------------------------------------------
    Original Message:
    Sent: 10-08-2020 11:17
    From: Jeff Breunsbach
    Subject: New Here....Let's give you a proper welcome

    If you're new and want to introduce yourself, drop a quick comment on this thread. 

    Tell us about yourself and what you're hoping to get out of the community. 


    Thank you for being part of this growing community - we're thrilled to be on this journey with you!
    #Career
  • Dezrah Blinn
    Dezrah Blinn Member Posts: 6 Seeker
    First Comment
    edited January 2021
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    Hello! My name is Dezrah Blinn. I joined this community at the invitation of the amazing Laura Lakhwara and I'm eager to learn everything I can. I'm about as non-traditional as you can get. I've been a professional magician, summer camp program director, ISO Auditor, Bartender, Server, Forklift operator, and more.

    A few years ago, I went back to school and received a CS degree at 40, only to realize that while I loved technology, I loved working with people even more. I found a home as a Customer Care and Deployment Associate at a robotics company and spent the bulk of my time training internal and external stakeholders on how to use our products. 

    The more I learn about CSM, the more I realize that it's a great match for my skillset and passions, thank you for creating this great resource!

    Happy to connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottdezrahblinn/
  • Laura Lakhwara
    Laura Lakhwara Member Posts: 45 Expert
    First Comment First Anniversary Photogenic
    edited January 2021
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    Welcome, Dez!!! So good to see you on here. ??
  • Ben Nicastri
    Ben Nicastri Member Posts: 1 Navigator
    edited January 2021
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    Hi Everyone! 

    Relatively new here and also to the world of CS. I have recently moved into a CS role within a Workforce Management SaaS company based in Sydney. I previously led the support team within our organisation and will be the first in a growing Customer Success team.

    I am really keen to learn from this platform the best methods and techniques to introduce Customer Success into an established organisation. Focussing on how best to make a significant impact and deliver value with limited resourcing.  

    Really looking forward to learning from you all. Please free to connect with me on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-nicastri-267570a6/
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