The Launch Station

In this episode, we talk to Deepak Kumar, Chief Customer Officer, Aryaka Networks. Deepak has worked over two decades in the enterprise software industry, and was SVP and GM at [24]7.ai. At Aryaka, his key focus is on enhancing customer experience globally. In this episode, Deepak talks about: Establishing a social connection with clients What has changed in client servicing and customer success over the last decade What's next for customer success Reasons implementation projects in the SaaS domain fail … and more. Tune in!

In this episode, we have Kristi Faltorusso, VP - Customer Success at Client Success. She was named one of the Top 25 CS Influencers 2020. Kristi is a seasoned CS leader and has transformed the CS function at high-growth, B2B SaaS companies like IntelliShift and BetterCloud. In this episode, we talk to Kristi about her kickoff model. She covers the following topics: Complexities with implementations that include a hardware component What got her thinking about the Partnership Kickoff Model What the Partnership Kickoff Model is about Managing expectations with executive stakeholders of an implementation project … and more.

In Episode 11, Michael Hurley, Customer Success Manager at Infor, talks to us about helping your customer success team through major transitions. He's been a part of CS strategy transformations at notable organizations. He has served in leadership at companies like Oracle. Here's what Michael talks about in this episode: When a CSM should get involved in the customer's journey What traits and skills he looks for when hiring for his team, and how he assesses them How to help the team through organizational transitions How to win the team's trust during a transition … and more.

In Episode 10, we have Bill Cushard, General Manager, ServiceRocket. He is a customer education expert and has spent most of his career working in learning management, software adoption, and customer success. He was named one of the Top 25 CS Influencers in 2020. Bill has extensive experience working with startups and high-growth companies. Here's what Bill talks about in this episode: How Learndot came about What great customer training looks like The maturity model for customer education Companies that do a great job in customer training/education When a SaaS business should invest in customer education Roadblocks in setting up customer education programs in companies ... and more.

In this episode, we have Sridhar Gollapalli (VP - Customer Success) and Sudheer Sharma Goda (Director of Professional Services), Gainsight. Sridhar has over two decades of experience working in the software tech space and has worked with the likes of IBM and Microsoft. He transitioned from engineering leadership roles to customer success at Gainsight. Sudheer has a master's in Data Science and Analytics. He spent 15 years in tech consulting before he joined Gainsight to lead their professional services function. In this episode, they talk about: How the Customer Success function was established at Gainsight How the Professional Services team comes into the picture How the team decides on who should engage with the customer How workshops for customers cut down their go-live time ...and more

In this episode, we have Assaf Barnir, VP of Customer Success at Netomi. Assaf has worked in the software space with the Israeli Air Force, moved to consulting, delivery, and professional services roles with companies such as IBM and Zendesk, transitioning to leadership roles in Customer Success. In this episode, we discuss with Barnir: How the sales process can provide a leg up for the customer onboarding team His learnings and takeaways from his career journey so far Transformational changes that he brought into the Sales team at his org that had a multiplicative effect on Customer Success How his customer-oriented way of looking at things driven his high-impact initiatives How to convince the leadership to focus on customers instead of on the dollars When to invest in a customer success tool ... and more

In this episode, Chitra Madhwacharyula, Head of Customer Success at Couchbase, talks to us about creating the right offering for customers. Here are other subjects she talks about in this episode: The right time to think of productizing professional/consulting services Investing in your own consultation offerings vs. investing in a partner network to do it on your behalf How to decide whether you need to add services as a part of your offering if you have a product How to become a trusted advisor to your customers ... and more.

Irit Eizips, CEO of CSM Practice, one of the world's leading consultants on customer success practice, talks to us about the First Value Delivery framework and how it can be used to identify quick wins for value delivery.

Is your customer onboarding process enterprise-ready? In this episode, Vishal Rana, VP - Customer Success at Snapdocs, talks to us about: How the SMB and enterprise customer types are different Change management for enterprise customers Maturity models and how you can use them to help your customers get the most out of your product/offering What a typical implementation process looks like for an enterprise customer Advice to first-time CS leaders ... and more.

We spoke to Mike Sasaki and Rachel Jugai, who are currently colleagues in the Customer Success division at Mitek systems. Mike has over 20 years of experience across tech and SaaS companies, 12 years of that had him heading customer success departments. Rachel has over eight years of experience as a CSM and is currently a part of Mike's team. In this episode, you'll hear them on: What they have learned from escalations through the course of their careers Communication, processes, playbooks for handling escalations Escalating customer issues at their end Differences in handling escalations for larger versus smaller clients Playing good cop — bad cop during escalations. ...and more.

We spoke to Linden Hillenbrand, head of Customer Success & Support at Cloudera. He has over 12 years of experience at GE and Cloudera in both technical and leadership roles. He's passionate about transforming a company's philosophy into one focused on customer success and instrumenting the customer journey. At Cloudera, he is focused on positive outcomes for internal and external customers and sees himself as a leader shaping change within the organization, championing the adoption of newer technologies. In this episode, you'll hear him talk about: The evolution of onboarding The most effective ways to approach enterprise clients Identifying and qualifying the right customer champion The right way to leverage the customer champion to grow your business Rookie mistakes to avoid while dealing with customer champions Best practices for Customer Success leaders …and more.

We spoke to Peter Taylor, author, ‘The Lazy Project Manager'. He is a professional speaker and has delivered over 450 keynote presentations addressing over 60,000 people across 25 countries. He was also recently awarded the PMO Influencer of The Year 2020. In this episode, you'll hear him talk about: Why one needs to be a ‘lazy project manager' Who owns expectation management — sales or project managers? The delicate balance of documentation, communication, and getting things done What the future holds for project management The impact of tech on project management Advice for project managers …and more.

For the first instalment of Launch Station, we spoke to Stephan Howsepian, who leads a team of Technical Account Managers (TAMs) at Citrix, delivering premium Customer Success Services to its high-profile customers. In this episode, you'll hear him answer questions on: What a Customer Success Manager should focus on The best way for a CSM to deliver value to clients The ideal attributes and skills for Customer Success roles Inputs for leaders in Customer Success …and more.