Being a Customer Success Pro is no easy job, but this podcast will help. Remember that Customer Success is not a destination, but a journey and I am here to help you on your journey.

In this episode of the Customer Success Pro podcast, host Anika Zubair interviews Erica Villareal, a strategic customer success manager at Eptura and a top 25 CS influencer of 2023. Erica shares her journey from Mexico, to becoming a strategic CSM in Dallas, highlighting her use of personal branding on LinkedIn to advance her career. She discusses the importance of translating customer data into actionable insights, the role of strategic customer success managers, and how they differ from other CSM roles in terms of customer engagement and responsibilities. Erica shares her secret sauce for organization and proactivity, emphasizing success plans and business reviews as essential tools for demonstrating value and securing customer success. The conversation also explores Erica's career ambitions, the skills essential for a strategic CSM, and tips for managing workload and showcasing value to achieve promotions. Additionally, Erica's eBook, 'Raising the Bar: How to Excel in Your Enterprise CSM Role,' is discussed, offering insights into further advancing in the customer success field.

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Website: thecustomersuccesspro.com

Coaching with Anika: CSM RevUP Academy

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Erika Villarreal is a Customer Success enthusiast, a thought leader, and an influencer in the CS space. She is an engineer at the core, curious by nature, and a process addict. Currently, she is the Strategic Customer Success Manager at Eptura, a leading workspace management solution where she helps her customers drive adoption and achieve their own definition of success. Erika is also very involved with the Customer Success community, where she shares content that helps other CS professionals succeed in their roles, she has her own newsletter and contributes to multiple CS blogs.

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Navigating your Customer Success Career with Kristi Faltorusso

In this episode of the Customer Success Pro podcast, Anika Zubair interviews Kristi Faltorusso, a four times Top 25 Customer Success Influencer award winner and CCO at Client Success. Kristi shares her remarkable journey from a marketing professional to becoming a leading figure in the SaaS and customer success (CS) space. She highlights the importance of passion, hard work, and taking calculated risks in her career trajectory, culminating in her current role where she significantly impacts her organization and the CS community. The discussion also explores the evolving landscape of customer success, the importance of continuous learning, and the potential of AI in transforming CS strategies. Kristi offers invaluable advice to aspiring CS professionals, emphasizing the need for a data-driven approach, proactive customer engagement, and the courage to pivot when necessary. The conversation is a blend of personal anecdotes, professional insights, and practical tips, making it a must-listen for anyone interested in building a successful career in customer success.


Timestamps:
00:00 Welcome to the Customer Success Pro Podcast!
01:04 Spotlight on Kristi Faltorusso: A Customer Success Trailblazer
06:11 Kristi's Journey: From Marketing to Chief Customer Officer
11:17 The Reality of Achieving Work-Life Balance in Leadership
13:08 Kristis's Future Ambitions Beyond the CCO Role
20:35 Securing a Customer Success Seat at the Executive Table
27:13 Navigating a Non-Conventional Path to the C-Suite
31:00 The Importance of Leadership and Passion in Your Career
35:04 Insights into the Role of a Chief Customer Officer
43:19 Addressing Gender and Career Progression in Tech
45:36 Quickfire Round


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Website: thecustomersuccesspro.com

Coaching with Anika: CSM RevUP Academy


Connect with Kristi:

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Kristi Faltorusso is a distinguished Customer Success Executive, recognized for her exceptional expertise in building, scaling and transforming Customer Success organizations within high-growth B2B SaaS companies. With a career spanning over 12 years, Kristi has been instrumental in guiding numerous companies through the strategic redefinition of Customer Success, resulting in heightened retention rates, sustained revenue growth, and amplified customer advocacy.

Having held pivotal roles in renowned organizations such as BrightEdge, Sisense, BetterCloud, and IntelliShift, Kristi has consistently demonstrated her leadership prowess in steering Customer Success and Experience teams. Presently, as the Chief Customer Officer at ClientSuccess, a leading provider of Customer Success Management solutions, Kristi spearheads Customer Success, Technical Support, and Consulting initiatives. In her current capacity, she continues to drive transformative outcomes, aligning her passion for customer-centric strategies with a commitment to delivering unparalleled value.

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Being a Customer Success Pro is no easy job, but this podcast will help. Remember that Customer Success is not a destination, but a journey and I am here to help you on your journey.

Imposter Syndrome, Prioritization, and Mindset Shifts in Customer Success. All topics we covered in Today’s talk with Rachel Provan. Today’s podcast will focus on how you have to shift your mindset in order to move from reactive to proactive Customer Success.

Rachel Provan, founder of Proven Success, joins the podcast as the first guest to discuss her career transition from acting to customer success and her current role leading customer success coaching. Topics covered include the importance of understanding the Pareto Principle, the necessity of setting aside focus time to work on strategy, techniques for effectively prioritizing tasks, and advice on overcoming imposter syndrome. Rachel also discusses how she built Provan Success and her approach to coaching customer success professionals.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome

03:54 Transition from Corporate to Entrepreneurship

09:21 The Role of Mindset in Customer Success

16:42 The Importance of Time Management in CS

20:29 The Impact of Task Switching on Productivity

21:30 The Importance of Proactive Leadership

22:06 The Pitfalls of the Player-Coach Mentality

22:20 The Art of Prioritization in Leadership

23:03 The Struggle of Saying No

23:26 The Challenge of Balancing Multiple Roles

28:00 The Reality of Imposter Syndrome

30:12 The Struggle of Perfectionism and High Expectations

38:08 The Future of Customer Success

Connect with Anika:
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Website: thecustomersuccesspro.com
Coaching with Anika: CSM RevUP Academy

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Connect with Rachel:
Rachel Provan is a top 25 CS Influencer and Coach for Customer Success leaders. She has over 15 years of experience in CS Leadership building and scaling CS departments across diverse markets from seed stage to Fortune 500 Companies. With a passion for fusing psychology with business strategy and leadership techniques, Rachel teaches new CS leaders to build and scale revenue-generating customer success departments. Her flagship course, The CS Leadership Academy, helps former CSMs nail their transition to accomplished CS Leaders. You can find her on LinkedIn, provansuccess.com, or psychologyofcustomersuccess.com

Music by AudioCoffee: https://www.audiocoffee.net/