Pylon’s Post

Maranda Dziekonski (she/her) is in the 🔆 Spotlight 🔆! Maranda is currently the VP of CS at Id.me, and she has an extensive 20+ years in the CS space. We are excited to spotlight her today! 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁/𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀? I actually fell into it by chance and luck - because I love it! My first ever customer success job was over 20 years ago now. It wasn't called Customer Success, but that's what it was. I managed a customer portfolio, ensuring they had what they needed to be successful, looking around corners for any risks and so on. While I have owned multiple functions in an org, some further away from Customer Success, like HR, some closer like Support, I have always made Customer Success my home. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝘁? Not learning more about the business, which is why I tell folks to dig in deep. When I say business, I am referring to both the ones you work in and the ones you support. You cannot be a trusted advisor if you don't understand your customers day to day, and you also cannot control your destiny if you don't understand the whys behind what you do. I didn't get clear on that early. I just checked the boxes. When I finally realized how important that was, my career truly took off, and my role had more purpose for me. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁/𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀? Learn about the business you are working in and supporting. You should know what NRR is, what impacts it from the business standpoint, and what levers you have to impact it. You should know what renewals are coming up for your book of business, not just a quarter out, but a few quarters out - because the further you think and strategize, the greater the chance you can positively impact that renewal event. Oh, and don't be afraid to own a number. It may be scary at first, but ultimately will help your career. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁/𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀? People who still use NPS as their primary metric and folks who completely discount the value that NPS can bring. It's rarely the end-all-be-all for any organization, but when done right, it can be a great data point for any organization.