Shows
Customer Success: Pivot Your CareerMastering Ever-Changing Customer Requests with Concentrix’s Caroline GrantIn this episode of the CS Pivot Your Career podcast, join hosts Alex White and David Lokietz as they welcome special guest Caroline Grant, Sr. Director, Strategy at Concentrix. Caroline dives into her extensive experience with evolving customer needs in the Customer Success landscape. She'll share actionable strategies for navigating these shifts, offering practical advice on managing customer expectations while simultaneously crafting solutions that benefit both the client and the vendor. This discussion highlights the critical roles of communication, trust, and transparency in identifying the right offerings and successfully adapting to ensure satisfaction within C...
2025-09-1843 min
Customer Success: Pivot Your CareerEnterprise Customer Insights and Strategies with Matthew RinkertGuest Matthew Rinker, Enterprise Customer Success Manager for DocuSign, joins the Customer Success Pivot Your Career podcast with co-hosts Alex White and David Lokietz. Matthew shares insights from his journey from consumer hardware to SaaS, highlighting the importance of consultative selling, strong customer relationships, and the evolving roles in customer success. Learn what it means to be an Enterprise CSM and the challenges encountered and how to manage these effectively.01:47 Role of Procurement in Renewals12:34 Account Management vs. Customer Success18:55 The Importance of Customer Success Mindset27:44 C...
2025-08-1452 min
Customer Success: Pivot Your CareerTailored solutions in CS driving business scale and growth with John HuberGuest John Huber, founder of Customer Success Architects, joins the 'Customer Success Pivot Your Career' podcast with co-hosts David Lokietz and Alex White. John shares his extensive experience in customer success, which spans over 20 years and includes roles at five different B2B SaaS companies.The discussion covers various aspects of customer success, including Leadership on Demand services, Advisory consulting, and Specialized Coaching. John explains how he helps SaaS companies manage customer health, churn, and renewals. Additionally, he highlights the importance of cross-functional alignment and strategic customer engagement to drive retention and growth. A don’t miss ep...
2025-07-1449 min
Customer Success: Pivot Your CareerEmbracing Innovation and Agility in Retail with Google’s Sri Vidya AnnapragadaSri Vidya Annapragada, Head of Technical Program Management, Device Cloud at Google discusses the unique challenges in the retail industry, the importance of cross-industry learnings, and strategies for effective digital modernization. There is a diverse topics such as navigating priorities in enterprise-level customer success, and the importance of empathy and agility. Sri emphasizes the significance of connecting, communicating, and collaborating with customers, and shares anecdotes from her career across Oracle, Salesforce, Apigee, and Google.You don’t want to miss this episode!
2025-06-1940 min
Customer Success: Pivot Your CareerExploring AI Innovations in CS with Venture Builder Chris FernandesIn this special anniversary episode of 'Customer Success: Pivot Your Career,' hosts David Lokietz and Alex White celebrate one year of podcasting.Guest Chris Fernandes discusses how AI is revolutionizing how people work, how to get started with AI and more importantly the impacts on customer success and how it can turn your focus from reactive to proactive relationship building.Get out of the weeds and learn about AI so you can spend more time on what matters in Customer Success!00:00 Anniversary Edition Opening (submit your ideas)03:30 Episode Opening
2025-05-2051 min
Customer Success: Pivot Your CareerRedefining CS with Service Geeni CCO James Lawson ✔James Lawson, Chief Customer Officer at Service Genie and founder of the River Consultancy Group, shares his insights on the 'Customer Success Pivot Your Career' podcast.CS as a competency, not a departmentConcept of peak to endFocus more on direction vs impactsUse marketing in CS, both externally and internallyCAT model for scaling startupsThe discussion explores how James’ marketing experience helps him in CS both with his customers and to internally market CS. Discussions also include CS as a competency, not a department and...
2025-04-1653 minCustomer Success: Pivot Your CareerElevating Business through CS with Trace3 GM Drew CatherIn this episode of the CS Pivot Your Career podcast, hosts Alex White and David Lokietz speak with special guest Drew Cather, General Manager at Trace3, emphasizing the significance of building long-term client relationships by acting as trusted advisors.Drew shares insights on managing client expectations, handling project challenges, and leveraging educational initiatives like a mini-MBA to empower both clients and internal teams. The episode highlights the significance of trust, transparency, and robust communication in creating successful, enduring CS partnerships.
2025-03-1246 minCustomer Success: Pivot Your CareerBuilding Trusted Partnerships with Google's CS Executive Carol CroweThe Customer Success Pivot Your Career podcast’s guest, Carol Crowe, a Customer Success Executive at Google, shares her journey from technical support to CS leadership. Carol emphasizes the importance of building trusted advisor relationships both with customers and internal teams. Key topics include communication, empathy, and leveraging AI for efficiency. The discussion also highlights how to maintain and nurture these relationships, particularly in large enterprises, and offers practical advice for CS professionals.
2025-02-1140 minCustomer Success: Pivot Your CareerCS Job Search Insights and Career Coaching w/ Carly AgarCarly Agar is founder and CEO of Carly Agar Training, who specializes in career coaching for CS job seekers. Carly shares common pitfalls in the job search process, and the importance of refining job seeking skills. Key topics include optimizing resumes and LinkedIn profiles, using AI effectively without over-relying on it, and the value of drawing parallels from previous roles.
Actionable advice for both new and experienced CS professionals!!!
2025-01-0748 minCustomer Success: Pivot Your CareerReflecting on 2024: Key Lessons and Growth Opportunities in Customer SuccessOur final episode is 2024 YEAR IN REVIEW!
If you are new to our podcast, this provides highlights from all our 2024 interviews so you can go back and listen to the episodes that resonate with you.
In the Customer Success Pivot Your Career podcast, hosts Alex White and David Lokietz provide an overview of its first-year episodes, discussing insights and key takeaways. Guests included Steve Pino, Noah Little, Pranav Parekh, Jennifer Albrecht, Elizabeth Italiano, and John Gusiff, highlighting discussions on operationalizing customer success, relationship building, storytelling, change resilience, and business acumen.
Se...
2024-12-1032 minCustomer Success: Pivot Your CareerCrafting Customer Experience Strategies and Fostering Growth: Lessons with John GusiffIn this episode of the CS Pivot Your Career podcast, hosts Alex White and David Lokietz speak with John Gussif, Managing Partner for Customer Centric Solutions.
John shares his journey into customer success and emphasizes the importance of a well-defined customer experience strategy. He delves into the bowtie model, which connects acquisition and expansion phases, and the importance of maintaining a robust voice of the customer program. Other topics include the significance of understanding and measuring business values and outcomes and identifying and tracking buyer personas.
2024-11-1945 minCustomer Success: Pivot Your CareerDriving Growth and Engagement Part2: Strategies from WNTD Founder Elizabeth ItalianoPart2 of our conversation with Elizabeth Italiano.
In the Customer Success Pivot Your Career podcast, hosts Alex White and David Lokietz discuss customer success strategies with Elizabeth Italiano, Founder & CEO of the consulting firm, What Not To Do (WNTD) Partners.
Discussions include the impact of Gen AI, developing truly personalized customer engagements and evolving customer success into a revenue center. Elizabeth also shares her experiences and insights on go-to-market strategies, business acumen for CSMs, and the value of identifying ideal customer profiles.
2024-10-1026 minCustomer Success: Pivot Your CareerDriving Growth and Engagement Part1: Strategies from WNTD Founder Elizabeth ItalianoIn the Customer Success Pivot Your Career podcast, hosts Alex White and David Lokietz discuss customer success strategies with Elizabeth Italiano, Founder & CEO of the consulting firm, What Not To Do (WNTD) Partners.
Discussions include the impact of Gen AI, developing truly personalized customer engagements and evolving customer success into a revenue center. Elizabeth also shares her experiences and insights on go-to-market strategies, business acumen for CSMs, and the value of identifying ideal customer profiles.
2024-10-0230 minCustomer Success: Pivot Your CareerEmbracing Ambiguity and Building Change Resilience: Insights from Jennifer AlbrechtIn the CS Pivot Your Career podcast, we have a conversation with Jennifer Albrecht, a Customer Success SVP and Revenue Leader for Higher Ed SaaS companies. She shares valuable insights on change resilience, highlighting the importance of embracing mistakes, maintaining transparency, and fostering a feedback-driven culture.
Key topics include expanding your "Lego set", outcomes vs outputs, account multithreading, tech consolidation opportunities, and the idea that achieving "inbox zero" doesn't achieve business outcomes.
2024-08-2942 minCustomer Success: Pivot Your CareerBuilding a Customer-Centric Culture: Insights from Imply’s CCO Pranav ParekhThe 'Customer Success Pivot Your Career Podcast' hosts Alex and David have a conversation with Pranav Parekh, Chief Customer Officer at Imply.
Pranav shares his philosophy on customer success, emphasizing the importance of being customer-centric, building high-performing teams, and fostering a collaborative culture. They highlight how true leadership makes others better both in the leader's presence and absence. Additionally, practical insights on driving customer success, the role of executive communication, and how to handle revenue-related tasks within customer success.
2024-07-3043 minCustomer Success: Pivot Your CareerNavigating the CS Job Market: Advice from recharge's Noah LittleIn this episode of the 'Customer Success Pivot Your Career' podcast, hosts Alex and David discuss job-search strategies with Noah Little, a Senior Enterprise Customer Success Manager at recharge & CS Coach for landing your next CS opportunity.
Noah shares insights on navigating job markets, crafting compelling resumes, and leveraging storytelling in interviews. He emphasizes the importance of documentation of achievements and seeking direct feedback for improvement. The conversation highlights the evolving landscape of customer success roles and practical tips for standing out to recruiters.
2024-06-2843 minCustomer Success: Pivot Your CareerCultivating Customer Success: Insights from SAP's Steve PinoIn the first episode of the Customer Success: Pivot Your Career podcast, hosts Alex White and David Lokietz have a conversation with Steve Pino, SAP National VP North America, Cloud Success Services focusing on data and analytics.
They discuss the importance of relationship building in customer success, the evolution of customer success from on-premise solutions to enterprise cloud software, and the approach to solving clients' issues through trust and periodic check-ins rather than a sales-centric perspective. Pino shares examples from his career, emphasizing the value of understanding and adapting to clients' needs, implementing a rescue renewal program...
2024-05-2334 minCustomer Success: Pivot Your CareerWelcome to Customer Success: Pivot Your Career!Welcome to our new podcast! Learn more about us and our podcast in this 6 minute introduction.
2024-05-1805 min