Mastering CS: Candid Leader Insights

Custify | Customer Success
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Welcome to Mastering CS – Candid Leader Insights, where I, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, take you on a journey into the depths of Customer Success. Each episode, I sit down with some of the most influential minds in the CS world, from seasoned managers and renowned influencers to dynamic team leaders, to uncover the challenges and opportunities that shape our profession. Our conversations are rich with insights, drawing on personal experiences and innovative ideas to offer practical solutions. Join me as we make every interaction count in the dynamic world of Customer Success!

  1. 1D AGO

    Ep 49 | Cameron Hogg

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Cameron Hogg, Customer Success Manager at OneTrace, a construction technology platform that helps subcontractors track work, maintain compliance, and gain visibility across projects. Cameron shares what surprised him most when moving from licensing tech into construction SaaS, how CS teams drive adoption among field-based users, and why simplicity and fast onboarding are critical when customers need to start using software immediately. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ What changes when moving from traditional SaaS into construction tech CS ☑️ What strong adoption looks like for both small subcontractors and enterprise construction teams ☑️ Why adoption in construction ties directly to compliance, cash flow, and project visibility ☑️ How to drive stickiness with users who don’t consider themselves technical ☑️ Why NRR and revenue retention are the clearest success metrics in this environment ☑️ What a health score looks like when project risk comes from low visibility—not just low logins ☑️ Why unstructured QBRs fail to create real customer value ---- With Custify, you can: ☑️ automate daily tasks through Playbooks ☑️ build individual customer #HealthScores ☑️ create customer segments ☑️ improve your customer communication strategy ☑️ streamline your onboarding process ☑️ track customers’ journeys every step of the way ☑️ get a 360 view of their progress Want to do great things with your customer success initiative? Keep in touch with us below: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Custify Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact Us⁠

    19 min

  2. 4D AGO

    Ep 48 | Gillian Stringer

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Gillian Stringer, Senior Client Partner at Enrich. They discuss how Customer Success evolves from platform enablement to true business partnership, why protecting the relationship can sometimes backfire, and how CS teams can align with Sales to drive retention and growth. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ Why change management becomes central as CS roles grow more strategic ☑️ Why selling features rarely drives expansion ☑️ The misconception many CSMs have about being “commercial” ☑️ When protecting the customer relationship can backfire ☑️ Why churn mitigation rarely works once churn is announced ☑️ The foundations of strong renewals: ICP fit, onboarding, and milestone-based success ☑️ How forecasting churn improves control over a book of business ☑️ How CSMs build stronger relationships with Sales teams ☑️ Why agreeableness alone does not define great Customer Success ---- With Custify, you can: ☑️ automate daily tasks through Playbooks ☑️ build individual customer #HealthScores ☑️ create customer segments ☑️ improve your customer communication strategy ☑️ streamline your onboarding process ☑️ track customers’ journeys every step of the way ☑️ get a 360 view of their progress Want to do great things with your customer success initiative? Keep in touch with us below: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Custify Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact Us⁠

    29 min

  3. MAR 2

    Ep 47 | Catalin Petre

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Catalin Petre, Customer Success Manager at Several Nines, the company helping teams deploy, manage, and operate open-source databases in production. Catalin shares why he left a seven-year corporate career to join a scale-up, how CS operates when accounts are shared across Account Executives and technical teams, and why relationship-building, onboarding speed, and operational discipline are key drivers of renewals. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ Why Catalin moved from corporate to a lean scale-up environment ☑️ How CS works when accounts are shared across CS, AEs, and Solutions Architects ☑️ Catalin’s end-to-end rhythm: onboarding, checklists, refreshers, and renewals ☑️ How strong relationships speed up resolution and drive expansion ☑️ The three health signals he trusts most: ticket patterns, refreshers, and renewal intent ☑️ What he keeps scrappy vs. tightly documented when managing ~100 clients ☑️ The five metrics leadership tracks: renewals, churn, upsell, new business, and value ☑️ What qualifies someone for CS: experience, communication, networking, and timing ---- With Custify, you can: ☑️ automate daily tasks through Playbooks ☑️ build individual customer #HealthScores ☑️ create customer segments ☑️ improve your customer communication strategy ☑️ streamline your onboarding process ☑️ track customers’ journeys every step of the way ☑️ get a 360 view of their progress Want to do great things with your customer success initiative? Keep in touch with us below: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Custify Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact Us⁠

    24 min

  4. FEB 16

    Ep 46 | Arek Czarnecki

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Arek Czarnecki, Head of Customer Success at Gridaly, an all-in-one event management platform that helps organizers run virtual, hybrid, and in-person events end to end. Arek shares how he transitioned from Sales into Customer Success and rebuilt the entire CS function from scratch inside a fast-growing startup. They discuss what it takes to scale customer delivery in an event-driven business with seasonality, tight timelines, and high expectations—while building processes, selecting tools on a limited budget, and introducing AI-enabled workflows without losing the personal touch customers value. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ How Arek transitioned from Sales into Customer Success leadership ☑️ What building a CS function from scratch looked like at Gridaly ☑️ The three early priorities: people, process, and tooling ☑️ Why Gridaly hired junior talent first ☑️ How seasonality impacts CS resourcing and planning ☑️ How Sales → CS handovers work today ☑️ Why Success and Support were split into separate functions ☑️ The five AI and automation workflows powering efficiency ☑️ Navigating the scaling tension between efficiency and personal touch ☑️ Arek’s leadership philosophy for driving retention ---- With Custify, you can: ☑️ automate daily tasks through Playbooks ☑️ build individual customer #HealthScores ☑️ create customer segments ☑️ improve your customer communication strategy ☑️ streamline your onboarding process ☑️ track customers’ journeys every step of the way ☑️ get a 360 view of their progress Want to do great things with your customer success initiative? Keep in touch with us below: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Custify Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact Us⁠

    27 min

  5. FEB 2

    Ep 45 | Ellen Quirke

    In this episode of Mastering CS Candid Leader Insights, Irina Cismas sits down with Ellen Quirke, Head of Customer Success at IRIS Audio, the AI audio company helping teams remove background noise and capture clearer conversations at scale.Ellen shares how her years as a high-performance athlete shaped the way she leads, prioritizes, and builds systems, then breaks down what it looks like to create a CS function from zero inside a fast-moving company. She explains how IRIS Audio serves both high-volume environments like BPOs and call centres and expands into mission-critical markets like emergency services, aviation, and defence, and why that expansion changes how CS must operate. ---- With Custify, you can: ☑️ automate daily tasks through Playbooks ☑️ build individual customer #HealthScores ☑️ create customer segments ☑️ improve your customer communication strategy ☑️ streamline your onboarding process ☑️ track customers’ journeys every step of the way ☑️ get a 360 view of their progress Want to do great things with your customer success initiative? Keep in touch with us below: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Custify Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact Us⁠

    23 min

  6. JAN 15

    Ep 44 | Simon Montgomery

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Simon Montgomery, COO at ID-PAL, the identity verification platform helping businesses confirm who their customers really are in seconds. Simon shares how his journey from traditional banking into fintech and regtech shaped the way ID-PAL built its customer operations, how identity verification became a customer experience problem, and what it takes to scale a highly regulated SaaS business while keeping both end users and enterprise clients satisfied. He also breaks down how ID-PAL built automation without losing the human touch, how the team spots churn before it happens, and why operational discipline and company values drive long-term customer success. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ How Simon’s banking and fintech background shaped ID-PAL’s customer experience at scale ☑️ Why identity verification is both a CS and product challenge in regulated industries ☑️ How ID-PAL serves end users and enterprise clients as distinct customer groups ☑️ Balancing automation and human support without sacrificing experience ☑️ How usage patterns and support signals help detect churn risk early ☑️ What health scores and engagement metrics reveal about customer stability ☑️ How cross-functional onboarding reduces friction for enterprise customers ☑️ Why company values and culture directly influence customer outcomes ☑️ What operational excellence looks like in a scaling regtech SaaS ☑️ Simon’s approach to hiring, resilience, and leadership in growing CS teams ---- With Custify, you can: ☑️ automate daily tasks through Playbooks ☑️ build individual customer #HealthScores ☑️ create customer segments ☑️ improve your customer communication strategy ☑️ streamline your onboarding process ☑️ track customers’ journeys every step of the way ☑️ get a 360 view of their progress Want to do great things with your customer success initiative? Keep in touch with us below: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Custify Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact Us⁠

    27 min

  7. JAN 8

    Ep 43 | Ryan Miller

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Ryan Miller, Head of Customer Success at Cogniss. Ryan shares how an unconventional path through business strategy, entrepreneurship, and no-code development shaped the way he built Cogniss’s customer success function from the ground up. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ How Ryan’s background in strategy, operations, and no-code shaped his customer-first leadership style ☑️ How Cogniss built a CS function from “1.5 hires” to a global team supporting complex customer types ☑️ Why success plans became the backbone of retention after losing two major accounts ☑️ How the team cut onboarding time by 50% through curriculum design, productized learning, and embedded help ☑️ The metrics Cogniss now uses to measure customer health across researchers, entrepreneurs, and clinicians ☑️ How to align CS, product, and sales in a startup where customers are both creators and users ☑️ What capacity constraints look like inside a high-growth CS team and how automation + AI relieve the pressure ☑️ The foundational processes Ryan would build first if he were starting over today ☑️ How AI reshapes the future role of CSMs in no-code product ecosystems ---- With Custify, you can: ☑️ automate daily tasks through Playbooks ☑️ build individual customer #HealthScores ☑️ create customer segments ☑️ improve your customer communication strategy ☑️ streamline your onboarding process ☑️ track customers’ journeys every step of the way ☑️ get a 360 view of their progress Want to do great things with your customer success initiative? Keep in touch with us below: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Custify Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact Us⁠

    27 min

  8. 12/12/2025

    Ep 42 | Johnny Davies

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Jonny Davies, Head of Customer Success at Vixio. Jonny unpacks how he is reshaping CS at Vixio — from redefining roles and rebuilding health scores to implementing automation and balancing commercial growth with genuine customer partnership. He also shares what true CS maturity looks like, how to scale teams under pressure, and why a growth mindset is the non-negotiable skill for CS leaders entering 2026. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ How to evolve CS from a support function into a proactive, revenue-driving partner ☑️ How Jonny rebuilt Vixio’s customer health score to reflect real behaviors, not misleading trend data ☑️ What CS maturity actually looks like—and how to recognize when your org is getting there ☑️ When to standardize processes vs. when to stay flexible and encourage creativity ☑️ How to balance helping and selling to drive expansion without eroding trust ☑️ Practical examples of where AI and automation actually add value in CS ☑️ How to build resilient teams that thrive under pressure and change ☑️ The leadership principles Jonny uses when coaching new heads of CS ---- With Custify, you can: ☑️ automate daily tasks through Playbooks ☑️ build individual customer #HealthScores ☑️ create customer segments ☑️ improve your customer communication strategy ☑️ streamline your onboarding process ☑️ track customers’ journeys every step of the way ☑️ get a 360 view of their progress Want to do great things with your customer success initiative? Keep in touch with us below: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Custify Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Contact Us⁠

    32 min
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About

Welcome to Mastering CS – Candid Leader Insights, where I, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, take you on a journey into the depths of Customer Success. Each episode, I sit down with some of the most influential minds in the CS world, from seasoned managers and renowned influencers to dynamic team leaders, to uncover the challenges and opportunities that shape our profession. Our conversations are rich with insights, drawing on personal experiences and innovative ideas to offer practical solutions. Join me as we make every interaction count in the dynamic world of Customer Success!

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