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. 4d ago

    Ep 93 | Andrey Tirel

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Andrey Tirel, Senior Customer Success Manager at Jellyfish, a platform that helps engineering leaders see how their teams spend their time. Andrey has been in Customer Success for 10 years and has seen the function from every angle: early-stage startups, acquisitions, Snowflake before most people had heard of it, and VMware. He shares what CS looks like when your customers are CTOs and VPs of Engineering, how to handle the build versus buy objection, what adoption actually looks like beyond login data, and why relationships are still the one thing AI will never replace in customer success. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ What Jellyfish does and what the Senior CSM role looks like across a book of 20 to 30 enterprise accounts ☑️ How Andrey handles the build versus buy objection with engineering teams ☑️ What good onboarding looks like at Jellyfish and how it has evolved over time ☑️ How Jellyfish measures adoption beyond logins and what broad versus narrow usage signals mean ---- 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

  2. 6d ago

    Ep 92 | Frances Dupree

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Frances Dupree, Principal Customer Success Manager at Agiloft, a contract management platform for legal teams. Frances spent years inside legal operations before moving to the vendor side, and that experience of being the customer gives her a perspective that shapes everything about how she shows up for her accounts. She shares what it was like to be on the receiving end of both great and poor CS, what good onboarding looks like when you manage 30 customers across multiple industries, and why overcommunicating is the one habit she has carried from every role she has held. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ What Agiloft does and what the Principal CSM role looks like across multiple industries ☑️ What Frances learned from being the customer that she now brings to every account ☑️ What made one CSM exceptional and what she would change about the assignment process ☑️ What good onboarding looks like and how the handoff from implementation to CS actually works ☑️ What gets hesitant users from resistance to adoption once the software is live ---- 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

  3. Sep 24

    Ep 91 | Eric Mistry

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Eric Mistry, Automation Strategist and AI and Automation Transformation Lead at Zapier, the automation platform that connects apps and workflows. Eric's role sits at the intersection of customer success and automation strategy. He shares what the Automation Strategist title actually means, what he automated first and why it changed how he shows up for customers, how Zapier's MCP integration and Claude Code have become his personal cheat code, and why empathy is the most important skill he has ever developed. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ What the Automation Strategist title means and how it differs from a traditional CSM role ☑️ Why Eric is his own first customer and how internal builds become customer-facing workflows ☑️ What the first things he automated were and what the results actually looked like ☑️ How he thinks about the mindset shift required to move people from zero to one with AI ☑️ What infrastructure you actually need to run a scalable automation stack ---- 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

  4. Sep 22

    Ep 90 | Rachel Weller

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Rachel Weller, Head of Customer Success for the Americas at Canary Technologies, a guest management platform for hotels. Rachel shares what it looks like to build a CS team from scratch in a new region, why doing messy, unscalable things first is one of the most important habits in CS, and how she thinks about the balance between technology and headcount when scaling. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ What Canary Technologies does and what the Head of CS role looks like day to day ☑️ Why building a CS team from scratch should start with the market, not the org chart ☑️ What messy, unscalable things you can’t skip when building from zero ☑️ How Rachel thinks about defining and co-creating value with clients ☑️ How she approaches scaling across people, process, and product, and what signals tell her when to use technology versus hire ---- 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

  5. Sep 17

    Ep 89 | Kevin Andrews

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Kevin Andrews, Product Engagement Manager at BombBomb, a video messaging platform. Kevin spent eight months leading CS and support earlier this year, having previously worked across sales, CS, and product over nearly 10 years at the company. He shares what it was like to step into an interim CS leadership role, what metrics actually tell you something meaningful, how to weigh loud customer feedback against everyone else, and why perfect is the villain of done. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ What BombBomb does and what the CS and support team structure looks like ☑️ Why Kevin was asked to lead CS as a product person and what that transition taught him ☑️ What he looked for when hiring a new Head of CS and why empathy and systems thinking came first ☑️ What metrics actually matter when video count alone tells you nothing ☑️ How BombBomb started tying video usage to deal outcomes rather than just recording volume ---- 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

  6. Sep 15

    Ep 88 | Daniel Hyre

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Daniel Hyre, Customer Success Manager at ScreenCloud, a digital signage platform for managing screens across offices and locations. Daniel's path into CS is anything but conventional: fine wine, estate planning, carbon trading, and now digital signage. His background in industries where you can never push a sale shapes how he builds trust with customers. He shares how ScreenCloud uses AI signals to stay proactive, what good onboarding looks like when the real milestone is moving from IT to HR adoption, and why slowing down is the best advice he gives to anyone new to CS. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ What ScreenCloud does and what the CSM role looks like across enterprise, mid-market, and scaled segments ☑️ How ScreenCloud uses AI to eliminate admin and stay proactive rather than reactive ☑️ What tools sit at the center of the CS operation: Hook, Salesforce, Notion, Slack, and Zapier ☑️ What good onboarding looks like and why the real milestone is when IT hands the platform to HR ☑️ How the renewal process is structured and why 90 to 60 days is the sweet spot ---- 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

  7. Sep 10

    Ep 87 | Donia Hesham

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Donia Hesham, Senior Customer Success Specialist at WalaPlus, an employee loyalty and rewards platform serving organizations across the Middle East. With a background in investment management and banking, Donia brings a unique perspective to Customer Success and managing complex account portfolios. She shares what it takes to manage 100+ accounts, how she tiers her portfolio to focus on what matters most, what effective onboarding looks like in a market where WhatsApp often beats email, and why understanding your customers’ targets is essential to achieving your own. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ What WalaPlus does and what the CSM role looks like across a multi-sector portfolio ☑️ How the team tiers accounts and why effective tiering takes time ☑️ What effective onboarding looks like and how to spot the “aha” moment ☑️ What it takes to manage and support a portfolio of 100+ accounts ---- 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

  8. Sep 3

    Ep 86 | Konstantin Kleemann

    In this episode of the podcast, Irina Cismas, Head of Marketing at Custify, sits down with Konstantin Kleemann, Senior Customer Success Manager at SAP Taulia, a working capital platform that helps companies pay suppliers faster while freeing up cash. With years of experience structuring working capital deals for corporate treasury teams at UniCredit, Konstantin brings a unique perspective on the buyer side of Customer Success. He shares what CS looks like in a two-sided platform serving both buyers and suppliers, how the team uses AI agents and Salesforce to manage a global portfolio, and why building trust early is the habit that shapes everything that follows. What You’ll Learn: ☑️ What SAP Taulia does and what the CSM role looks like across a two-sided platform ☑️ How CS spans implementation, program management, and supplier engagement ☑️ What effective onboarding looks like for both buyers and suppliers ☑️ How the team tracks customer health and success after a program goes live ☑️ Why building trust early shapes the entire customer lifecycle ---- 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

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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!

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