Customer Success: Pivot Your Career

Alex White and David Lokietz
  • 5.0 (4)
  • CAREERS
  • UPDATED MONTHLY

Insightful interviews for anyone looking to join or move up in the Customer Success (CS) profession. We'll talk with guests with a variety of CS roles from customer success managers (CSM) to chief customer officers (CCO), along with CS recruiters. We'll explore various aspects of CS, including success stories, skills, challenges, and the future of Customer Success with the ultimate goal of helping you find your next role. Learn what qualities people are seeking and get a few hints on how to position yourself to land your dream job! Join us each month for an action packed episode!

  1. Harnessing AI: Stephen Wise on Monocle’s Innovative CS Platform

    3D AGO

    Harnessing AI: Stephen Wise on Monocle’s Innovative CS Platform

    We welcome Stephen Wise, founder of Monocle—an AI-powered executive assistant built for customer success teams. Stephen explains how Monocle is designed to reduce the “invisible work” of CS through embedded, human-centered AI. Request a product demo at https://www.snowise-monocle.com/

    35 min
  2. 2025 Year in Review: Key Lessons and Growth Opportunities in Customer Success

    JAN 30

    2025 Year in Review: Key Lessons and Growth Opportunities in Customer Success

    Hosts Alex White and David Lokietz provide an overview of each episode from 2025 and discuss what's ahead for 2026. Guests in 2025 included; Carly Agar, Carol Crowe, Drew Cather, James Lawson, Chris Fernandes, Sri Vidya Annapragada, John Huber, Matthew Rinker and Caroline Grant.

    27 min
  3. Mastering Ever-Changing Customer Requests with Concentrix’s Caroline Grant

    09/18/2025

    Mastering Ever-Changing Customer Requests with Concentrix’s Caroline Grant

    In 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 Customer Success relationships. 04:37 Caroline's Journey into Customer Success 10:54 Consulting Insights and Career Advice 22:27 Challenges in Product Ownership 23:01 Mindset Shift in Digital Product Management 25:12 Adapting to Technological Changes and AI 33:26 Successful Client Engagements 36:11 Building Long-Term Client Relationships 39:34 Final Thoughts and Takeaways

    43 min
  4. Enterprise Customer Insights and Strategies with Matthew Rinkert

    08/14/2025

    Enterprise Customer Insights and Strategies with Matthew Rinkert

    Guest 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 Renewals 12:34 Account Management vs. Customer Success 18:55 The Importance of Customer Success Mindset 27:44 Customer Success Models and Strategies 38:50 Enterprise Customer Success Insights 42:52 LinkedIn Tips for Customer Success Professionals 45:31 Alex & David Wrap Up

    53 min
  5. Tailored solutions in CS driving business scale and growth with John Huber

    07/14/2025

    Tailored solutions in CS driving business scale and growth with John Huber

    Guest 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 episode! 02:16 Introducing Today's Guest: John Huber04:55 Leadership on Demand19:50 Challenges in Early-Stage Companies26:32 Operationalizing Customer Health Data30:49 Company-Wide Customer Success Mindset36:58 Coaching Services and Career Development41:20 Final Thoughts and Career Advice

    50 min
  6. Embracing Innovation and Agility in Retail with Google’s Sri Vidya Annapragada

    06/19/2025

    Embracing Innovation and Agility in Retail with Google’s Sri Vidya Annapragada

    Sri 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!

    40 min
  7. Exploring AI Innovations in CS with Venture Builder Chris Fernandes

    05/20/2025

    Exploring AI Innovations in CS with Venture Builder Chris Fernandes

    In 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 07:05 Chris Fernandes 42:35 WrapUp Discussion

    51 min

  8. 04/16/2025

    Redefining 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 department Concept of peak to end Focus more on direction vs impacts Use marketing in CS, both externally and internally CAT model for scaling startups The 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 focus more on direction vs impacts.  Additional topics include the evolving role of AI in customer success, the importance of personalized customer journeys, and James also introduces the innovative CAT model for scaling startups without traditional sales teams, focusing on building efficient customer account teams.

    53 min
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Insightful interviews for anyone looking to join or move up in the Customer Success (CS) profession. We'll talk with guests with a variety of CS roles from customer success managers (CSM) to chief customer officers (CCO), along with CS recruiters. We'll explore various aspects of CS, including success stories, skills, challenges, and the future of Customer Success with the ultimate goal of helping you find your next role. Learn what qualities people are seeking and get a few hints on how to position yourself to land your dream job! Join us each month for an action packed episode!

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