Déjà vu in Customer Success

Hello friends and colleagues both past and present!

When I was asked to convey my thoughts on the world around me, I wanted to take the opportunity to convey how much customer success has been a part of the DNA of my career.

Siri tells us that the phrase Déjà vu is a French loanword to express when a person has done something and experiences the same feelings or the feeling that one has lived through the present situation before.

Launching XOXO, the much-acclaimed Ceridian Customer Success program, was one of the greatest experiences in my professional career. Sure, the many accolades over the years were gratifying, but the fondest and most vivid recollections I have are that of the thousands of interactions with amazing customers.

So, why am I writing about Déjà vu in Customer Success? It is simply because I am just in the infancy stages of our CS/CX launch here at OneDonation.org. The “feelings” are the same, yet the building blocks are vastly different.

Let me provide an example to give you greater context.

Before I commit to any project, I like to start a process of weighing out the benefits of each venture I am asked to engage in. As I have done repeatedly, I like to start by first collecting my thoughts on a notepad with the first page distinctly marked with a graphite line down the middle, dividing right from left. This time I intentionally assessed “in my past customer success experiences what is most applicable for this new venture?” Penciling in the building blocks of “staffing” and “budget”, I immediately struck out on having both readily available to deploy. While Dayforce was once considered a startup, she was also well-incubated within the walls of a stalwart. If you have been a part of any startup as well, then you will get it.

Although my journey with OneDonation is just beginning, I do have an incredible team working to ensure that we are fully operational and functional. Right now, as CRO and Head of Customer Success, I do have the luxury to ensure customers are set up for victory while on their Buyer’s Journey. As a colleague likes to say, “no order before its time”, and it has become a readily embraced philosophy here. If anything, our team is guilty of being too transparent within every point of contact.   

So, as someone I have contact with both in my personal and professional life, I invite you to the Howard Show. Think of it as your window into the day-to-day of a startup on the tipping point of being great.  

I am excited to have the CX community here along with me as we go on this journey. I look forward to reading your comments and using your suggestions along the way.

Cheers,

HT