Customer Success & Revenue Growth Insights With Maranda Dziekonski

Introduction

In this episode of the Scale Tale podcast, Mausmi Ambastha hosted Maranda Dziekonski, a seasoned professional in customer success with a wealth of knowledge and experience.

Maranda shares her insights on the evolving role of customer success managers (CSMs), the importance of understanding business pain points, and the strategic moves required to align customer success to revenue generation.

Whether you are a seasoned CS professional or just starting in the industry, this episode is packed with valuable insights and takeaways that can help you navigate the complexities of customer success in today’s time.

About The Guest

Maranda Dziekonski, SVP, CS & Ops at Datasembly has over 20 years of experience both working in and building world-class operations and extensive experience building and scaling teams in early and mid-stage startups.

Her specialties are in customer success (B2B, B2C, B2C), customer support (B2B, B2C), tech support, contact centers (inbound/outbound), sales, and various other teams in operations.

She has been honored as a Top 100 Customer Success Strategist in both 2017 & 2018, Top 25 Customer Success Influencer Judge in 2020, Top 25 Influencer for both 2021 and 2022, and sits on numerous boards.

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Key Takeaways

Maranda’s insights shed light on the essential aspects of customer success that every CSM should know and master.

Improve your CS team's productivity by 30%

From understanding the broader business model to honing negotiation skills, this episode is a collection of such important & helpful pieces of advice.

Let us see some crucial takeaways from this wholesome conversation:

1. Understanding Business Pain Points

Maranda emphasizes the importance of looking beyond individual pain points and understanding the broader business challenges.

This approach can help CSMs identify multiple use cases for their product across different departments within their organization.

2. Earning The Right To Expand

Before expanding your reach within an organization, it is crucial to earn the right by providing value to the customer.

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A satisfied customer can pave the way for broader acceptance and usage of your product within the company.

3. Strategic & Long-Term Approach

The process of aligning customer success with lead generation and revenue growth is not an overnight fix.

It’s a strategic, long-term play that requires patience, consistency, and a focus on delivering value.

4. Balancing Renewals & Upsells

While renewals should be the primary focus, upsells can also play a significant role. However, it is essential to have the right partnership and support in place to handle the demands of renewals without compromising the overall customer experience.

5. Learning Negotiation Skills

For CSMs new to handling negotiations, Maranda suggested partnering with account executives to shadow their negotiations and learn from their techniques. Role-playing and hands-on experience can build confidence and competence in this area.

6. Adapting To Industry Changes

The customer success industry is evolving, and CSMs must adapt to new responsibilities, including revenue generation. Embracing these changes and leveraging available tools and help CSMs stay relevant and valuable.

Conclusion

In this engaging episode, Maranda provides a comprehensive overview of the evolving role of customer success and the strategic move to align it with revenue generation.

From understanding broader business pain points to earning the right to expand within an organization, Maranda’s insights are both practical and inspiring.

She highlights the long-term strategic approach, the need for balancing renewals and upsells, and the value of learning negotiation skills.

As the customer success industry continues to change, Maranda’s advice serves as a valuable guide for CSMs looking to navigate these new challenges and opportunities.