Enabling Success with Lynn Pietryga: Customer Café Podcast
Lynn Pietryga is the Chief Customer Officer of Enable Us. She comes to the digital sales room, that Enable Us is known for, armed with an MBA, and over 15 years of experience managing customer relationships, consulting on solutions to maximize return on investment and account growth, and improving processes and efficiencies within organizations.
In short, she had some wisdom to share on this episode!
Intrigued? Tune in wherever you listen to podcasts including Spotify, Apple, or here.
What is Enable Us?
Their aim is to make the B2B buying experience better for sellers and buyers with digital sales rooms. Sellers can easily find and access all of their collateral etc. Buyers have easy access to what might interest them. The tool enables sales and allows the implementation of filters and spaces to create personalized experiences.
What does a Chief Customer Officer do?
Everything post sale in terms of the customer relationship. It is a mix of sales staff support, education and product. “Getting that voice of customer and feedback back into the product.”
Marketing also regularly asks for customer feedback to inform their content, approach and language.
How do you create a process from the sales “quarterback” to post closing?
There is a process where all data has been collected in the CRM including specific technical fields, overarching goals, etc. Without that onboarding asks those questions that have already been answered by the client. Many organizations ask those questions again with onboarding which creates a lack of trust.
Before speaking with the client, they discuss if any specific or unique promises were made, or items were discussed to ensure a smooth handover.
Enable Us includes a feature to record and include those initial sales calls to allow other team members in the company to catch up in case that is helpful.
How do you balance the needs of customers with increasing revenue?
If you want to increase revenue, you need them to be successful. You need them to see value, gain momentum and tell their executives how great this product is. Our product should increase their sales with the digital sales room, so their revenue is increasing.”
As customers see that their digital sales room is successful, companies tend to want to add other departments to the platform. Success naturally breeds expansions in Enable Us.
What made you decide to move into customer success and SaaS?
Lynn was always in sales adjacent roles and major business partnerships. Lynn found the pace to be a bit too slow for her liking. She was attracted to transferring her skills and likes of relationship building and processes but implementing those in a fast-paced environment.
“I wouldn’t say that there have necessarily been any surprises. I think customer success as a function has continued to evolve more and more. It is very different depending on what company you go to. It can be an idea. It can be a department. It can be glorified support.”
In short, a universal definition has yet to be defined. Companies define their version based on their industry, product, needs, size, etc.
Some companies view CS primarily as sales while others view CS as instrumental to relaying the voice of the customer to the rest of the company to improve the customer journey.
Best way to break into CS and refine your technique? How do you grow and learn?
CS people want to help others! LinkedIn is such an incredible resource. People in the field are sharing successes and resources.
Best way to break into CS and refine your technique? How do you grow and learn?
CS people want to help others! LinkedIn is such an incredible resource. People in the field are sharing successes and resources.
Lynn recommends the following:
LinkedIn Resources:
Gain Grow Retain holds office hours and provide you with a space to connect with others and talk through ideas.
Gainsight: has a library of resources and webinars.
ClientSuccess has boot camps and other resources.
Slack Communities:
Preflight by Rocket Lane is all about onboarding
Podcast:
Want more? You’ll have to tune in! Customer Café by Collabria is available wherever you listen to podcasts including Spotify, Apple, or here.
Want to build a strong team and collaborate smoothly and easily with your colleagues? Get started as a beloved beta user!
Looking for more to listen to? Join Menachem Pritzker and Sharon Weiss-Greenberg, hard core Collabrians, as we drink coffee and learn from collaborative leaders in sales, customer success and account management.
Ready to get started? Customer Café by Collabria: Sales Collaboration Tips for Pros is available wherever you listen to podcasts.
