At Pulse I gave a talk on Being Brave with your clients — being prescriptive in your recommendations, to help them achieve the most value they can with your product or service. I told a personal story about being shy when I was young and overcoming my own hesitations to do tough things. Since then I’ve received notes from many of you about how you’ve overcome similar, and greater, challenges — even one note a few days ago from someone who had the courage to be a whistleblower at her company. She asked if this type of demonstration of strength was part of the "Be Brave campaign.”
The reality is, I didn’t intend to launch a Be Brave campaign at all. I just wanted to give a good talk at Pulse. But I’m realizing how much this bravery message is applicable more generally for our lives. You have to be brave in Customer Success. We have difficult roles:
We go through more re-orgs than other functions
We don’t always control our own work hours, sometimes handling escalations late at night
We’re sometimes stuck between a rock and a hard place when trying to help clients but also ensuring that our internal team spirit remains strong
We often have more women than in other functions and face challenges in ensuring diversity, inclusion, and belonging
We’re trying to prove that we matter to driving our company’s revenue but sometimes the link is difficult to demonstrate irrefutably
We’re trying to influence other functions without authority
And the list goes on.
Speaking for myself, I often find, I need a pick-me-up at the end of the day. There’s a need for more inspiration in our industry.
So I’m going to launch a real Be Brave campaign. The goal is to showcase the heroes in our community who have overcome difficult challenges -- some related to Customer Success, and some not. I want that whistleblower to tell her story, if she’s willing. I want others to come forward and share their struggles and how they surmounted them -- on my Customer Success podcast, on the blog, and in other ways. I feel a need to be inspired. And I’d love for you to share your inspiration with the rest of our community.
If you have a story to tell, or you know someone who does, please shoot me a note at apickens@gainsight.com. I want to help you find a way to inspire others (including me!) to Be Brave.