Tell us about your role and what your journey at TrackTik has looked like
I initially applied to TrackTik for a Client Success Manager role in the Netherlands! Turns out the decision was made to hire locally instead. Nevertheless, I was invited to come in for an interview for a possible hire in the near future. The interview was a great experience and it was the perfect opportunity for me to get a glimpse of TrackTik life. Everyone was very welcoming, even though I was just a candidate there for an interview—I was amazed at how friendly people were. Two weeks later, I was welcomed by the Client Success team as their newest colleague. Fast forward two years later and you’ll still find me working with the Client Success team as a CSM. My client portfolio consists of TrackTik’s enterprise-level accounts, which means I get to work on a lot of innovative projects and collaborate with other departments such as Product and Professional Services. I’ve been working with the same portfolio for almost two years now and it has been a great experience learning about my clients’ businesses and helping them get the most value out of the TrackTik software.
What are the main responsibilities of the CS team?
This is a great question as those of us in Client Success are often tasked with wearing many hats. I think the job title says it all, right? Success. This pretty much sums it up. Almost every action, interaction, task I perform on a daily basis drives success in some way or another. Whether I am problem solving for a client, providing the Product team with client feedback or getting trained on a new product feature—my focus is always on delivering a successful outcome.
As trusted advisors, CSMs are focused primarily on ensuring client satisfaction through ROI recognition, driving product adoption and delivering outcomes based on their clients’ business goals. None of this would be possible without developing and maintaining strong relationships with our client base. CSMs are at the frontlines of our business—working on behalf of the client to ensure a positive client experience while providing value at every interaction. It is critical that CS understands their clients’ business and what they hope to achieve by implementing our software. Through understanding, improving and maintaining account health, CSMs are able to develop deeper relationships with their clients.
What do you like about your role at TrackTik?
No two days are alike for a CSM—which seems like an understatement if I think back to the last six months. The COVID-19 crisis is the biggest challenge I’ve yet to face in my career. The first few months were scary, uncertain, unprecedented, and stressful. There was no process or playbook to guide any of us, but thankfully, our experience and dedication proved to be our best tools in helping our clients maintain, and in some cases even grow their businesses. I also had the opportunity to build even stronger relationships with my clients, as they counted on my advice to help them reduce operational costs, pivot their business to run remotely and, essentially, ensure they were as profitable as possible. That is what I love about this job—I get to help people experience success on such a level that they look to me as their trusted advisor, and that is the ultimate goal for a CSM. If I can help at least one client work smarter everyday, then I’m a happy CSM!
What does a typical day at TrackTik look like for you?
There really is no “typical” day for a CSM, especially in the world of physical security! There are always new challenges to work through and problems to solve. With that being said, a lot of my time is spent engaging with clients. I’m on the phone A LOT! I could be project planning with a client for an upcoming TrackTik deployment, delivering a quarterly business review to an executive team or proactively checking in with clients who require a little extra support now and then. It’s all about helping my clients work smarter and delivering value. Some of my day is also spent following up on contract renewals and other administrative tasks to ensure internal alignment on client deliverables.
What motivates you in your role?
There is nothing that motivates me more than delivering on what was promised to a client. I take my clients’ goals very seriously, and remind them often about why they chose TrackTik and the outcomes we are working towards. Through doing so, I’ve built trusting relationships with my clients and have proved myself to be an asset to their business. When we work together towards achieving their goals, there is no limit on what can be accomplished. If that isn’t motivating, then I don’t know what is.
What did you like about the working environment at TrackTik and how do you think those aspects have changed these past few months?
In a past life, I spent many years working from my home office, so it is something I am very accustomed to. One of the reasons I was excited about working for TrackTik was that I’d be back in an office setting, with the ability to interact with my colleagues in person! Since COVID-19, and having to return to a home office setting, it took some getting used to, especially with two kids at home during work hours. One of the biggest challenges was getting accustomed to working remotely and communicating across different departments. On the other hand, I’ve developed some great relationships with colleagues outside of the CS department since working from home! I’ve also gotten to see some of my clients for the first time via video conferencing, which is something we didn’t do much of pre-COVID. It has been a positive outcome from this pandemic and I’m happy to report our camera-on policy will be sticking around.
What is your most memorable moment at TT?
This one is easy. My first TrackTik family reunion—a monthly meeting where we all get together in the office and celebrate our successes as a company. Graham Hussey, our Director of Client Success, was presenting a couple of awards and reading off a bunch of nice comments colleagues wrote about one another—of course, he did this using several different impersonations (he does a great Christopher Walken by the way—it is one of my favorites!) Everyone was having a drink and enjoying each other’s company. I had really never seen anything like it. It was at the end of my first week working at TrackTik, and I knew in that moment I had made a great decision to become a TrackTiker!