In this insightful interview, I had the privilege of discussing with Zoya Levin, a passionate and driven professional making waves in the field of customer success.

Get ready to dive into her journey, aspirations, and top priorities in both her professional and personal life.

From Tel Aviv to Customer Success

Where are you from?

Zoya: Tel Aviv, Israel.

How did you join Customer Success?

Zoya: I discovered the power of customer success when I realized how much my actions could positively influence both customers and the company.

That's when I made the switch to customer-facing roles, and my journey in this field began.

Overcoming Challenges and Learning Lessons

What are some of the biggest mistakes you've made in your career and what did you learn from them?

Zoya: When I switched to the high-tech industry, I took a lower-level job because I felt pressured to find a job quickly.

Even though I should have stayed focused on what I really wanted.

Can you share a story about a particularly challenging Customer Success situation you faced and how you overcame it?

Zoya: One of my customers at my previous companies had performance issues with their laser system.

That made it hard for them to execute procedures accurately.

After our technical support team tried to solve the issue with no results, I decided to take a closer look at how they were using the system and how it was set up.

Working with our support team, we found that the system wasn't calibrated correctly for what they required, which was causing the issues.

We made a unique plan to fix the calibration, and it worked. We used data to determine what was wrong and set up a creative solution.

This helped us regain their trust.

And for me to show that I'm always trying to do better to help them succeed.

Essential Qualities and the Future of Customer Success

What do you think are the most important qualities for someone in Customer Success to possess?

Zoya: Empathy and willingness to go the extra mile to help not only your customers but your team members as well.

Proactive and results-oriented - take initiative, and look at the final outcome that you want to achieve as a beacon to guide you.

Flexibility, agility, and adaptability - these are important traits of a CSM, especially because of the super-fast-paced environment they operate in, they have to be able to assess the situation quickly and react.

How do you see CS evolving in the upcoming years?

Zoya: I think there's still not enough discussion about the collaboration between CS and Sales and how important it is to sell to the right customer.

I mean, if a Sales Director/VP Sales was responsible for churn then the target market would be different and therefore they would collaborate more with CS.

I also think that there will be more CS tools based on AI.

And the approach will become more digitalized so we can better understand customer behavior and streamline processes.

Challenges, Passions, and Priorities

What's your top challenge at the moment?

Zoya: I believe my biggest challenge right now is finding a new opportunity that aligns with my skills, experience, and career goals.

However, the recent period has been an exciting opportunity for me to grow and explore different areas.

For example, I took an "Intro to Data Science" course, which expanded my knowledge enormously.

If there was one thing you would love to stop doing at work, what would it be?

Zoya: Juggling conflicting internal priorities that delay customer success efforts.

What are you most passionate about?

Zoya: Making the most positive effect on my life and the lives of people around me, family, friends, and coworkers as a result of my actions.

Being physically active and always progressing – personally and professionally. I am also passionate about volunteering - I have volunteered for years with Holocaust survivors and I am an active contributor to an animal shelter in Tel Aviv.

Where do you see yourself in 1 year? 5, 10 years?

Zoya: I would love to become a Head of a CS Department in an exceptional company and make a real positive impact on the company's growth, my personal and professional development, and the growth of my team members.

I would also love to embark on a journey of building a family and traveling more.

What are your top 3 priorities at the moment both from a professional and personal perspective?

Zoya: Career development, that aligns with my skills and long-term goals.

Personal growth and well-being.

Staying physically active and improving performance.

Building and fostering a strong support system – personally and professionally.

Recommended Resources and Advice

Why did you join my newsletter? Was it helpful? If so, how? Can you share an example of its impact on you?

Zoya: I found your newsletter through a CS community.

It was super helpful and I have learned many new things.

For example, thanks to your recommendation, I bought the amazing book "Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert Cialdini.

It had a profound impact on my life and reaffirmed my chosen path.

Furthermore, in your other podcast, The Success Pod, I have found my constant companion for my workouts in the park – nothing like a motivational speech to encourage you to make an extra effort!

Talents, hobbies?

Zoya: I absolutely love learning new things.

So I am constantly in the middle of some interesting project.

I am a skipper - nothing beats sailing vacations in Greece every summer, a sommelier (wine tastings anyone?), and an amateur photographer (love my Nikon!).

And I have studied culinary arts at the Cordon Bleu.

2 years ago I started playing tennis, in addition to pilates, yoga, and strength training. So, Serena here I come ;-)

Any other books, shows, or podcasts you'd recommend to the CS Café audience?

Zoya: I would also recommend reading "Farm, Don't Hunt" by Guy Nirpaz from Totango.

Super professional and on point.

As for other shows, "CSM Practice" by Irit Eizips.

She has a massive quantity of useful interviews and tutorials with leading professionals in our industry.

Plus, she is a super nice and approachable person.

Not to mention incredibly professional, I would very much recommend subscribing to her channels.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Zoya: Always trust your gut.

Prioritize self-care and well-being, and don't let anyone make you feel like you are not enough.

Where can people find you?

Zoya: Here's my Linkedin profile. Let's connect!

-

Thank you, Zoya for this awesome interview!!

-Hakan.

For more customer success insights and resources, check out The CS Café's archive, podcast, and community.

Share Your Story

With over a decade of experience, Karim shares his insights on regional collaboration in Customer Success, the evolution of CS in the upcoming years, and his top priorities at the moment.

He also opens up about his passion for Customer Success stories as well as his dreams, ambitions, and his family.

Let’s explore the mind of this creative “Customer Success Spider on the Web” and learn from his wealth of experience! 😎

Where are you from?

I am Karim Michael Hambach, based out of Amsterdam, Netherlands. I am an ambitious polyglot and I speak four languages fluently.

Your career path

I transitioned into Customer Success a decade ago when the role and terminology started to take shape.

CS was also getting more mature along its defined scope, role, and responsibilities.

I was a global CRM & Knowledge Base Consultant and a Technical Project Manager until I heard of a Customer Success opportunity at my previous employer, Oracle. 

I've always been interested in building strategic relationships with my customers.

I realized that I appreciated longer-term customer partnerships rather than shorter engagements. It's always hard to say goodbye to a customer after a successful project.

Share Your Story

How do you see regional collaboration in CS?

I enjoyed working with you at Adobe.

We've been leading the way on so many successful creative and disruptive projects. We were lucky to have you onboard!

To me, collaboration is a prerequisite for any successful Customer Success professional. It must be regional, global, and cross-disciplinary.

Making a customer successful is to work with all the resources available to you.

It ranges from internal and external communication to leveraging the skill sets of the people you interact with.

This is when the magic happens in getting things done.

It helps everyone involved to think of solutions that are specific to customer problems.

By removing longer lines of approvals, organizations can also become more agile. This is vital to today's success of especially vast global organizations.

At the same time, we as CSMs advocate positive change within our own organization which is a blessing.

Share Your Story

How do you see CS evolving in the upcoming years?

Leadership in various organizations started to "expand" the CS role. But in reality, they are "compacting" it.

Indeed.

With the current economic situation, non-billable roles such as CS have to deliver even more.

I am not quite certain yet how successful this trend will be.

CSMs have already a lot on their plate. Onboarding new customers, building success plans or managing complex escalations, and many more. Not to mention all the internal administrative and reporting tasks.

Expanding the CSM scope to accommodate for the lack of resources in other departments is not always a successful formula.

It may sooner or later result in higher churn.

Luckily this is a topic in discussions across many organizations. And I see interesting threads addressing this topic in CS forums and also on Linkedin.

What CS organizations need is a healthier balance between workload and adding value. They need to empower true customer partnerships.

As such, leadership teams must recognize the value of their CS organization.

How do you see yourself in 1 year? 3 or 5 years?

I don't have that crystal ball with me today but I know I love my current job.

I love being the spider on the web to solve customer challenges.

With my strong creative skills, I also love producing customer success story videos.

I also enjoy championing new product features and trends which are neither invented nor progressing yet.

So, I see myself moving into a role where I can use my skills in product development or marketing to influence a solution's roadmap.

If I can wrap it all up with creative videos, I am a lucky camper!

What’s your top challenge at the moment?

We are moving back from Covid-remote working mode to hybrid/on-site work.

As a full-time parent, it's challenging to find the right balance between professional and private schedules. But luckily it isn't an impossible task, especially at Adobe.

I have to confess that I love seeing my colleagues and customers again, face to face! We need those human interactions more than ever.

Share Your Story

If there was one thing you could remove immediately, what would it be?

I am allergic to spending my time on duplicate or inefficient activities that don't add any value.

Luckily at Adobe, we have platforms to discuss and improve our internal processes which I contribute to and appreciate much.

What are you most passionate about?

At work, I love seeing the results of my hard work.

In essence, many don't realize we invest a major part of our daily lives in being successful at work and for our customers.

I love seeing my customers or colleagues radiate that glimpse of satisfaction when we reach an important milestone or GoLive.

Best of all, I love documenting those successes in my video productions. It helps me highlight the great work we deliver. And helps customers document their transformation journey.

At home, I love seeing the smile on my daughters' faces when we build something together.

It can be a finished social game, a completed family video production or drawing, or sending a surprise box to people close to us.

What are your top 3 priorities at the moment? 

1. Maintain my strong position as a successful colleague and CSM.   

2. Continue to learn from others and contribute to my team's success. 

3. Continue believing in my dreams and ambitions. And when needed, continue wearing the "Be Pirate" hat which I derive from a book I'd recommend you and your readers explore. There is also the series of books "The Corporate Rebel" which I am starting to read right now. It's written by two Dutch authors and offers great insights into how employees can bring change whilst still having fun at work.

Change comes through disruption. And it sometimes means you need to break to rebuild a better version.

On a personal note, my top priority is to keep that happy glance in my family's eyes and smile. Embrace all changes coming in as a parent with two growing beautiful daughters.

Finally, I'm looking forward to a more self-sustaining future. And becoming less dependent on external factors. In particular on the energy side.

Share Your Story

Why did you join my newsletter?

I've been following your work since the very start.

I am grateful for the amount of relevant information you are sharing with the CS community.

I especially like the way you communicate knowledge in a simple and short way.

It makes it all very easy to digest, with a cup of Turkish coffee and sometimes with a delicious lokum, of course! 🤩

I always learn something new at least once a week.

So kudos to your leadership, willingness to always help others, and your resilience!

I'd recommend everyone to subscribe to the CS Café newsletter and support the amazing work you're doing.

Any hobbies outside work?

I love the creative side of things. My brain is very visual.

So I love producing movies and learn at least once a week how to improve my editing/producing skills.

I am now also learning more about how to combine it all with music and sound.

There is so much to learn and my thirst for knowledge is only growing!

Especially on the weekends.

I made it a habit to get up early, exercise, and learn new things about writing, movie production, and business processes.

This is my most precious "Me Time" of the day.

I am using it to prime my brain for absorbing new knowledge and being creative.

Besides, I speak four languages: French, Dutch, English, and German.

And I aim to learn another two in the coming decades.

I am also an avid certified drone pilot in the US. I am now working on getting certified in the EU.

Share Your Story

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Make big bold steps. 

I immigrated in my early twenties from Germany to The Netherlands. I set up my own company, taking risks but it's worth the journey. 

I would tell my younger self that if I had the choice, I would have done it all again, but with more courage and less doubt. Because those decisions come with an awful lot of insecurity and fear of the unknown.

Doubt and fear of change inhibit the decision-making process. We fear insecurity, judgment, or the opinion of others. 

But go for it and do it anyway. 

After all, it's well worth it! 

Where can people find you? Social media profiles, etc.

Reach out to me on LinkedIn. I'd love to connect! 

And thank you for having me in this interview! 

I am honored and grateful to speak to you and to share with the Customer Success Café community! Keep up your excellent work!  

Share Your Story

Share The Customer Success Café Newsletter