Last updated: Oct 14, 2025
I'm thrilled to share my conversation with Lara Barnes, Senior Vice President of Customer Success and Renewals at Sitecore.
With a wealth of experience spanning roles at Oracle, Facebook, and Sitecore, Lara offers massive insights into building and leading successful customer success teams.
Thank you, Lara, for sharing your story with us at The CS Café!
The stage is yours!
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Why this interview matters: Lara built Customer Success at Sitecore from the ground up, scaling to a 75-person global org across APJ, AMER, and EMEA while owning ~€180M in annual renewals.
She led a perpetual→SaaS transition, installed telemetry for value realization, and aligned 12 departments around one lifecycle. That’s real leadership under real pressure.
What you’ll walk away with today: concrete ways to operationalize outcomes with telemetry, balance renewals with growth, and use AI as leverage—plus links to playbooks and templates you can deploy this week.
If you need execution-grade runbooks, start with the CS Playbook Library to ship proven motions fast. You’ll find practical save plays, onboarding cadences, and escalation patterns inside the library at The CS Playbook Library and the broader Playbooks hub.
My Field Notes
Value proof, not promises. If you’re formalizing success planning, anchor outcomes and product signals directly in your plan. A simple first step is to grab the Free Customer Success Plan Template and then deepen it with the advanced patterns in Master Customer Success Plans.
Lifecycle beats heroics. When CS, Product, and Sales share one lifecycle spine, renewals get boring (the good kind). If your handoffs are ad hoc, the Customer Success Lifecycle Automation Playbook shows how to wire moments-that-matter without adding bureaucracy.
AI is leverage, not a replacement. Start with risk triage, pattern detection, and rapid answer retrieval. For a pragmatic rollout, use the AI Customer Success Implementation Guide and the predictive system in AI Won’t Replace CSMs.
Renewals thrive on proof. When you need an exec-safe metrics spine, align your narrative with the essentials in Top SaaS Metrics & KPIs and the leadership-level view in Success Metrics for Business & CS Leaders.
Kill tiers; route by need. If “tiering theater” is slowing growth, redesign coverage with Appropriate Experience (AX)—it replaces ARR-based tiers with context-based recipes.
PART 1/2 — Career Journey and Evolution of Customer Success
Your Professional Journey
Q: Can you tell us about your career leading up to your role as Senior Vice President of Customer Success and Renewals at Sitecore?
I started at Sitecore 7 years ago and built the organization from scratch. I was the first Customer Success Manager (CSM).
I needed to set the strategy along with the budget and work out who we would service first as we scaled.
We built the CS team and the entire Operations team globally to 75 people across 3 regions, APJ, AMER, and EMEA.
I was also given the remit to build a Renewals team globally managing €180M in renewals a year, so significant volumes quarterly.
I took the team through a perpetual to SaaS transition and built a Value Realization Framework to drive outcomes with Telemetry tracking.
I carried out a Customer Lifecycle Project across 12 departments to align our Customer Journey, the moments that matter to enhance our Customer Experience.
We built an incredible ethos and culture.
Editor’s note: If you’re standing up success plans from scratch, start lightweight with the Free Customer Success Plan Template and upgrade it as your telemetry matures via Master Customer Success Plans.
Early Career Foundations and Adaptability
Q: Throughout your career, from your roles at Oracle and Facebook to your latest position at Sitecore, how have the core principles of customer success evolved, and what consistent approaches have you relied on despite rapid changes in the digital landscape?
Customer Success is all about the customer.
As a leader, you represent the Customer in the organization.
So it is important to ensure the experience they have enables success planning, achievement of their goals, and value realization, so that they feel gaining outcomes for their business and the renewal is a non-event.
It’s changed not in what we do but how we do it. It’s become more refined in driving outcomes, which is the right direction.
However, Customer Success as a department is continuously under scrutiny for not being a cost base but driving additional revenue streams for cross-sell and upsell.
This is easy when you have a product that is easy to implement, and the user experience is fluid.
As we move into product-led growth with Product teams becoming more accountable for the renewal, the ability to cross-sell and upsell, the whole customer lifecycle, and accountability for the customer come to life.
It always needs to be end-to-end management.
“Customer Success is all about the customer. As a leader, you represent the Customer in the organization.”
Strategic Vision and Leadership
Q: As a leader in customer success and renewals, how do you balance having a long-term strategic vision with meeting the immediate needs of your clients?
It’s about setting goals at the beginning of the year and sticking to these goals, despite the roadblocks and the incoming fire drills.
It’s about consistently providing overviews to the team on how you are doing against the goals, quarterly to track your progress.
So that everyone can see what’s possible, and how they are contributing, is making a difference to the overall goal.
It’s amazing what you can achieve when everyone is pointing in the right direction.
Building and Sustaining Customer Relationships
Q: Can you share a specific example where using a creative approach to customer success significantly impacted renewals or customer loyalty in your previous roles?
Creating a Value Realization Framework with Telemetry tracking helped us identify what success looked like with the product and how we can guide our customers to achieving those goals.
It was a tangible output to show outcome-based customer success activity which made it easier for the renewal discussion as value was seen.
Data-Driven Customer Success
Q: Given your experience with data-focused products at Oracle Marketing Cloud, how do you use data analytics and insights to drive customer success strategies at Sitecore?
Data is key to your success.
Not just to show how your customers are performing or not and predicting renewal outcomes, but also to identify where things need attention and fixing in the customer journey to make that experience a better one.
It helped me justify headcount too.
When we could show investment in CSMs was more cost-effective than adding more Account Executives (AEs) to the business.
To learn more about leveraging data in customer success, check out my quick guide on Top SaaS Metrics And KPIs”.
Editor’s note: For a concise metrics spine you can defend in the boardroom, keep Top SaaS Metrics & KPIs handy, and use the exec-level perspective in Success Metrics for Business & CS Leaders to align on definitions.
Cross-Functional Collaboration and Career Development
Q: How do you encourage collaboration between the customer success team and other departments, such as sales and product development, to ensure a cohesive customer experience?
Understanding the whole picture for the customer and running the customer lifecycle project created such momentum as multiple departments were bringing their expertise.
The customer journey became such a focus that we even had Customer workshops run by the People & Culture team to see how we could enhance our focus and goals culturally.
Ensuring that there is a clear RACI* and end-to-end tracking to understand who has responsibility for the customer at any point in the customer cycle gives clarity.
*RACI stands for “Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed”. It’s a responsibility assignment matrix used in project management to clarify roles and responsibilities)
Discover more strategies for effective collaboration in my guide on CS Product Teamwork Tips.
Editor’s note: If your handoffs live in spreadsheets, the Customer Success Lifecycle Automation Playbook shows how to replace heroics with predictable, instrumented moments.
Challenges and Future of Customer Success
Q: Reflecting on your career, what has been the most challenging aspect of leading customer success teams, and how have you innovated to address this challenge?
One of the most challenging times was after Covid when new business started to dry up and costs started to escalate.
We needed to let some of the team go. It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.
I had brought these people in and they were part of our culture and what we had built.
As a leader, there are difficult situations that need to be managed and I also then needed to take the remaining team through to achieve our targets.
It’s not that you agree with what’s happening but you are there to lead under all circumstances and do the right thing by the people you manage.
The Future of Customer Success
Q: With the evolution of digital experience platforms and the growing importance of personalized customer interactions, what do you see as the future of customer success, and how should CS pros prepare?
The future is “more efficiency” with AI.
It’s not going to replace relationships and setting outcomes but it will allow you to track your customers’ activity and predict risk quicker.
AI will:
know your product well.
allow you to understand your customers better than you.
answer questions faster than you and will recognize patterns more accurately than you.
help you be more effective in managing relationships
allow you to do less and achieve more.
The success of a CSM is tied to the value they bring.
So AI will be a game changer in how we understand, interact with customers, and predict needs.
CSMs should be embracing it and using Gemini, ChatGPT, and other platforms to help them understand their customers better.
However, Outcomes over Outputs.
It will shift the perspective of outcomes—customers will be able to achieve more value.
“The future is more efficiency with AI. It’s not going to replace relationships and setting outcomes, but it will allow you to track your customers’ activity and predict risk quicker.”
Explore more about the role of AI in my article on AI-Powered Customer Success.
Editor’s note: If you’re starting from zero, implement one high-signal risk model first using the AI Customer Success Implementation Guide, then layer proactive plays from AI Won’t Replace CSMs.
PART 2/2 — Global Expansion, Leadership, and Career Philosophy
Global Expansion and Leadership Philosophy
Lessons from Global Expansion
Q: Sitecore’s strategic path to international expansion has been a key part of its success. What lessons have you learned about adapting customer success strategies to different markets and cultures?
Expansion of a customer across markets and cultures comes down to setting the right expectations and setting goals to achieve collectively with customers.
Without value gained, customers won’t have the drive to work with you on expansion.
Editor’s note: When your book skews enterprise, pair outcome signals with commercial ones. The method in Customer Success: Beyond Traditional Metrics for Large Accounts is a good starting point.
Fundamental Principles for Global Expansion
Q: From your experience at Facebook’s Atlas to your role at Sitecore, you’ve navigated the complexities of global expansion and client relationship management. What are the core principles you follow when scaling customer success operations internationally, and what pitfalls should organizations be aware of in this process?
The right leaders are key to success, not only in building the team but also in managing the customers in the right way.
Over-servicing was one thing we needed to manage as we scaled to manage more customers and widened our level of influence internally with other teams.
Setting a clear RACI internally is very important so everyone knows who is managing the customer and when.
But with the customer, it’s equally important to set the right expectations and not over-promise.
Personal Leadership Philosophy
Q: How has your personal leadership philosophy evolved, and what key lessons would you share with upcoming customer success leaders to inspire and guide them?
Being yourself and leading with integrity is exceptionally important for fellowship.
I have tried to be my most authentic self by understanding myself and what drives me.
Then I have been very open and honest with the people who work with me, at times too honest.
However, this has built an incredible culture where everyone was happy to come to work.
Everyone felt safe and knew what they were there for and what they were contributing.
People then go the extra mile as they know their WHY.
The WHY is so important, why are you here, and why should people work for you?
Editor’s note: Moving from IC → Manager? Map your gaps with the promotion systems used in Scaling Customer Success: The Ultimate Guide.
Defining Moments and Adaptation
Q: Throughout your career journey, you’ve held important roles in customer success across various industries, from tech giants like Oracle and Facebook to leading digital experience platforms like Sitecore. Could you share a defining moment or experience that shaped your approach to customer success, and how has it influenced your strategies?
My defining moment was coming out of Oracle, I didn’t realize how much I learned there.
So when the opportunity arose to build a team from scratch globally across 3000 customers, I grabbed it although it was a scary task.
The team I brought in was my defining moment.
Those individuals helped build and shape a culture that we are all so proud of.
There were times when I was so overwhelmed by the task in front but I used to chunk down the task and as one of my team used to say—we built it one bite at a time!
Navigating Digital Evolution and Customer Success Strategies
Q: Your career has spanned different stages of digital evolution, from the rise of online transactions at News UK to the development of digital advertising technologies at Facebook. How have you adapted your customer success strategies to align with changing digital landscapes, and what advice would you give to professionals navigating similar transitions in their industries?
I have adapted from online advertising to client services to customer success.
It’s been an evolution and I have consistently been able to adapt.
I have taken a whole team through perpetual to subscription to SaaS and that has been the biggest task at Sitecore, with all of us adapting.
It doesn’t just take the Customer Success team, it takes the whole company.
A lot of the Customer Success team was driving the agenda and influencing other areas of the business to change and adapt for an enhanced Customer Journey.
Key Pillars of Customer Success
Q: What are the key success metrics you tracked?
We were tracking GRR, NRR, Renewal Rate %, Extended Terms, Uplift on contracts, Advocacy, CSAT, NPS, and the Adoption stage (with telemetry).
Editor’s note: For clean executive alignment, use the leadership summary format in Success Metrics for Business & CS Leaders and the field primer in Top 5 Customer Success Metrics.
Adapting Customer Success Initiatives
Q: In your time at Oracle, you managed a diverse portfolio of products for various industries, each with unique challenges and opportunities. How do you approach adapting customer success initiatives to meet the specific needs of different client segments, and what lessons can other professionals learn from this approach in their own fields?
It’s always about understanding the opportunity these customers want to achieve and how best you can assist them in achieving it.
Remember, though, you can’t do unique solutions or bespoke services as you cannot scale it.
Everything needs to be scalable, and there will be compromises.
Collaboration and Seamless Customer Experience
Q: Your background covers not only customer success but also sales, business development, and marketing. How do you leverage this diverse experience to foster collaboration between departments and ensure a smooth customer experience journey, and what advice would you offer to those aiming to break down silos within their organizations?
I am very commercial in my mindset and work collaboratively with sales, after all, why are we all there—it’s to grow the business.
Everyone should be a salesperson.
I have been lucky to have touched on all those areas, so I work across the lifecycle very well, as I understand what all those functions do and what they are measured on.
We all play a part in growth, and the overall customer success drives our success as a team and company. With an aligned cycle with systems and processes to track our customer activity, you can use the data to draw insights to help set the right targets for growth.
Balancing Revenue Growth and Customer Satisfaction
Q: Throughout your career, you’ve shown an ability to drive revenue growth while maintaining a focus on customer satisfaction. How do you strike a balance between these seemingly conflicting priorities, and what strategies have you found most effective in achieving both short-term results and long-term loyalty?
Ultimately, it’s about the right ideal customer profile and setting the right expectations.
There are always conflicting priorities with doing the right thing for a customer vs. hitting your sales targets, especially working in a PE-backed business.
However, the customer is important.
It’s expensive to acquire new customers these days so the retention of customers is paramount to a SaaS business.
There is a balance that needs to be navigated.
Editor’s note: If tiers are slowing execution, route by context using Appropriate Experience (AX)—it aligns resources to what it takes for the customer to win right now.
Building High-Performing Teams and Staying Ahead of Industry Trends
Q: In your role at Sitecore, you led a global team responsible for delivering exceptional customer experiences. What key qualities do you look for when building and nurturing a high-performing customer success team, and how do you cultivate a culture of continuous learning and innovation within your organization?
You bring in people who care about customers!
But they also need to show qualities as to how they are being proactive.
Successful CSMs don’t wait for problems to arise. They anticipate customer needs and address potential challenges before they become issues.
This proactive approach helps build trust and reliability.
Having a clear vision of what success looks like for both the customer and your organization is essential.
Setting measurable goals and detailed success plans can align efforts and ensure that both parties are working towards the same objectives.
Focus on high-impact activities that drive customer adoption, retention, and desired outcomes.
Efficient time management and prioritization of critical tasks can significantly enhance productivity and outcomes.
Think Win-Win.
Customer success is about creating mutually beneficial relationships.
Foster a partnership mentality where both the customer and your organization benefit. This collaborative approach builds stronger, more productive relationships.
Listen to your customers proactively and with empathy.
Understanding their needs and challenges before offering solutions can build deeper connections and ensure that you’re addressing the real issues.
Collaboration across internal teams (sales, product, support) is key to delivering a cohesive customer experience.
Leveraging the diverse strengths of your team can lead to more comprehensive and effective solutions.
Continuous learning and development are vital.
Have a growth mindset.
Stay updated on industry trends, customer success best practices, and new technologies.
Investing in personal and professional growth keeps you effective and innovative.
For more insights on team building, read my Customer Success Team Building Guide.
Editor’s note: If resourcing is tight, use the workload math in CSM Ratio Optimization and the save system in The CSM Churn Rescue Playbook to protect revenue without burning out the team.
Staying Ahead of Industry Trends
Q: From your early experiences at Wanadoo to your leadership role at Sitecore, you’ve witnessed firsthand the evolution of digital marketing and customer engagement strategies. How do you stay ahead of industry trends and technological advancements to anticipate your clients’ future needs, and what advice would you give to professionals seeking to future-proof their careers in the ever-changing landscape of digital transformation?
I would use LinkedIn.
Build your network across groups you would like to be affiliated with and start following influential people you want to learn from.
The professional social network is now critical to your career success.
Stay updated with the latest trends in my article on Digital Customer Success Trends.
Editor’s note: If you’re repositioning your skill set for AI-infused CS roles, the interview prep system in Crush AI-Powered CSM Interviews will help you show up sharp.
Navigating Challenges and Conflict Resolution
Q: As someone who has successfully managed large-scale client portfolios across diverse industries, what are the most common challenges you’ve encountered in customer success, and how do you approach problem-solving and conflict resolution to ensure mutually beneficial outcomes for both your clients and your organization?
I have had many problems with individuals in other teams, mainly in Sales over the years.
I have had resistance to how we should be working for customers or aligning data.
I tackle everything for the greater good of the Customer.
I am representing the Customer after all, and I take accountability for this.
Aligning systems and data is now critical to the success of the customer, after al,l without it you don’t understand the whole picture end-to-end.
With the impending AI capability that will need to be adopted company-wide.
Without a joined-up approach to systems, data, and content, you will be left behind.
I learned quickly that it’s never personal.
It’s just politics, so work out how to go around them. They always leave if they are difficult characters, and when they do, you drive it forward quickly 🙂.
Personal Insights and Future Plans
Influential Leaders
Q: Are there any industry leaders whose expertise and insights you actively follow and draw inspiration from?
There are many people in my network I am inspired by.
The most valuable learnings were the CCO events that Gainsight used to run for a few days in June yearly, where CS leaders got together and talked over problems they were facing and how others were tackling those.
It was so inspirational, and we all used to come away with actions.
The CS community wanted to share and help drive everyone else forward. Your community and network are critical.
Leadership Philosophy
Q: What guiding principles or philosophies inform your approach to building and leading successful customer success teams?
I have always had the philosophy that any of my team members are only with me for a short period of time.
In that time, it’s my responsibility to help them grow, learn new skills, and give feedback so they can flourish in their careers.
That is what I focused on in my last role and had my management use it too as a way of managing.
We built an incredible team.
We grew leaders, and we continue growing Customer Success Managers for their next steps.
What’s Next For You?
Q: What are your next moves/plans/projects?
I am looking for my next Senior Customer role.
A Chief Customer Officer role managing all the post-sales activities to ensure that the Customer Journey is smooth for the customer.
Focusing on Onboarding, Adoption, and Consumption & Growth.
I have a commercial side to me that is very goal-oriented.
The opportunity to align everything end-to-end and work with my peers to do that so the Customer Experience is exceptional is where my passion lies.
Advice to Younger Self
Q: If you could offer one piece of career advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Enjoy the journey more, and push yourself, but not too far.
A balance is necessary; it is not all work, work, work.
Preferred Quote
Q: What quote resonates with you most, both professionally and personally?
My favorite quote is the famous Theodore Roosevelt quote about striving valiantly and daring greatly:
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.” —Theodore Roosevelt, Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910
The man in the Arena passage shows the importance of action and striving towards worthy goals in life idle to criticism, laziness, and inaction.
Personal Hobbies
Q: Outside of work, family, or travel, what hobbies or activities do you enjoy the most?
I love books, so I have a ton of self-help books. Also, I read a lot about health, gut microbiome, mold, and how to prevent disease. I am also a gym addict on weights and HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training).
Newsletter Feedback
Q: How valuable do you find my weekly newsletter?
Your newsletter is incredibly valuable to all Customer Success pros on their journey to servicing customers; it gives a view on how and what they can do next. It’s the tangible things that really help someone take action.
Closing Thoughts
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Work for people you love and work with a product you are passionate about.
It’s all about the people you learn from and the culture of Customer Success you are within and around. It’s so important to be learning from others; if you aren’t learning, move on!
Thank you, Lara, for your insights and thought leadership!
It’s been such a great pleasure hosting you on The CS Café!
My Key Takeaways
Outcomes over outputs. Instrument value and make renewal a non-event; the fastest start is the Free Customer Success Plan Template upgraded with telemetry from day one.
One lifecycle, many owners. Replace functional silos with shared moments-that-matter using the Lifecycle Automation Playbook.
AI = speed, scale, signal. Begin with a single risk model and an internal Q&A brain using the AI implementation guide.
Proof wins renewals. Keep your leadership conversation grounded in Top SaaS Metrics & KPIs and the executive roll-up in Success Metrics for Business & CS Leaders.
Route by context. If tiers are slowing growth, redesign coverage with Appropriate Experience (AX).