🔹 First 30 Days: Observe, Assess, Build Trust
Goal: Build foundational understanding of the team, customer base, current CS practices, and cross-functional dynamics.
- Conduct 1:1s with all 10 CSMs
- Ask about career aspirations, account health, daily challenges, and process gaps.
- Identify where they feel empowered vs. where they need more support.
- Shadow key CSM calls
- Look for consistency in messaging, customer experience, and how success is defined.
- Start identifying patterns in successful vs. at-risk accounts.
- Meet with cross-functional stakeholders
- Understand handoff dynamics and where communication may break down.
- Ask: How does CS influence roadmap? Are escalations smooth or reactive?
- Audit playbooks and health dashboards
- Check if they’re up to date, role-based, and maturity-flexible.
- See if health scores reflect early risk accurately.
- Align with VP of CS on metrics and expectations
- Define what “great” looks like from leadership’s perspective.
- Understand cadence of reporting and where to offer support.
💡 “At Equinix, we uncovered that early-stage customers often scored ‘green’ but were actually disengaged. I’d recommend auditing Ping’s early lifecycle health scoring logic to surface silent churn risk.”
🔹 Next 30 Days: Align, Strategize, Prioritize
Goal: Begin building team operating rhythm, introduce scalable improvements, and create alignment between CS and other orgs.
- Build team-level performance scorecard
- Track onboarding speed, QBR cadence, CSAT, expansion triggers.
- Balance workloads across team based on metrics.
- Launch targeted coaching
- Roleplay discovery, product storytelling, or IAM architecture.
- Pair CSMs for mutual skill sharing and mentoring.
- Pilot new onboarding flow with CSMs
- Shorten time to value, emphasize early “wins.”
- Gather data via feedback surveys and sentiment check-ins.
- Start CS/Product/Support feedback syncs
- Identify recurring pain points, track resolution ownership.
- Use themes to improve roadmap alignment and processes.
- Coordinate with Sales on expansion
- Create identity expansion tracks (e.g. SSO → MFA → Directory).
- Include CS in expansion planning earlier.
💡 “At Accenture, we created onboarding archetypes tailored to cloud maturity. I’d propose creating identity maturity tracks at Ping — helping CSMs segment and deliver more relevant experiences.”
🔹 Final 30 Days: Execute, Optimize, Scale
Goal: Deploy scalable systems and enablement that drive performance, reduce friction, and prepare team for long-term success.
- Roll out improved onboarding/QBR templates
- Include tech goals, utilization metrics, success plans.
- Reinforce journey stages (SSO → MFA → Risk).
- Launch CSM dashboard
- Surface usage, health, renewal and QBR tracking in real-time.
- Make it actionable with alerts and priorities.
- Create upsell playbooks
- Guide CSMs to spot maturity signals and tee up relevant products.
- Host Customer Voice roundtable
- Bring Product & Engineering direct feedback from 3–5 aligned accounts.
- Establish recognition & peer learning systems
- Celebrate creative problem-solving and teamwork publicly.
- Foster monthly knowledge-sharing rituals.
💡 “QBRs are powerful, but they shouldn’t be the only moment of value delivery. I’d introduce lightweight asynchronous check-ins — like milestone nudges or video recaps — to maintain trust between QBRs.”
📈 Metrics of Success
- 🟢 Onboarding Time Reduced (e.g., from 45 to 30 days)
- 📊 Increased NRR via tracked expansion playbooks
- 🔐 Higher Product Adoption across Ping’s suite (MFA, Directory, Risk)
- 🧭 Improved Risk Visibility with CSM health dashboards
- 🤝 Cross-Team Feedback Loops operationalized with Product/Support
🧠 Leadership Philosophy
“I lead through clarity, curiosity, and accountability. I coach teams to think like owners — not ticket-takers. And I believe CS should shape the customer journey and the product itself. At Ping, I see a chance to scale an identity-first CS model that customers trust and teams love to deliver.”