Inside Unit4 – Q&A with our global Customer Success team
At Unit4, our people are at the heart of everything we do. From coming up with brilliant ideas and concepts, to delivering value to our customers, our people shape how we succeed as a company. Our “People First” philosophy means that we focus on delivering an extraordinary environment for our colleagues. This enables them to really contribute to the business and have a positive impact on their teams, as well as those who we serve as a business.
Our Customer Success team’s mission is to deliver a best-in-class customer experience throughout the Unit4 journey. While embracing our “People first, everything else will follow” philosophy, Unit4’s Customer Success team helps our customers reach their goals in the best way possible, by providing the most value from Unit4’s services and solutions.
In order to learn more about how Customer Success works at Unit4, we had a chat with some of our colleagues - Martin, Florence, Jason, Deborah, and Joao. They all shared their experiences, told us about Unit4’s Customer Success philosophy and culture, how they work together to ensure a customer-centric mindset and how Unit4 helped them grow in their professional career.
What gets you excited to come to work at Unit4 every day?
Florence: It starts with the workspace. Our Flex4U initiative means that we can choose to work from wherever suits us best. Having a good balance between working from home and the office is a great way of structuring my working week. No matter where I am based, it is such a pleasure to work with my colleagues and our customers and I learn from all of them on a personal and professional level every day. This collaboration is helping me to develop and become a better leader and customer success manager.
Deborah: Having team-mates who you can trust and rely on to collectively deliver results. We hold a strong sense of ownership and accountability across the Customer Success Management team. I’ve quickly learned that, in order to achieve meaningful outcomes, you need to be able to navigate at speed and leverage influencers in the organization.
Jason: I enjoy working with people and my current role provides a perfect blend of customer interaction and people management. As a Customer Success Manager, no two days are the same. And this is something that keeps me on my toes and motivates me to do my best at all times for our customers, but also my colleagues.
How would you describe the company’s customer success philosophy and culture?
Deborah: I firmly believe that all intentions at Unit4 are honorable and centered around delivering successful outcomes. As the company is undergoing a period of significant transformation and customer success maturity, an outside-in, cross-functional perspective is essential for delivering sustainable growth. Experiences should be orchestrated and consistent where we look beyond the organizational boundaries that we’ve set ourselves to ensure we deliver against our customers’ needs and their expectations of Unit4.
Joao: Unit4 is rapidly shifting to a customer success strategy. The transformation that followed the increase in the Customer Success Management team, and the importance of working with customers in a new way, allowed us to create stronger relationships. One of the biggest changes is that the customer success philosophy and culture is now a key part of all employees' objectives. We are putting customer goals and needs first, and also giving visibility of the outcomes to the rest of the organization with the creation of the Voice of the Customer Council.
Florence: The customer success philosophy is all about building relationships and putting customers first. Given the focus on customer centricity, the business is tremendously supportive of us, introducing new and improved processes, and increasing collaboration to achieve our goals. We are also a fun bunch of positive people who support and enable each other.
How closely do you work with other teams at Unit4 to ensure a customer-centric mindset?
Martin: Collaboration across teams is key to coordinating activities that align with our clients' efforts to become more competitive. Our response requires us to mobilize multiple functions which leads to a customer-centric mindset across the organization. For example, when a client is migrating from an on-premise to a cloud solution, Cloud Operations, Professional Services, Account Management, Customer Service, and Customer Success all need to work closely to orchestrate a successful delivery and take the client on a smooth journey.
Jason: We have great teams at Unit4, and when we all work together towards a common goal, we achieve great things. Customer Centricity is in our DNA and knowing that our customers rely on us to deliver great value in using our solutions drives us on. Happy customers want to build long-term business relationships, and we’re all charged with delivering the best outcomes to our customers.
Florence: As a customer success manager, you are the voice of the customer within Unit4. I work closely with different departments such as Account Management, Professional Services, and the product team. By having a close relationship within the business, we can strengthen the connection with our customers. It all ties together.
How would you describe the team’s approach to overcoming challenges?
Martin: I would say we learn how to pivot quickly as new information and challenges arise. Our leadership team is also skilled in involving everyone in ongoing initiatives and utilizing great ideas that the teams might have.
Deborah: Challenges give opportunity to learn. Some can be solved within the team but, to find solutions to more complex questions, we work with other internal functions to ensure the best outcome. From a forward-looking perspective, we have a Customer Success Management roadmap to help us progress high-impact initiatives, which deliver customer success. We also hold regular Customer Success Management Office Hours sessions and publish a functional newsletter to help everyone keep on top of calls to action, business updates, and initiatives affecting Customer Success Management. A strong emphasis on Customer Success Management enablement has allowed us to drive global consistency, which is measured at both a regional and global level, and subsequently informs our roadmap and prioritization efforts.
Joao: Transparency and focus on goals is the best way to describe how the team overcomes challenges. Transparency with our contacts, and the use of tools that we use, such as Gainsight, means we align our plans with those of our customers to drive the best outcomes.
How would you say your career has been enhanced by working at Unit4?
Deborah: The remit of the Chief Customer Office and Customer Success function at Unit4 encompasses many areas that I’ve been able to help steer and drive towards measurable outcomes. These include end-to-end customer lifecycle process management, Customer Success operations management and planning, Voice of the Customer initiatives through to Digital Customer Success team management. The scope is vast and the opportunity for continuous improvement is endless.
Joao: Working at Unit4 has allowed me to develop many skills that positively impact my personal life, such as seeing any problems as a part of the solution rather than a source of demotivation. I’ve also learned the importance of celebrating small wins. As simple as it may sound, it helps me stay motivated even in those times when things don’t turn out the way we expect.
Jason: I’m really grateful for all of the opportunities presented to me at Unit4. I’ve received wonderful support and sponsorship in my career development and, having recently completed 20 years at Unit4, I remain excited about the future of the company even more so than ever before.
How does Unit4’s journey fit with your personal goals and ambitions?
Martin: Being part of such a company has always been one of my ambitions. I'm impressed by the team, especially how we were able to switch to a remote model during the worst parts of the pandemic, and how we are now leaning towards a hybrid model. The way we have maintained continuity is impressive. All these examples showcase the strength of our workforce as we have been working to a high standard, have coached colleagues in this new reality, and chipped in a bit extra to make it all happen.
Florence: Unit4 is a safe environment where you can flourish, be genuine to yourself, and grow your career. I’ve always felt supported in having transparent conversations regarding my career and personal development aspirations with my direct line manager and other leaders on the team. This is a mindset at Unit4 that makes it invaluable for my personal goals and ambitions.
Deborah: I feel that Unit4 presents several potential options and avenues to explore both in the short and long term, especially within the Cloud space where Customer Success comes into its own. I see very few limitations in seeking out opportunities at Unit4."
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