Employee Spotlight: Q&A with Chris Cyburt, Customer Success Manager at Nasuni

As a Customer Success Manager at Nasuni, Chris is a seasoned team manager with over 10 years of experience in the industry. He demonstrates a proven record of success in operational roles in a B2B channel. Innovative, analytical, and collaborative, Chris helps lead the team to success with high energy and an infectious, positive outlook.

Q: Let’s dive right in! So how long have you been working at Nasuni?

A: I’ve been here for almost two years. I’ll hit that mark in January, right after New Year’s. I was supposed to come into the office when I first started, but ended up being onboarded remotely. Now that I can come in every week, I enjoy working with my peers and engaging in the workplace culture.

Q: Yeah, agreed; it’s always so much fun coming into the Seaport for work. Nasuni is located in a great area of Boston. Can you describe what your day-to-day looks like with your team?

A: I work under the Account Management organization, in a Customer Success Manager role. I focus on making sure that our existing customer base is getting the most out of their Nasuni investment.

In general, the customer success role is mostly focused on maintaining existing relationships and renewals, and in some cases expanding their deployments. It’s a perfect marriage between customer service and sales. Nasuni has a dedicated Customer Support team for more specific customer service needs, and they’re really good at it. My role exists because a lot of the customers start with certain features and capabilities that need to be expanded upon, so constant customer engagement is key in making sure we’re supporting them as their business requirements evolve.

As Nasuni continues to grow, both as a company and with its product offerings, we’re seeing validation for our platform and our newer add-on services. Because of this, I focus on reaching out to customers to make sure that they’re aware of various training and ongoing learning options that they have with us, in order to bolster how they’re using Nasuni and help them achieve their goals.

Q: Yes, that makes total sense. It’s interesting looking at the volume of our customer base, and how it expands across a variety of different industries.

A: Yeah, absolutely. And I don’t cover just one vertical. I have customers who are in manufacturing, and then customers who are in retail and finance. That type of customer diversity is really cool, because you get to learn the various nuances of their particular space and all the unique ways that they are leveraging Nasuni.

Q: Besides that, what do you like most about the work you do here at Nasuni?

A: I like that Nasuni challenges me to think creatively about the best solution for the customer. It’s fulfilling to see the work that I’m putting in coming to fruition in solving real-world challenges. I used to work in customer support for a long time, where there was a clear problem and a clear solution. With customer success, there are multiple paths that you can take, but you want to make sure it’s the right one for that particular customer and their environment. You’re seen as a trusted advisor, so there is a certain pressure to get it right. It’s certainly a challenge, but I really enjoy it!

Q: How would you describe your team’s culture? How do you think you contribute to it?

A: I think it’s like a family, and I’m kind of like the silly, younger-acting brother. I like to keep things light, and I want everyone to succeed. I’m not really, and I never have been, a competitive person. I tried sports, I didn’t really like them. I inherently want the best for those around me. Mind you, I don’t think being competitive is a bad quality at all! I think that, in fact, it’s required for a lot of roles, because you are going be neck and neck with someone else.

If you want to win contests and you want to be the best at what you do, you have to at least be competing with yourself, if not other people. I like to be the one who encourages others, even if it’s sending stuff out on Slack like, “Hey, I figured this out. If you do this too, you can make it easier by doing X,Y,Z.” Or “There’s a website called slackthemes.net where you can change what your Slack looks like.” I love saying, “This is the theme I’m rocking with this season. What are you guys doing?” I think it’s an important role. I’d like to consider myself more of a mentor to my teammates.

Q: Mentorship is definitely important. What has been your proudest professional moment or highlight at Nasuni?

A: I would say I have broken the record for the longest on-time renewal streak! I haven’t had to ask the sales order team to extend any of my customer’s contracts. Apparently, it’s the longest running streak that there has been since the Account Management team started. I go to great lengths to keep it that way. I start reaching out to my customers about their renewals, sometimes three months in advance, because I know there are a variety of factors that can impact timing.

Q: That’s great! One final question for you: What would you say are some of the most important lessons you’ve learned throughout your professional career?

A: Probably the most important lesson that I have learned is not doing something simply because you are good at it. I worked in customer support for a really long time, and even worked my way up through the team up until I was the senior manager in charge of 30 people. I moved up because everyone told me I was good at it, and good at coaching others. But, honestly, I didn’t enjoy it after a while. It took such a mental toll on me, and it took me so long to realize that it’s okay to say: “I appreciate the opportunities I’ve been given, but I need to do something different.” No one’s going to love their job all the time, but if it causes you mental anguish to continue to do that role, it’s not healthy.

Q: That is a very important lesson to carry with you.

A: It is. Also, don’t be loyal to a fault. It plays into that. My manager was with me since I started at my last company, and then he was always one step above me. We always worked together. I used to say I was his “ride or die” and that I wouldn’t leave. But, had I listened to my intuition and not only relied on loyalty, I probably would have been doing something that I enjoyed more – and maybe even made more money! Trust your instincts. If you’re sad, don’t stay in your role for longer than you need to. Fortunately, that’s never crossed my mind here because I love my team and I can work towards realistic goals and a career here. Nasuni is truly a great place to work.
 

If you’re interested in learning more about Nasuni, click here or if you’re interested in joining Nasuni’s customer success team, click here.