Irina Vatafu

Head of Customer Success and Support · Custify (Customer Success Platform · SaaS)

End users: Customer Success Managers - proudly operating as the CSMs of CSMs

Customer success and team leadership are where I do my best work - combining strategic thinking with hands-on execution to drive retention, team growth, and customer-centric culture at scale.

Key Achievements

• Increased net retention from 91% → 110% by designing and implementing end-to-end onboarding, adoption, upselling, expansion, and advocacy processes from the ground up.
• Built and scaled the Customer Success and Support teams from zero, growing to a 6-person team - maintaining 0% team churn over 4 years despite daily operational challenges.
• Reduced time-to-value from 6 months to 1 month by overhauling the implementation and onboarding process, directly accelerating product adoption and early retention.
• Built all CS frameworks from scratch - including customer segmentation, health scoring, escalation protocols, and playbooks - establishing the operational foundation for a scalable CS function.
• Designed and implemented customer segmentation to ensure differentiated, excellence-driven engagement across the portfolio, enabling the team to prioritize effectively at scale.
• Reduced customer escalations to near zero through proactive, customer-centric initiatives, serving as the primary escalation point of contact.
• Embedded customer experience excellence as a company-wide business KPI - not just a CS metric - by implementing internal workflows and cross-functional accountability structures across Sales, Product, and Marketing.
• Championed a cross-departmental customer-centric philosophy, establishing the principle that churn prevention is a shared organizational responsibility.

Results-driven Lead Customer Success Manager with a successful track record in building and managing high-performing Customer Success teams. Proven expertise in talent acquisition, onboarding, and development of comprehensive processes and documentation. Adept at scaling customer success operations, directly managing premium customers, and providing effective mentorship and coaching to foster team success.

Key Achievements:

• Team Building and Management: Established and led a successful Customer Success team, contributing to enhanced customer satisfaction and retention.
  Conducted interviews to identify top talent for Customer Success Manager positions, ensuring a strong and capable team.
• Onboarding and Development: Spearheaded the onboarding process for new hires, creating comprehensive processes and documentation for Customer Success Manager onboarding.
  Developed and documented processes for various aspects, including Customer Engagement Models, Offboarding Processes, and Technical Support Processes.
• Scaling Operations: Successfully scaled the Customer Success team to meet growing business demands.
  Implemented strategic initiatives to optimize team efficiency and effectiveness.
• Premium Customer Management: Directly managed premium customers, ensuring their satisfaction and addressing escalations promptly.
  Fostered strong relationships with key clients to drive long-term partnerships.
• Mentorship and Coaching: Provided mentorship and coaching to the team, supporting them through the complexities of the Customer Success Manager role.
  Implemented initiatives to enhance team skills and performance, contributing to overall success.
• Led process improvement and problem-solving efforts to create standard procedures and escalation policy for customer support team.
• Monitored metrics and developed actionable insights to improve efficiency and performance.

Engaged with SaaS companies seeking a Customer Success (CS) tool to optimize their customer portfolio management, with a primary focus on serving global customer success teams. My role encompasses ensuring clients not only effectively utilize our platform but also evolve their internal CS processes and expand their CS teams.

Key Responsibilities:

• Holistic Customer Support: Collaborated with clients at various stages (onboarding, adoption, maturity), guiding them through their journey to achieve their objectives.
  Demonstrated flexibility in addressing diverse customer needs and challenges.
• Proactive Problem Solving: Delved into customers' SaaS products, comprehended their challenges, and provided strategic support to mitigate churn.
  Utilized our tool to identify patterns and implemented proactive processes tailored to each customer's unique situation.
• Technical Expertise: Leveraged technical knowledge during high-touch onboarding to ensure accurate data integration from customers' products.
  Effectively communicated with customers' technical teams, offering guidance on utilizing our API for seamless integration.
• Value Enhancement: Assumed responsibility for helping customers extract maximum value from Custify by analyzing their challenges and providing actionable recommendations.
  Maintained a proactive approach in identifying opportunities for enhancement and optimization.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Fostered close collaboration with cross-functional teams, including Marketing, Sales, Product, and Engineering.
  Ensured streamlined communication and cooperation between teams to deliver optimal support for our customers.
• Played instrumental role in client satisfaction by working with operational teams for proper resolution of service issues.

In the role of Publishing and Operation Specialist, I demonstrated expertise in delivering impactful solutions for internal Microsoft audiences and MS Partners.

Key Contributions:

• Course Publishing and Material Support: Spearheaded the publishing of courses for internal Microsoft audiences and MS Partners, ensuring the dissemination of timely business reviews, monthly updates, and educational and technical training materials.
  Played a pivotal role in stakeholder education, encouraging innovative thinking to solve issues and enhance processes.
• Consultation and Stakeholder Engagement: Consulted on training programs, offering valuable insights to enhance learning initiatives.
  Engaged directly with stakeholders and participated in director-level meetings, fostering a deep understanding of business needs and establishing crucial business connections.
• Global Initiative Support: Contributed to the Microsoft Globalization Initiative by actively engaging with teams in Costa Rica and India, conducting in-person training sessions to align strategies and enhance collaboration.
• Project Management: Managed projects to ensure timely delivery while upholding quality standards.
  Maintained a commitment to continuous improvement, seeking innovation, process enhancement, and automation opportunities.
  

Strategic Innovation and Efficiency:

• Identification of Opportunities: Identified opportunities for business innovations and actively supported their implementation.
  Challenged stakeholders to think creatively, fostering an environment conducive to issue resolution and process improvement.
• Continuous Improvement: Actively sought innovation and process improvement, promoting efficiency in communication and project delivery.
  Maintained a proactive stance towards staying abreast of industry trends and incorporating best practices into operational processes.

As an Office 365 Technical Trainer, I played a crucial role in preparing new employees to deliver support for Office 365 technologies.

Key Achievements:

• Ramp-up Support: Provided hands-on assistance and support to new hires during their onboarding period.
  Conducted coaching and mentoring sessions, guiding individuals through the intricate process of becoming Microsoft Ambassadors.
• Training Program Management: Developed and organized comprehensive training materials, facilitating effective learning for new employees.
  Coordinated workshops and practice sessions to enhance practical skills and foster knowledge retention.
• Continuous Learning: Committed to staying current with evolving technologies, proactively training myself to remain up-to-date.
• Teamwide Training Delivery: Delivered training sessions not only for new hires but also for the entire support team when necessary, ensuring consistent skill development.
• Evaluation and Improvement: Conducted periodic evaluations of trainees, organizing refresher courses and workshops to address evolving needs.
  Reported and analyzed metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) during the onboarding period, contributing to ongoing improvement initiatives.
• Strategic Collaboration: Worked collaboratively with leadership to provide regular updates on new hire onboarding progress.
  Played a pivotal role in predicting and planning team capacity and allocation across technologies based on talent identified during the onboarding phase.
  

Provided customer technical support for Office 365 technologies through phone and email, proficiently communicating in both English and French. Specialized in navigating stress-inducing and unpredictable scenarios, consistently delivering solutions under pressure. Actively engaged in continuous knowledge improvement and training to stay abreast of evolving technologies.

Key Contributions:

• Global Customer Support: Collaborated with customers worldwide, resolving issues and providing guidance on utilizing Office 365 applications and modules, including Active Directory, AD Connect (sync tool), Data Migration, Exchange Online, PowerShell, Outlook, SharePoint Online, Skype for Business, Teams, Yammer, and Project Online.
  
• Project Involvement: Contributed to internal projects, such as developing internal documentation and facilitating knowledge sharing between departments.
  Demonstrated a proactive approach in enhancing internal processes and documentation.
  

Transition to Customer Success:

The experience gained in customer support from 2016 to 2018, coupled with the subsequent role in technical support, laid the foundation for a successful transition to Customer Success. This period equipped me with the skills to navigate diverse customer personalities and employ various support tactics to address technical issues, ultimately guiding customers toward success.

Coaching and Mentoring:

The insights gained from understanding Customer Support team dynamics under pressure have proven invaluable in my current role. This knowledge allows me to effectively coach and mentor my team, providing guidance in handling challenging customer situations and ensuring optimal team performance.