Next in the ongoing profiles series showcasing the diverse talent behind our growing company, we are featuring one of the newest members of the Data Gumbo team, Jason Mitchell, Chief Customer Success Officer.
With over 20 years of extensive experience driving adoption of cutting-edge cloud and SaaS solutions through consultative client engagements, Jason’s deep working knowledge of customer success initiatives -- as it relates to day-to-day operations -- enhances overall customer relationships and established long-term partnerships.
Previous to his current role at Data Gumbo, Jason has held roles as a Solution Architect, Implementation Project Manager, Operational Program Lead and Account Management/Customer Success Executive with the company's SDG Corporation, Tangoe Inc., SageMaker Inc. & Inter Act Systems throughout his career.
With a strong track record cultivating robust customer relationships in addition to executive-level collaboration to drive strategic leadership and enable continuous improvement, we’re thrilled to welcome Jason to our team.
Let’s start off by learning about your extensive experience in software. Can you give us a brief overview of your history in software?
I started off early working in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) environment and have held numerous customer-facing positions. I enjoy learning about business needs, objectives and challenges as they relate to business solutions and services. I find demonstrating value and return on investment appealing and I always strive to bring parties together to collaborate, measure and strategize in the value proposition at hand as it relates to customer needs and objectives. I find that customers are unique in how they measure success and value and being able to help define, analyze and deliver on their needs is the name of the game.
Customer Success feels right for me as the role encompasses sales, marketing, implementation services and operations streamlining the customer experience and building strong relationships.
What business process trends are you following right now?
Customer Success focuses on customer satisfaction, retention of services and growth within. I’ve built my programs on this foundation but also incorporate customer experience into the formula. As a business, how we interact, build and foster trust in relationships and respect across our deliverables start on day one. I’m always interested in learning about exactly how our customers define success and in exploring the key benefits we can provide to assist them in overcoming obstacles or challenges.
What’s most important when it comes to driving customer satisfaction and happiness?
Trust and respect. In the business world, it can be easy to accidentally hyperfocus on noise and forget that real customer satisfaction and happiness come from being on the journey together.
How do you go about bringing customers, partners and leadership together to strategize and create solutions?
Solutions are created through good communication. Hosting weekly project status calls, monthly/quarterly reviews and keeping executive four-blocker tear-sheets are ways to track a relationship, its progress and any challenges. Delivering on the best format, frequency and agenda specific to each customer, partner and leader are critical to a successful relationship. But the format shouldn't be static and material should change over time as the relationship grows and evolves; the key is staying in sync on business objectives and goals.
What about any technology trends that you find exciting?
Blockchain as it relates to powering a smart contract multi-node network is a trend I find thrilling. I come from the expense management/SaaS world and utilizing blockchain technology to securely manage smart contracts and provide financial insight into billing accuracy and invoice generation is an innovation the business world needs.
Where do you see Data Gumbo in five years?
In five years, I see Data Gumbo as the market leader for the global industrial smart contract network.
