Customer success isn't just a job title; it's a mindset. It's a commitment to understanding your customers and helping them succeed. At Recurly, we live and breathe this philosophy — and as Chief Customer Officer, I focus on building relationships that drive results.

Recently, I had the pleasure of joining Rick Denton for CX Passport. It was an incredible opportunity to reflect on the evolving nature of customer success and share some of the insights I’ve gathered from my journey. Here are a few highlights.

Value: It’s what the customer says it is

Here’s the thing about value: it’s not about what we think is valuable. It’s about what our customers define as valuable. That’s why I tell my team to start every relationship by asking, “what does success look like for you?” It’s such a simple question, but it leads to clarity, trust, and alignment. Once we know what success means to our customers, we work together to measure it and revisit it often. After all, value isn’t a one-time delivery—it’s an ongoing partnership.

Sometimes, simple beats surprising

There’s a lot of talk in customer experience (CX) about “surprise and delight.” And while those moments can be magical, they’re not what customers really want most of the time. What they do want is simplicity—an easy, frictionless experience. Think about it: when was the last time you were impressed by how complicated something was? My team and I aim to help customers see value. We do this with intuitive tools, helpful insights, and clear communication. Simple wins.

From Madison Avenue to customer success

I spent over 10 years in advertising. I managed clients and complex projects. Looking back, it was the perfect training ground for CX. Back then, I led creative, digital, and strategy teams to deliver results for our clients. Today, I’m doing the same thing—only now it’s product teams, engineering, sales, and finance all working together to create a seamless experience for our customers. It's a lot of hats to wear. But it's all about making customers feel seen, supported, and successful.

Customer success is everyone’s job

Here’s one of my favorite truths about customer success: it doesn’t belong to just one team. It’s a company-wide responsibility. Every touchpoint, from the first click to the final invoice, shapes the customer’s experience. That's why connecting every department to the customer journey is important, whether they face customers or not. When everyone’s rowing in the same direction, incredible things happen.

Retention > acquisition, a new approach

There’s a lot of excitement around landing new customers—and for good reason. But the real magic happens when you focus on retaining and growing the customers you already have. It’s easier, less expensive, and often more rewarding. At Recurly, we see creative ways to nurture those relationships, like partnering with other companies to bundle services and create fresh value. It’s an exciting shift and one I hope more companies embrace.

Walking the same path as our customers

We are a subscription-based company serving subscription-based businesses, so we understand our customers well. We know their challenges because we face them, too. It's about reducing churn, driving growth, and creating great customer experiences. That shared experience builds trust and allows us to have honest conversations about what works and what doesn’t.