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Ryan Fixell, MBA

AMA: Splunk Director, Customer Success | AMER CMT, Ryan Fixell, MBA on Influencing the C-Suite

August 21 @ 9:00AM PT

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  1. What do your interactions with the C-Suite look like on a regular basis?

    Ryan Fixell, MBA
    Ryan Fixell, MBA

    Splunk Director, Customer Success | AMER CMT • 9mo

    I usually focus entirely on their perspective—what they care about, how they view their key business objectives, and their priorities. Most of the time, the conversation isn’t about the company, the products, or the solutions you're trying to sell or implement. This approach often leads to the best discovery outcomes with C-suite executives, encouraging them to open up and talk freely, sometimes even about seemingly unrelated topics or their personal interests.

    1,228 Views
    1 request

  2. What are some ways that junior and newer customer success managers can get greater exposure to the C-Suite?

    Ryan Fixell, MBA
    Ryan Fixell, MBA

    Splunk Director, Customer Success | AMER CMT • 9mo

    My best advice is to take the risk and reach out, but be sure to clearly communicate your purpose. Avoid coming across as a new sales rep merely trying to close a deal. Instead, leverage your relationships with the sales team and develop a plan to strengthen those connections. Executives are often more receptive to talking with CS because there’s no immediate price tag attached. Once you secure a meeting or engagement, use that time wisely to ask discovery questions, especially during or after a ...Read More

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    1 request

  3. What advice would you give to your younger self as a customer success manager on influencing the C-Suite?

    Ryan Fixell, MBA
    Ryan Fixell, MBA

    Splunk Director, Customer Success | AMER CMT • 9mo

    Don't get caught up in the little things/tasks. Quick tasks or helping the admins or smaller teams are great, but stay focused on the bigger picture and learn how the use cases impact their business outcomes. If your success plan aligns with the C-Suite's objectives, you'll drive way more value than aligning to the admin or BU's objectives.

    936 Views
    1 request

  4. What metrics/data points have you found to be the most successful in providing the C-suite adequate insight into the customer base and its health? What are the top 3 questions you get from the C-suite on the CS organization?

    Ryan Fixell, MBA
    Ryan Fixell, MBA

    Splunk Director, Customer Success | AMER CMT • 9mo

    When working with C-suite executives, I've found they mainly focus on two key concerns: "What tangible value am I gaining compared to the costs of the contract?" "How can I be confident that our implementation will prevent a major breach or headline?" Based on these priorities, I prioritize identifying the critical metrics or use cases that need to be measured. They often aren't interested in individual cases, app usage, or the number of users—these are simply seen as costs. Instead, the emphasi ...Read More

    1,385 Views
    1 request

  5. How do customer success key stakeholders from other departments change as your company grows?

    Ryan Fixell, MBA
    Ryan Fixell, MBA

    Splunk Director, Customer Success | AMER CMT • 9mo

    This is something that must evolve and scale in step with increased spend or additional products added to a contract. Contracts are growing larger, and with companies becoming more cautious about costs, deals that once required only VP-level approval are now moving up to multiple C-Suite leaders or even Board-level oversight. If you don’t expand your relationships and build connections across the C-Suite, you risk facing more barriers to growth. Worse, you may encounter downsell or churn if seni ...Read More

    1,022 Views
    1 request

  6. What signals tell you you’ve earned an executive’s trust — and what signals tell you you’ve lost it?

    Ryan Fixell, MBA
    Ryan Fixell, MBA

    Splunk Director, Customer Success | AMER CMT • 9mo

    A clear sign that you’ve earned an executive’s trust is when they reach out to you directly. Executives can contact anyone they choose, so if they choose you, it means you’ve established credibility. The opposite is also true—when trust is lost, they’ll stop engaging with you and instead go through someone else at your company. Keep in mind, executives are busy, so slow or infrequent responses aren’t necessarily a red flag. However, if they no longer see value in the relationship, they won’t mak ...Read More

    741 Views
    2 requests