You’re the Director of Customer Success at Instaclustr – what are your responsibilities?

First and foremost, I maintain an ongoing relationships with our diverse and geographically dispersed client base. I act as an internal advocate for any and all requirements they have – helping them through initial setup, planning upcoming service expansions and contract renewals. I route feature requests to our product team and I am also involved in early-stage proof-of-concept calls.

My customer touchpoints can hit all levels within customer organizations, from the CEO or founder to technical leadership and procurement staff. 

How long have you been at Instaclustr?

About four months now. I joined after four and a half years as a Senior Solutions and Systems Engineer at ContentKeeper Technologies, a web security company. Prior to ContentKeeper I’ve held roles as a Network Operations Engineer and as a Business Development Manager for other technology companies.

What’s your educational background?

I majored in robotics and renewable energy. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from The Australian National University and a Master’s Degree in IT from the University of New South Wales.

What’s your typical day look like?

In a nutshell: a lot of interaction with Instaclustr clients! My day usually kicks off with early morning phone calls with customers along the U.S. East Coast (coinciding with the end of their day) and catching up on emails that have come in overnight. Calls then take me around the world; tonight, I conclude with a meeting at 9pm my time with a customer in the UK. 

I am always getting feedback from our customers on how everything is going with their deployment and getting them ready for contract renewals (which I work with our accounts and legal teams on). My typical day is busy but rewarding.

Are most of your customer calls planned?

Most – yes. We maintain a regular cadence of checking in. But I also make myself available for adhoc calls as things pop up. Customer responsiveness is a key tenet across Instaclustr.

What skills or personality attributes are important for a role like yours?

I think one of the most important skills is being confident talking to customers at different technical levels. A customer’s CEO might not necessarily be interested in all the technical details of what we provide, for example, so it’s knowing how to interact with different audiences. Another key skill is having an accurate understanding of customers’ needs, requirements, goals, and timelines. The better that understanding, the more successful you can be matching up to those needs. 

What’s your favorite part of the role?

I genuinely enjoy talking to customers and being on the front lines of resolving whatever questions our clients have. Our customer renewal rate continues to be high, and I take pride in playing a part in that.

What do you like most about working at Instaclustr?

Right from the start, the onboarding process at Instaclustr was unlike anything I’d experienced at other tech companies. There was a really helpful and thorough training program spread across different teams and colleagues. The product knowledge I received out of the gate was fantastic – and helped me be successful quickly. I also really appreciated that the leadership team took the time to talk with me and see how I was settling in – it’s something that I hadn’t experienced in previous roles. People at Instaclustr are really helpful, and make you comfortable from day one.

Interested in working for Instaclustr? View our current openings here. Alternatively, you can write to us at [email protected]