First impressions are everything. Even if that impression is from a quick online search.
Amanda Lovell was first virtually introduced to Smartsheet on LinkedIn. Lovell said she was initially impressed with the tool itself, a cloud-based work execution platform. But after doing some more digging into the company and their culture, she decided that she wanted to join the team.
The rest is history.
Lovell now works as a customer success manager for Smartsheet. The company, based in Boston’s Leather District, provides a platform for customers like Netflix, Cisco and Hilton, to help plan, track, automate and report on work.
Lovell helps her team collaborate across the organization, ensuring that customers understand how to get the most out of Smartsheet. Her team also incorporates customer feedback and experiences to help constantly evolve the tool.
We connected with Lovell to learn more about her role and the unique aspects of working on the customer success team at Smartsheet.
You’ve been with the Smartsheet customer success team for just over one year; tell us about what originally drew you to Smartsheet.
Smartsheet is an ever-growing and ever-evolving company. Ideas are always taken into consideration when we make changes or enhancements, whether it be to the tool itself or the company. I didn’t know I valued that from a company until I had the opportunity to have all of my ideas heard and considered. The amount of faith that we put into our employees and teammates is truly incredible. I am most proud of the customer success team’s evolution, not only in Boston, but in London and Bellevue as well. It’s been amazing to watch the team grow and continue to support each other to the same extent that we did with just six people in the office.
Describe a typical day in your role. How do you work with your team, leadership, and customers? What tips would you give a new team member to help them be successful?
A day in the life of the Smartsheet customer success team is never the same. We work with every Smartsheet team to ensure that our customers utilize and thrive using the tool. Through our liaison program, we have arms that reach into every department to better understand everyone’s needs and goals, in addition to how the customer success team can help them grow. It’s fun to work for a company where the customers truly love our product. I hear such positive responses and opportunities for improvement each day. Smartsheet takes customer conversations seriously and we quickly incorporate feedback into our tool.
How do you help customers get the most value out of Smartsheet? How do you help customers share this value with others within their organization?
To get the most value out of Smartsheet, customers only have to start using it. As customer success managers, we ensure that customers quickly see the value of their purchase. Whether that’s jumping on a consultation call, guiding them toward training, or building a solution, we help the customer find a quick and simple fix to their problem. In terms of spreading the word internally, we like to find champions within the account and arm them with any resources they need to bring Smartsheet to their team and others.
To get the most value out of Smartsheet, customers only have to start using it.”
How are goals defined for your team? How do team members support one another to successfully hit both team and individual goals?
Our goals include both team and individual goals. Each of these areas has an individual component, but none could be achieved on a fully individual basis. For each goal that I achieved this year, I not only had people from my team involved, but also many people from other teams, including sales, consulting, implementation, product, etc.
We make our goals public within our team to help support each other and jump in to help one another reach those goals. This is truly unique and allows for great collaboration, culture, and friendships that develop on the customer success team.
How do you create a team feeling among the customer success team? Tell us about the team culture. How do you celebrate big wins or bond outside the office?
This is by far the closest and most supportive team that I have ever been on in my career. Any big sales win that happens is also celebrated in customer success. For example, we get “bam” emails that allow us to see when members of customer success were involved in a big win. Those achievements are celebrated on our group chat or by walking over to the person’s desk to congratulate them.
We also host quarterly social events as a team, in addition to the events that are thrown with the company’s different office locations, including Bellevue, Washington. We've all become friends and will always have each others’ backs, which is also a unique aspect of our culture and tied to the ways our goals are built. None of us will succeed if we don’t all succeed. We support each other with every chance we get.
What does it take to be successful in a customer success manager role at Smartsheet?
Curiosity is key. On top of asking big questions, you must be able to take action on your curiosity. If you see something that you want to change, change it. If you wonder if something could be done better, find a way to make it better and present that as a viable option to the team. My advice would be to be open with your ideas, keep them flowing, and don’t be afraid that an idea might be “stupid.” No idea is stupid if it has data to back it up, an actionable plan, and a reason to bring it up.
Curiosity is key. On top of asking big questions, you must be able to take action on those questions and your curiosity.”
Describe a time when you’ve mentored someone or a time when you received mentorship that helped you succeed. What did you learn from that experience?
I am currently part of the SmartMentor program, which matches Smartsheet employees (mentors and mentees) based on a variety of development topics. I am a mentor for a teammate in consulting. The mentorship has been mutually beneficial. We learn from each other, use each other as resources, and bounce ideas off each other as confidants.
We also have team leads on our customer success team. Our team leads have helped me succeed right from the start by being extended arms of management and people I can seek support from or get ideas from to provide a better experience for the customers.
