Actually, the title is a misnomer just to get your attention. We’re not really taking Customer Success to Europe, we’re following Customer Success to Europe. We don’t own the movement, we are simply riding the wave.
As everyone knows, the Customer Success movement has swept over the SaaS landscape starting in Silicon Valley and then spread rapidly across the US tech community. Because it’s not a fad, but a business imperative, it follows the trail of recurring revenue businesses who invariably come to the understanding that they need to apply resources and technology to retaining and growing their customers.
So, because Customer Success has made its way to Europe, Gainsight is doing the same. I will personally be leading our efforts to understand the unique needs of businesses in EMEA when it comes to Customer Success (or Account Management) and to see if our own technology can deliver the same level of ROI and scalability as it has in North America.
Our vision for Gainsight is that we are building a large, independent company to help transform businesses of all kinds around their customers. In order to fulfill this vision, we cannot be a US or even North American company exclusively. All great software companies have branched out into Europe and we feel that now is the right time for Gainsight, and Customer Success, to establish a base of operations overseas.
We come to this quest humbly, knowing we have much to learn about the European market and the nuances of each country but eager to be educated. We also come with tremendous excitement based on our journey over the past five years and the appetite for Customer Success thought leadership, as well as technology, that we’ve seen from European companies we’ve talked to over the past few years. We also saw this thirst up close and personal when we hosted the inaugural Pulse Europe event last October in London for almost 500 business people. We’ll be bringing Pulse back to Europe again in November and expect 1000 people this year.
With an established base of great customers already in Europe including Brandwatch, Showpad, Bynder, and Euromonitor, and a plethora of US-based customers with global Customer Success teams such as Cisco, Red Hat, Box, and Workday, we have learned much already but look forward to a full immersion learning experience starting in September.
I’m personally excited to lead this effort as it’s a new chapter and challenge in my five-year Gainsight career and my lifetime in Customer Success. The people I’ve met in Europe over the past three years have inspired me with their desire to adopt the best of what we’ve learned from the Customer Success community since we started Gainsight and have also taught me as much as I’ve shared with them. I’m thrilled to be Gainsight’s lead explorer on this journey and to do my very best to become a European local. I’m working on my accents already.
For those friends and soon-to-be-friends in Europe, I’ll see many of you as soon as September. I’m truly looking forward to it. Please connect with me in the meantime if you wish and we’ll set up a time for high tea.
