Monday Guest Maryann Lazzeri-Y3-W29

Mohammed Alqaq July 15, 2024July 22, 2024

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Get to know Maryann Lazzeri

By: Mohammed Alqaq | July 15, 2024 | Year 3 – Week 29/2024

I am a Customer Success Manager at Salesforce, currently residing in the Chicago suburbs. I’m originally from NYC, so I make it a point to visit my family and friends there a few times a year. I am an extrovert, and I thrive on engaging with people and building connections.

My career path has been quite non-linear. Before landing my current role, I explored various industries and positions, each teaching me valuable lessons and skills that I bring to my work today. I am passionate about helping customers achieve their goals and find great satisfaction in seeing their success.

Outside of work, I have a pretty busy personal life. I am married and have two amazing kids, a 14-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son. My daughter plays softball and my son plays lacrosse, so you can often find me cheering them on at their games.

I have a deep love for food, working out, traveling, giving back, and meeting new people. Whether trying out a new restaurant, exploring a new city, or striking up a conversation with someone new, I always look forward to new experiences and learning from them. Balancing my professional and personal life keeps me motivated and driven to continue growing both personally and professionally.

We asked Maryann to take us through a journey telling us about her career path, how she spends her workday, what advice she can share with someone starting as a customer success manager, and many other questions.

Enjoy reading this interview

Tell us about your career path?

My career journey is definitely unique. I majored in finance in college and started my career on Wall Street but found it did nothing for my core value of making a difference in the world. I have always loved kids so I got my Master’s degree in Education and became a NYC public school teacher which I LOVED.

A new job opportunity at my husband’s company brought us to Chicago so I combined my love of business and education and started an education company that I ran successfully for 10 years. I stumbled upon Salesforce when looking for a better CRM for my company and the rest is history. I instantly fell in love with Trailhead, the platform, the Ohana, ALL of it.

I met some amazing mentors through LinkedIn and as we worked together, they set me on a focused path to getting Salesforce certified, introduced me to different people at the company, and convinced me that Salesforce was where I belonged. It took a lot of hard work but I’m so grateful to be at my dream company working with such brilliant people every day.

How did you join Customer Success?

I had no clue how to start a business so I learned as much as I could. I took courses, booked interviews with entrepreneurs, read books, etc. I quickly learned that in addition to learning sales techniques, I also needed to learn how to manage post-sales to ensure renewals and retain my clients.

Through my research, I created my own success program and success plans, and maintained great relationships with my clients. This led to high retention rates, multiple referrals over the years, as well as high NPS scores. Building trust and connection through relationship building will always be one of my favorite things about customer success.

How would you describe the ideal CSM candidate?

An ideal CSM candidate is someone who is organized, a problem solver, has excellent soft skills, is adaptable, can deal with ambiguity, and is able to pivot on the fly. Things are constantly thrown your way and you have to know how to prioritize your time to be the most efficient.

What one piece of advice would you give to someone just starting out as a Customer Success Manager?

Similar to how I started my own business, I would recommend doing a ton of research. Read customer success books, take courses, attend webinars, talk to current customer success professionals, and most importantly, join customer success communities!

I have learned (and continue to learn) so much from my peers in the industry. You will have a wealth of knowledge at your fingertips and those relationships can blossom into full fledged friendships. I’m so fortunate to call many people in the customer success community my close friends. ❤️

Read customer success books, take courses, attend webinars, talk to current customer success professionals, and most importantly, join customer success communities!

Can you take us on a journey describing what your workday looks like?

Before my workday can even start, I have to start with movement. A strength workout and a walk or a run sets me up for the day ahead. Then I have breakfast with my kids and do school dropoffs.

My workday starts the day before. At the end of every workday, I take a few minutes and make a prioritized list of what I want to work on the next morning. It helps me get started quickly and tackle some of my task items instantly, rather than wasting time thinking about what to work on first.

Then I get to work on those items. I have multiple meetings throughout the day, collaborating externally and internally with different departments so we can ensure our clients are getting the most value out of their Salesforce investment. I work on presentations, check on the adoption, expertise, and technical health of my clients, and make recommendations based on those findings.

Every day is different and results in different activities so I am constantly moving things around on my To Do spreadsheet to reprioritize throughout the day.

What makes you feel inspired or motivated?

I get inspired and motivated when setting goals for myself and making a plan to reach them. I’m a Virgo so I love organization and planning. Crossing things off my list to reach that end goal brings me so much joy. And once I get close to the end, I start thinking of what my next goal will be.

What’s one thing that people are generally surprised to find out about you?

I am a huge nerd and always have been. I am an alum of one of the top high schools in New York City, and I love documentaries and nonfiction.

I read a ton of books and am in 3 book clubs, one with my friends, one with work, and one I co-founded with Cinthia Silva for Jan Young’s CxXchange for the customer success community. I love learning and try to learn something new every day.

Who do you look up to the most?

My parents and grandparents. They immigrated from Italy and are the reasons why I have such a strong work ethic. My 98-year-old Nonna still blows my mind with how hard she works every day.

What are your top 3 priorities now?

These are my top 3 priorities:

Spend as much time with my family and kids as I can. They are growing up to be such amazing people and I love hanging out with them. Walking and talking with them is one of my favorite activities.
Continue to explore and grow my career at Salesforce. I’ve never worked for such a huge company and it is so exciting to have so many opportunities to grow within the same company.
Continue to work on being the best version of myself.

What advice would you give to Customer Success Managers to grow and develop their careers?

Never stop learning. Work on all of the things that will improve your skills. And most importantly, grow your network! Meet as many people as you can, spanning across different companies and different roles.

Customer success is a joint effort by everyone at the company and you will be working collaboratively each and every day. You will learn something from every person you come in contact with on a daily basis.

What’s your favorite book, and why?

Atomic Habits by James Clear. I read it for the first time in 2018 and it is the reason I have been able to develop lasting habits ever since. I reread it every January to start a new habit for the new year. I even co-founded that book club based on this book. I recommend it to everyone!

» Check out the 10 Books a CSM should read to advance and improve their skills.

Have you had your “I’ve made it” moment yet?

Not yet. But I’m also someone who loves to set and crush personal goals so I don’t think I will ever feel I’m done or I’ve made it. I have worked hard to achieve so many things over the course of my career and have learned so much about myself in the process.

What should I have asked you but didn’t?

What’s playing on my AirPods constantly? The Tortured Poets Department Anthology by Taylor Swift. I even got an alert from Amazon Music that I’m in the top 1% of listeners of that album! Haha I am a huge T Swift fan and am blown away by her work ethic and how she is so successful but doesn’t stop trying to improve. She is so driven which is why she is so successful.