Monday Guest Rafael Escano-Y3-W53
Get to know Rafael Escano
By: Mohammed Alqaq | December 30, 2024 | Year 3 – Week 53/2024
I am a self-motivated professional with more than 20 years IT related experience, mainly focused on Customer Success, Professional Services, Program Management and Service Delivery. Business outcomes oriented with a clear mindset on optimizing our customers’ experience and satisfaction. I am used to managing resources within different countries, always with a “can-do” attitude. 💪🏻
We asked Rafael to take us through a journey telling us about his career path, how he spends his workday, what advice he can share with someone starting as a customer success manager, and many other questions.
Enjoy reading this interview
Table of Contents
Tell us about your career path?
After some initial years as an engineer in my hometown, I moved to Madrid to pursue my career in project management.
The evolution of PjM to Program Director came also with the move to Oracle, where I started to taste what CS was about.
And that was the trigger to join Salesforce, where I have developed my career in Customer Success.
How did you join Customer Success?
It was the role I wanted, even before I knew it was called CS.
Working in multinational transformational projects I realized that adoption and change management were key to success. I just wanted to make everybody happy. And Customer Success was closer to this than a PM role.
When I saw an opportunity at Salesforce I was lucky enough to have people inside that made me fall in love with this position and what it entails.
How would you describe the ideal CSM candidate?
This is a tough one. I would not put a CSM description as the “ideal” one.
This depends on the industry you are working in, the country/market you are working for, and even the cultural aspect plays a big role here.
My take is that all CSMs have a gene to “care” about others. From this point, you can make the role more sales-oriented or more adoption-targeted.
What one piece of advice would you give to someone just starting out as a Customer Success Manager?
Get a good mentor. This applies to any position, honestly.
Get a good mentor.
Can you take us on a journey describing what your workday looks like?
After taking 1h to do a proper wake-up routine (yes, breakfast time is VERY important for me), I cannot say that every day is the same.
I try to keep a very personal relationship with my customers. This means that I foster phone calls and even onsite visits as much as I can. Instead of email ping-pongs, I prefer a more human interaction. And this takes a bit of time in my day-to-day.
What makes you feel inspired or motivated?
No matter the challenge, if I feel someone is enjoying the work we are doing, that makes my day.
Needless to say, we always prefer to dedicate our time to building new stuff with our customers. But even during nasty escalations, I can find motivation if I feel that we are all part of a team working towards success.
What’s one thing that people are generally surprised to find out about you?
This is a question to ask the rest. My positive attitude, I guess.
Who do you look up to the most?
Buf, what a question. The 1st one on my list is my mom. For many reasons, even professionally. You cannot underestimate the power of mothers when handling difficult situations, and always leaving a great memory to everyone (at least in my case).
What are your top 3 priorities now?
These are my top 3 priorities:
Family, Health, and Community.
What advice would you give to Customer Success Managers to grow and develop their careers?
There’s no written-in-stone path to become the perfect CSM. Get a mentor (a good one), read, participate in CS communities (this means sharing knowledge as well), and the career will grow in the direction you are looking for.
What’s your favorite book, and why?
I am a very bad book reader (I need time to focus on the book … and that only happens during vacations).
From novels, I love history-based novels. If possible, based on events that happened in Spain.
Currently, I am reading Digital Customer Success from the Gainsight team.
» 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?
Sense of accomplishment in life? I enjoy everything that I do. If I do not have fun, then it is not for me.
So let’s say that I try to always have a blast on everything I do.
What should I have asked you but didn’t?
Restaurant recommendation in Madrid?
Look for Vinoteca de Moratín for a couples dinner. You will not regret it.
Where can people go to find out more about you?
Follow me on LinkedIn, Contact me for a virtual coffee, Or join any community session in Madrid!
Thank you, Rafael, for sharing your knowledge and for the opportunity to know you more.
Do you have a Customer Success Leader, Expert, or Influencer you would like to know more about?
