Monday Guest Taylor Hodges-Y3-W34

Mohammed Alqaq August 19, 2024August 26, 2024

Spread the love

Get to know Taylor Hodges

By: Mohammed Alqaq | August 19, 2024 | Year 3 – Week 34/2024

Hello, Customer Success Middle East! My name is Taylor Hodges, and I am the Executive Director of Customer Success for the Corrigo product at JLL. I work across many verticals, and I am extremely passionate about delivering impactful outcomes both internally and externally.

I was born and raised in Texas, and I have 2 amazing children that drive me to succeed every day. I am always up for a new adventure, networking with new people, and trying new things. I learn something new every day and enjoy waking up to see what the world will throw at me.

We asked Taylor 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?

I started my “career” at the age of 14 in retail where I worked for 3 and half years before pivoting to the restaurant service industry serving and bartending for 6 and half years. I have always enjoyed working with people, making an impact on their day, and delivering quality customer service.

I have a degree in business with a focus on marketing, but truth be told, I didn’t have any idea what I wanted to do in my career while I was in school. After graduation, I landed at a small consulting firm that implemented, supported, and optimized mid-market ERP products such as Microsoft Dynamics and NetSuite.

In this role, I was fortunate to wear many hats and gained experience from the lens of business development, marketing, project management, and finance.

How did you join Customer Success?

I fell into Customer Success while I was working for the consulting firm. I met someone through networking with this title, and it was a term that I hadn’t heard before that instantly intrigued me.

The idea of driving success through impactful outcomes for customers and not just deploying technology seemed like a no-brainer. It shifted the way I thought about go-to-market strategies, technology delivery, and overall relationship management.

I immediately changed my title, and the rest is history. I found a CSM role at JLL through a recruiter friend in my network. I jumped at the opportunity to practice customer success in SaaS (CS purity in my mind), and drive impactful customer success motions in a larger global organization. It is my dream job, and I am so grateful to have found this calling.

How would you describe the ideal CSM candidate?

An ideal CSM candidate should be: Passionate, hungry, bold, empathetic, analytical, relationship and impact-minded.

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

Always say yes! Get out of your comfort zone and push the boundaries. This industry is ever-evolving, and innovation is the key to success.

Get out of your comfort zone and push the boundaries.

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

My days are spent coaching my team through 1:1s and team meetings, meeting with customers for strategic engagements, planning events like our Customer Advisory Board, as well as establishing and iterating on our overall customer success strategy.

Lots of calls!!

What makes you feel inspired or motivated?

Driving success for others and delivering impactful outcomes for customers inspires and motivates me. Particularly when I can meet with them face to face and see the impact it has had on them personally and professionally.

I also love elevating my team to be the best customer success professionals they can be.

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

I played the trumpet 🎺 in my high school marching band.

Who do you look up to the most?

Tough question. I find inspiration all around me. I look up to colleagues, team members, and leaders in my organization and in my customers’ organizations, as well as in other passionate customer success professionals.

What are your top 3 priorities now?

These are my top 3 priorities:

Driving retention and growth at scale (via AI, process, metrics, etc.)
Elevating my team to be more strategic and less tactical to drive additional growth through consultative, solution-based engagement
Aligning cross-functionally to create better customer experiences

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

Network, ask questions, study thought leadership, join communities, attend conferences and webinars, get feedback from customers on what is working and what isn’t, and try to be just a little bit better every day.

Some of my favorite thought leaders in the space: Nick Mehta, Kelly Capote, Jay Nathan, Chris Dishman, Irit Eizips, Jenelle Friday, Rob Zambito, Alex Turkovic, and so many more!! Check out Customer Success Collective and GainGrowRetain .

What’s your favorite book, and why?

Radical Candor by Kim Scott

This book transformed the way I manage my team and look at business as a whole. Care personally and challenge directly.

This book has helped me create a cohesive team that practices radical candor and pushes to improve how we interact and execute our work every day.

» 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?

I am constantly pushing to be better. I have definitely made progress toward “making it”, but I don’t think I will be satisfied until I am Chief Customer Officer!

What should I have asked you but didn’t?

What do you think about the future of Customer Success?

I feel that customer success will continue to grow as a critical piece of the go-to-market and revenue-driving motions. Shifting from a cost center to a profit center is inevitable. Customer Success has such a huge impact on profitability, and I think we will continue to see that progress.