Rachel Provan

Provan Success, LLC

1:1 and Group Customer Success Leadership Coaching, Customer Success Job Hunting and Career Counseling, Business Coaching.

THE CS LEADERSHIP ACADEMY
- Over 200 CS Leaders Certified
- 37% received a RAISE or PROMOTION within 3-6 months due to performance and executive presence.
- Results of over 115% NRR

CAREER COACHING
- 150+ CS Leadership roles landed and counting
- Salary Negotiation scripts resulted in a minimum of $10k increase over initial offer.
- Average Salary increased 30% from previous job

Founder and CEO

CS Angel

Selected by peers and top influencers to create the world’s first syndicate of Customer Success and Customer Experience experts ready to invest in startups providing tech that improves Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

Founding Member

Catalyst Software

Invited by CEO Edward Chiu and COO Kevin Chiu to participate in a private community of 100+ executives from CEOs, VPs of CS/Sales, CROs/CCOs, and more to discuss the future of revenue generation through a more cost-effective and powerful growth engine; your customers.

 Customer-Led Growth Advisor

CS Insider

Monthly contributor writing a column for new CS leaders.

Contributing Writer

Doodle

Built and developed a global Customer Success department to increase adoption, retention, and expansion at scale.  

Leveraged best practices through tiered engagement models, customer lifecycle practice, and playbooks. 

Implemented Gainsight and Customer Success Operations to automate repetitive tasks over customer lifecycle. 

Operationalized the customer health model to trigger risk and expansion plays as well as forecast renewals.

Developed customer enablement program to increase time to first value and depth of adoption via 1:Many programs and self-serve materials. 

Hired and mentored and scaled a diverse global CS team and created onboarding, coaching, and professional development models with a strong team culture.

Created career advancement models and employee development plans to increase transparency and motivation, resulting in to promotions.

Director of Customer Success

Fidelus Technologies

Built and scaled the Customer Success department for a white glove unified communications and networking provider.  

Created all processes and workflows based on the customer lifecycle.  

Recruited, and continued to develop, motivate, and scale a dynamic Customer Success team. 

Enabled scalability of Customer Success department by automating workflows and playbooks for adoption, expansion, renewal, and advocacy through Customer Success software.  

Increased productivity and reduced silos by refining processes across sales, support, and services to streamline communication and customer-centricity, ultimately attaining an NPS of 91 and increased NRR.

Arago GmbH

Built Customer Success department from scratch for machine reasoning AI product (HIRO). 

Led department while simultaneously managing Fortune 500 clients. 

Coordinated with cross-functional teams to align product development with customer feedback. 

Dramatically increased scaling, expansion and customer retention.

Head of Customer Success

Donnelley Financial Solutions

Oversaw the planning and execution of the entire ActiveDisclosure SaaS implementation lifecycle. Steered the integration of client-specific best practices to maximize performance and satisfaction. Administered training and evaluation of personnel to exceed organizational standards. Leveraged creative curriculum, webinars and classroom instruction tools to provide informative instruction.

Created role and processes from the ground up to build an impeccable customer experience from product inception to #2 in the marketplace for financial reporting software.

Worked across departments as the voice of the customer to ensure customer-focused product development, services, sales, and marketing.

Led an organizational mentoring program to facilitate the growth and retention of talented team members.

Customer Success Implementation Architect

Vintage Filings, LLC

Grew a team from 3-6 EDGAR Specialists (Production/Customer Service) in the production of SEC compliance documents for over 600 accounts. 

Guided clients through complete restructuring of government requirements in rapidly changing field.

Reduced new-hire salary costs by 40% by initiating and implementing comprehensive training program, eliminating need for 2 outsourced training and recruiting vendors.

Developed customer lifecycle and engagement maps to create best practices for both proactive and reactive touchpoints.

Decreased costs and streamlined operations by creating and maintaining in-house systems to track clients’ progress and workflow.

Increased revenue by cross-selling clients' full financial service package, including XBRL and IR Data Hosting.

Ensured accurate and timely response to clients’ needs by creating and updating course curriculum and delivering training to staff on an on-going basis, accommodating different learning styles.

Ensured consistent, complete information on processes and procedures by writing and updating 60-page manual as reference guide for new hires and existing staff.

VP Operations - Customer Success

Managed a team of 3 Edgar Specialists across 300 accounts

Developed checklists and customer lifecycle management processes that reduce filing errors by 30% leading to a 15% increase in customer retention. 

Created upselling playbook based on previous customer buying patterns increasing overall revenue by 10% across accounts.

Director of Operations - Customer Success

* Processed government compliance documents with the SEC for clients, handling ASCII filings with EdgarEase and HTML with Edgarizer. 

* Provided premier customer service by accurately and efficiently preparing, editing and filing documents. 

* Served as liaison with clients regarding edits and filings.

Senior Edgar Specialist

Promoted to Senior EDGAR Specialist within 1 year

Edgar Operator

Lead generation, qualification and nurturing to increase new client acquisition

Business Development Specialist

Data Entry Specialist

🚨 I remember the first time I became a manager.

I had no idea what I was doing! 

One day, I was a high-performing individual contributor—confident, in control, and great at my job. The next, I was leading a team... and suddenly second-guessing everything.

Should I be tougher or more approachable? Should I micromanage or trust my team? What if they realize I have no idea what I’m doing?

I tried reading leadership books, watching TED Talks, and mimicking my old bosses. But nothing quite clicked. Leadership still felt like an awkward script I was reading, not something I truly owned.

🔥 It wasn’t until I learned the psychology behind leadership that everything changed.

Once I understood WHY and HOW leadership frameworks worked—not just what they were—I stopped feeling like an imposter. Leadership became second nature. My team started responding to me differently. I wasn’t just “managing” anymore—I was actually leading.

And the best part?  I felt like MYSELF - not some image of what a leader "should" be.

That’s when I realized: 

Most new managers don’t fail because they’re bad leaders. They fail because no one ever taught them how to THINK like a leader.

🚀 Now, I help New Managers and CS leaders make leadership effortless!

✅ CS Leadership Academy (for CS leaders & execs)
A proven system to build and scale a revenue-generating Customer Success Department—from strategy to execution.
✔️ Build a scalable CS function that drives real impact
✔️ Create a high-performance team—without burning out
✔️ Master executive communication & cross-functional collaboration

📈 The Leadership Accelerator - For New Managers
A step-by-step program to go from struggling manager to confident leader.
✔️ Learn time management, delegation, & performance management
✔️ Develop executive presence & be taken seriously - while still being authentic!
✔️ Master mindset & leadership psychology

💡 Why my approach works:
Most leadership programs give you TACTICS. I teach you the psychology behind them—so leadership stops feeling forced and starts feeling like PART OF WHO YOU ARE.

📌 Proof this works?
✅ 90% of leadership training is too theoretical—this program is real-world, actionable, and science-backed.
✅ New managers who receive structured coaching perform 50% better in their first year.
✅ My clients have gone from overwhelmed and insecure to leading teams with confidence—and getting promoted faster - many in just three months!).

🚀 Ready to stop second-guessing and start leading?

Let’s talk. DM me or connect to start your leadership transformation.

1-on-1 Customer Success Leadership coaching, Customer Success Job Hunting and Career Counseling

Confession... I'm a total gossip. 🗣️

I talk about people behind their backs all the time.

But here's the twist... it's all good stuff.

I call it "Positive Gossip".

👉 Any time someone does something great on your team, find a way to tell 3 people.

I don't care what "rank" they are.  Just start flapping your gums about it.

“She handled that client like a pro. I don’t know how she stayed that calm.”

“Working with him makes everything easier.  He always knows what I need and is ten steps ahead”

“She’s the reason we've improved productivity by 10%. That woman is MAGIC with processes.”

Most leaders think praise only counts when it’s in front of the subject. The meeting shoutout, the Slack message, the performance review paragraph...

But  what you say about people in private matters just as much.

That’s where trust gets built.

When you speak well of someone who isn’t in the room, three things happen:

🧠 The person listening trusts you more — you’re not making it all about you.
🤝 They start seeing that person more positively.
🔥 Gossip always gets back to people.  Always.  Now when it does, you're not just their boss, your their champion.

This isn't about being performative. It's about genuinely appreciating people.

And here's a bonus:

🌟  It feels good to focus on what people do well.
You start looking for the good. You notice more of it. Your team feels it.

That's what builds loyalty. 
Not awards. Not public praise.
💪 Knowing you speak well of them when there's nothing in it for you.

That’s how you build a team that would run through walls for you.

XOXO

Rachel Provan 🧠

I help CS Leaders kick ass at their job & get promoted - using Psychology | 15 years leading CS teams | Creator of The CS Leadership Academy & Psychology of Customer Success Podcast | Speaker

f you want to be a leader, you need to sound like one.

But women are societally conditioned to soften their language and over-apologize.
 
Here’s how I broke my apology habit - without turning into a jerk.

The first step is becoming aware of it. 

👉🏻There’s a chrome extension called “Just Not Sorry” that points out when you are using language that undermines your message. 

It underlines words and phrases like: 
“Just,” 
“I’m sorry,” 
“I think,” 
“Does that make sense?” 
“In my opinion”, 
“I’m no expert,” and 
“Actually”

You can still use these words when you feel it’s appropriate, but they shouldn’t pepper every email.

Beyond helping me with work correspondence, it definitely made me more aware how often I use weak language. 

🤔 The reason I tend to speak that way is to be considerate and cooperative. 

But to other people it comes across as filler. 

Stating your point of view directly is not rude. It’s easier to understand.

🙏🏻 The final piece that helped quash my sorry habit was learning to say “thank you” instead of “sorry”. 

⭐️For example, instead of “I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner!” Try:

🙏 “Thank you for your patience, I really appreciate it.” 

It frames the other person positively which is a nicer experience for them than watching you beat yourself up. 

Of course you should ALWAYS apologize if you have done something to hurt someone else, but “sorry” shouldn’t be your default state.

What do you think? Do you disagree? I’m just not sorry.

#leadership #career

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Your team isn't being difficult. They're being human.

New leaders make one big mistake: 

Trying to fix emotional reactions with logic.

Most employee reactions aren't logical.  They're fear based. 

Our bodies KNOW that our job is tied to community, food and shelter.  

Above oxygen and water... those are the most basic needs there are.  

So our brains are hardwired to consider it an EMERGENCY when anything might threaten our job.  

This triggers the fight or flight response. 

When this happens, the logical part of their brain goes offline.  

Great for bear attacks... not so great for corporate.

So trying to reason with someone when they're freaked or defensive... 

Well you'd have equal luck reasoning with a beetle. 🪲 

Here's what actually works:

🛑  Slow the moment down. Make it clear you respect them and their work.

📐 Explain the gap between what you're seeing and what needs to happen

🤝 Ask to solve it together - both of you against the problem.

Safety first, problem second. People need to feel safe before they can think clearly.

Your job as a leader is to keep your people feeling safe. 

Only then will you get their best work.

Your team isn't difficult.  They're human.

Most managers fail long before they realize it.

Not because they’re lazy.

But because they keep doing the exact things that made them successful as ICs.

But your job is no longer to be successful through doing the work - and if you try, you'll burn out.

These five lessons are the line between a stressed-out manager and a real leader.

If you’ve been feeling exhausted, this is the part you’ve been avoiding.

Don't learn the hard way

Stop walking executives through your thought process.
They don’t want to see it.

Early in my leadership career, I learned this the hard way.

I was giving my quarterly update (which, honesty should have taken five minutes)

And instead of leading with my decision, I walked them through…
 
🦉The background
🦉The analysis.
🦉The structure.

The why behind the why.

I thought I was being thorough.

But I was boring them to tears.

Because what I was really saying was:

 “Please validate that I did this right.”

😬 Not what they hired me for.

Executives don’t need to see our thought process.

They need to trust that we have that handled and can make good decisions.

When we over-explain, we train them to second-guess us.
We’re teaching them our decisions aren’t final.

Here’s what confident executive communication looks like:

 📌 X thing affects revenue.
 📌 Here's how we know, and here's the action we are taking.  
 📌 This is the expected outcome and timeline on revenue.

Then stop talking.  

No defending choices already made.
Not explaining how we got here.
No explaining why you aren't doing something.

The question isn’t:

“Am I being thorough enough?”

 It’s:

“Am I leading, or am I asking for approval?”

Save this for your next exec update.

You spend 2 hours on something that doesn't matter.

Then 10 minutes on the thing that could change everything.

But WHYYYY???  Every day you tell yourself it will be different.  

The good news - you don't suck or have no discipline.

The bad news - It's your nervous system.

When you're stressed, your brain goes into threat mode. Everything feels urgent. Slack notifications, emails, that to do list that keeps getting longer and longer...

Your nervous system treats them like immediate threats that need handling NOW.

Meanwhile, strategic thinking shuts down completely.

You're trying to prioritize while your body thinks you're being chased by a bear.

In threat mode: Everything's urgent. You're reactive. Busy but not effective.

When your nervous system is calm: You can distinguish urgent from important. You have space to actually think.

The best time management hack: learning how to calm your nervous system. 

There are many ways to do this, but here are three of my favorites:

1) Ground yourself. 

Feel your feet on the floor, find something purple in the room, see how many things you can hear at the same time.

2) 4-7-8 breathing.  

Breathe in for a count of 4, hold it for 7, exhale for 8.  Do this 4x.  The longer exhales slow your heart rate and the short breath holding reduces anxiety.

3) My favorite because it involves candy and no thought:

Pop a sour candy in your mouth.  It shocks you back into the present moment and can break you out of whatever thought loop your stuck in.  

Because whatever disaster scenario your concocting in your head isn't actually happening.  You're sitting at a computer.  Eating candy.  

These simple exercises tell your nervous system you're not in danger. You can shift from survival back to strategy.

THEN ask: "If I could only do one thing today that would actually move the needle, what would it be?"

And do that one thing.  Then count it as a win.

You can't reason with your body. You have to work with it. That's the difference between spinning your wheels and actually moving forward.



Want more leadership tips backed by brain science?  Check out my newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/eYDQNwAa



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