Rachel Provan

I spent 15 years leading Customer Success teams, and I learned this the hard way: being great at CS doesn't prepare you to lead a revenue-generating department.

Most CS leaders are stuck proving their value to executives who expect them to generate revenue the way sales does, without understanding what post-sale revenue actually requires. You're told to drive expansion, reduce churn, and prove ROI - but no one taught you how to do that without morphing into Account Management or BDRs.

That's where I come in.

I HELP CS LEADERS DO THREE THINGS:

Build revenue-generating CS departments | Get promoted | Land their next role

🔹 CS LEADERSHIP ACADEMY (CSLA)
For anyone leading (or about to lead) a Customer Success team - from founding CSMs and team leads to managers, directors, and VPs.

✔ Build a revenue-generating CS department without turning your team into "Sales 2.0"
✔ Get promoted - over one-third of clients get promoted within 6-12 months
✔ Prove your value to executives who don't understand Customer Success
✔ Get out of reactive mode, build scalable processes, and strengthen your executive presence

Built on behavioral psychology and neuroscience, not corporate management theory.

🔹 DREAM JOB PROGRAM
For CS leaders who need to land their next role.

✔ Access the 80% of roles never posted online - optimize your LinkedIn so hiring managers reach out to YOU
✔ Executive resume makeover that shows revenue impact (even without exact numbers)
✔ Figure out exactly what's holding you back in interviews
✔ Master final presentations and salary negotiation - clients average $10k-15k above initial offers

🔥 WHY I'M DIFFERENT:
I don't teach theory. I teach what works in the messy, real world - the psychology that lets you influence cross-functional leaders and the executive suite, the strategy that drives retention and expansion, and the systems that let you scale without burning out.

👉 LET'S WORK TOGETHER:
📧 Apply to CSLA or Dream Job (links in Featured section)
💡 Grab my free CS Leader Onboarding Checklist
🎯 Subscribe to The CS Psycho for weekly CS leadership insights - backed by psychology

Founder and CEO

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

A lot of CS leaders won’t say it out loud.
But they’re worried.

About layoffs. About budgets. About getting cut.

Not because they don’t know how to lead... but because they’re stuck cleaning up after everyone else.

Sales overpromises. Product doesn’t listen to feedback.  And CS is expected to quietly clean it all up AND drive revenue.

(Because that works...)

If your team is stuck in reactive mode, buried in escalations, and constantly justifying your value... this is for you.

I’m running a free training that walks through the 4 stages every CS department goes through.

You’ll learn how to figure out:
 
- what stage you’re in 
- what’s holding you back; and 
- what to focus on if you want your org to start taking CS seriously.

Jan 14 @  1PM EST: https://lnkd.in/eECchnsD
Jan 15 @ 1pm EST: https://lnkd.in/eimJweBU

Two time slots. Zero fluff. 

Walk away with a plan you can use immediately.

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

Ever tried looking up how to build a CS dept? 🤦‍♀️

Talk to your customers
Build a team
Use data (reminds me of recipes on The Great British Baking Show… “Make the cake”)
Create onboarding materials
Scale
Iterate

Ummm… thanks?

It’s explanations like this that make people think building a CS department should be relatively easy.

That should take what -- six months?

Sure, you can get a CS department STARTED in that time. But if you think you’re going to create the results of a mature, revenue-generating CS department in six months…

Honey. You’re in for a rude awakening.

🏆 What you need are the REAL steps. In the right order.

Not just a mish-mash of CS initiatives you’ve read about.

✅ Yes you need a customer journey.
✅ Yes you need segmentation.
✅ Yes you need a CS tool.
✅ Yes you want a Customer Advisory Board.

But do you know WHEN to do those things so you don’t make a huge mess?

That’s exactly what I’ll teach inside my FREE masterclass: The CS Leadership Formula.

📅 Wednesday, January 14th or Thursday, January 15th

Register here: https://lnkd.in/eXPevgD6

🚧 The exact steps — in the right order — to build and scale a durable growth engine.

Moving up means saying “No” ❌

A lot. Even to your boss.😬

Scary, right? It doesn’t have to be.  It's actually part of your job now!

Here’s how to say no to your boss without burning bridge:

When you’re feeling overloaded, make a list with three columns:

⭐️   Project    |   Outcome   |  Priority   ⭐️

Put a 1 next to everything you think is a top priority right now. (Note - guess how many things can be priority #1...)

Then schedule a meeting with your boss to confirm some priorities. Show them the list you’ve made, and then say:

“As you can see I’ve got a lot on my plate. I want to make sure I’m effective and focusing on the right things. As I understand it, my top priorities are these outcomes (e.g. driving Adoption/GRR/NRR) - here's what I think will move the needle the most."

They will either highlight something you may be missing or (most likely) agree with your assessment. 

👉 Then you can confirm that you will be putting the other projects on the back burner to focus on these.

As a leader, you are trusted to prioritize.

You know what you need to achieve, and it’s up to you to manage your time.

No one is monitoring how much is on your plate.🍛

And you can’t achieve big goals by saying yes to everything.

PS - Still too much to do?

Get the cheat sheet hundreds of CS leaders have used to make insane progress every quarter here:  https://lnkd.in/eECchnsD

BirchStreet Systems

Manage large-scale B2B enterprise accounts within the hospitality sector, driving product adoption by influencing procure-to-pay strategies and operations to enhance client success and ROI.

Enterprise Account Manager

Fairing

Building a customer success motion from scratch. 

Responsible for leading customer onboarding, customer success, and retention efforts.

Work closely with our Product, Sales, and Marketing teams to ensure an aligned effort towards delivering the best possible customer experience.

Customer Success Lead

Google

Digital Marketing partner to large B2B organizations in industrial markets that focus on e-commerce and brand. As an Account Manager, I build and maintain relationships with clients that include ongoing strategic consultation and support, develop and maintain a deep understanding of online advertising, and own key initiatives for the business and industrial markets team.

Account Manager

Gartner

Consulted with midsize business CIOs and C-Level Executives to develop and implement an effective enterprise-wide strategy that maximizes the value delivered by Gartner's mid-market research products and services. Advised business and technology leaders around: 

• Building success road maps for key initiatives
• Selecting the right technology products at the best pricing and terms
• Benchmarks to determine what’s working and what isn’t
• Connecting with valuable peers 
• Empowering yourself and your team through professional development

Account Executive, Education

Sure Tack Systems, Crist Company, Inc.

Sales Specialist

· Benchmarked best-in-class companies, provided a detailed analysis of best practices, and analyzed information to align strategy with organizational goals. 

· Researched, recommended, and gathered funding to pilot an innovative collaboration tool.  Lead the pilot by developing training, communications plan, and business value metrics.

· Traversed complex internal processes that required project management capabilities, involving collaboration with IT, legal, security, and procurement functions.

Strategy Associate

Odyssey.

· Produced, wrote, and edited long-form articles to a weekly deadline, covering a range of topics, from business to politics to entertainment.

· Utilized SEO techniques to reach college-aged audiences who will care about, trust, and learn more from the content I create.

Contributing Writer

Head of Customer Success | Ex-Google

I'm a passionate Customer Success enthusiast, with a strong focus on B2B SaaS.

With 10 years of experience in sales and relationship management adjacent to digital advertising and hospitality. 

My core qualities of proactivity, outstanding communication, and enthusiasm for collaboration enable me to develop and execute customer retention strategies that foster customer advocacy and enable business growth. 

With experience working with Fortune 50 corporations, midsize companies, and startups, I have worked with every level of an organization, including C-suite executives, agencies, and every level in between.

I'm always eager to learn about new industries and platforms, and I'm constantly seeking new ways to improve my skills and knowledge to better serve my clients.

I took my banner photo on an ‘87 Nikon.

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