Meet Ifoma, Senior Director of Customer Success at Hootsuite

What comes to mind when you think of a Customer Success Manager? When we spoke to Ifoma Smart, Senior Director, Customer Success at Hootsuite, we got a couple of ideas. In the world of sales, leading with passion, empathy, and customer obsession are just a few of the traits needed to succeed.

Ifoma started his technology career 20 years ago in the Professional Services field, starting as an implementation consultant, moving to a project manager role, and then onto various leadership roles.

Ifoma Smart, Senior Director, Customer Success

Over the years, his focus has been on building professional services organizations and partnering with sales teams to help customers maximize their value from their investment.

Four years ago, Ifoma pivoted from Professional Services to Customer Success. He saw the changes within the landscape of the sector, and how customer needs were transforming with the increase of SaaS platforms and technologies. At Hootsuite, Ifoma has made a substantial impact on the lives of customers and the company’s Customer Success Managers, and we asked him to share a little more about his experiences.

Outside of his work, Ifoma is a lifelong martial artist. He has practiced martial arts for over 20 years and has had five amateur Muay Thai fights, with four wins and one loss. Though he retired from competition in 2019, he still trains and coaches young athletes. When he’s not doing that, he loves to cook and spend time with his family, and has even launched his own hot sauce company, Wicked Smart Hot Sauce!

How does the Customer Success team fit into the overall Hootsuite ecosystem and what impact does the team have at Hootsuite?

Customer Success is an integral part of our customer journey. As a SaaS organization, we need to make sure that we are not just landing new customers, but also retaining and growing our existing customer base while developing strong relationships with our customers.

In order for us to do that, we need to help our customers achieve their social care and social marketing goals by focusing on enablement and adoption of our products and services. By helping our customers achieve an identified set of outcomes — by helping them win on social — we’re delivering business value. That is the essence of our purpose in Customer Success.

Diversity and inclusion are critical factors in building a successful team. How do you ensure you are being inclusive?

As someone who identifies as a Black senior leader, I can appreciate the importance of inclusion and diversity of all experiences — not just from a racialized perspective but also in terms of neurodiversity and intersectionality. My personal growth is informed by copious reading, actively seeking to understand the experiences of others and lots and lots of listening.

As we embark on expanding our team and look to attract new talent, recruiting candidates from underrepresented and neurodiverse groups has never been more important. Once onboard, our managers are excellent at connecting with team members during weekly 1:1s and creating opportunities for all voices to be heard during team interactions.

Tell us three reasons why someone should want to join Hootsuite’s Customer Success team and three reasons why they shouldn’t.

Why this could be the team for you:

1. You want to make an impact. On our team, you’ll have the opportunity to do meaningful work, have a sense of ownership, and have accountability to the business. If this is you, there’s no better place for you to be!
2. You want to be part of — and contribute to — a great company culture. With amazing employee benefits and programs that also include Owly Fridays, Wellness Week, various employee resource groups, Hootsuite truly values the employee experience. You won’t find another company that is as positive, welcoming, engaging, and as inclusive as it is here.
3. You’re open to change. Life inside SaaS companies moves fast and Hootsuite is no exception. There is a lot of rapid change within the Customer Success Team, and also within the organization as a whole.

Why this may not be the team for you:

1. You’re not customer obsessed. We genuinely care about our customers and aspire to continuously find ways to be better in all aspects of the customer journey. Doing this well requires feedback gathered from spending time with customers and leaning into what it takes to help them succeed with Hootsuite.
2. You’re looking for predictability and to maintain the status quo. We test and learn continuously, often going beyond what is the “expected” solution.
3. You’re not looking to learn new things. Our Customer Success team is constantly learning and embracing new approaches to service our customers better. Enabling our CSMs on our product offerings and innovations taking place within the social marketing, social care and social commerce space is what sets us as apart.

What advice would you give to someone that is looking to launch their career or pivot their career as you did into Customer Success?

Customer Success is a fast growing sector and the role of a CSM looks different at every company depending on the products and services they offer.

My advice would be to do your research and join Customer Success groups and meetups. Reach out to people in your network or on LinkedIn to find more about the company’s products, services and the customers they engage. Understanding the company, their customers and approach to delivering customer value will provide a distinct advantage!

The Customer Success team at Hootsuite is an engine for growth in the organization. If people are generally interested in this journey and want to take a ride with us, we would love to have a conversation on how we can work together!

Hootsuite’s Customer Success team plays a critical role in helping our customers realize maximum value from our solutions and achieve their goals. Guided by leaders like Ifoma Smart, we’re equipping social innovators to shape the future of business. Want to join us? Check out our roles on the Customer Success team!