Navigating C-Suite Personalities: A CSM's Survival Guide w/ Tiffany Parkes from User Interviews

Tiffany Parks shares her soul-crushing experience of having her carefully prepared loyalty program presentation dismissed as "boilerplate" by a CEO after working for three weeks on what she thought was a bespoke strategy. The conversation explores the challenging journey of transitioning from mid-market to strategic CSM roles and the importance of navigating different personality types.

• Making the jump from mid-market to strategic CSM while changing companies creates unique challenges
• Dealing with leadership transitions left Tiffany without proper mentorship or support
• The importance of "matching energy in the room" by bringing leadership to executive meetings
• How industry knowledge builds the confidence needed to handle executive pushback
• Managing different personality types is a crucial but often untaught skill in customer success
• The pros and cons of working with different customer segments (small/agile vs. enterprise/complex)
• Mental health considerations are essential for CSMs who serve as the "face" of the company
• Valuable resources for CSMs include LinkedIn experts like Carly Agar and Marcus Rentsch

🎙️ Guest: Tiffany Parkes
 Senior Customer Success Manager | User Interviews

📣 Find Tiffany:
 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffany-parkes-024a0443/ 

🔥 Topics Covered:
 🟣 Moving from mid-market to strategic accounts and handling imposter syndrome
 🟣 Why “matching the energy in the room” matters when presenting to executives
 🟣 Navigating C-level personalities and using emotional intelligence as a CSM
 🟣 Building confidence without deep industry knowledge (and how to “borrow” it)
 🟣 The power of influence when your champions aren’t decision makers
 🟣 Leaning into mental health as a core skill for CSMs
 🟣 How to handle rejection and pushback without losing credibility

💡 Shoutouts & Mentions:

• Carly Agar — Interview prep & CSM career coaching - https://www.linkedin.com/in/carly-agar/ 
• Marcus Rentsch — Value-focused Customer Success insights- https://www.linkedin.com/in/markus-rentsch-customer-value-led-growth-for-saas/ 
• Mel Robbins — Podcast & content on mindset and communication — https://open.spotify.com/show/7vz4RYsD5MulTCrcH478t1?si=24c6426f48414838 

🌐 Website
https://www.joedoestechtouch.com/

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🎙️ Be a Guest on the Podcast
Have a CS horror story or digital-first strategy worth sharing? Submit to be a guest:https://www.joedoestechtouch.com/podcast

🔗 Connect with Joe on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephdigrande

📺 Watch Full Episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaH58ojbaWym4ej_PedQ4Fw

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