Journey of a Customer Success Representative

A look into the career path of a micro-biologist turned customer success manager

Please introduce yourself:

My name is Udeme Asian and I’m currently a customer success manager at Reliance Health. I've been working in customer-facing roles for the entirety of my career, from the creative industry to the healthcare ecosystem.

What’s the difference between customer service in your first industry and the healthcare industry?

Customer service no matter what industry you’re in has a lot of similarities. The only difference in the healthcare industry is that it is delicate and timebound because you’re dealing with people's health.

You started off as a data entry personnel which seems more analytic, so when and why did you decide to go into customer success?

Well, the data entry I did at the time was basically what we call bookkeeping now. It was more like an inventory manager, so to speak.
I think with customer support I just found myself to be actually good at it, and that notion solidified in 2018 when I was working in fashion. I would always try to anticipate people’s needs, cross-sell, and also encourage them to make as many purchases as possible. So when I realized how good I was at it, I decided to make a career out of it, found opportunities and that’s what pushed me to this journey

From a reliance care officer in 2020 to a CSM in 2022. What was that journey like?

Uh, it was a lot of learning and a lot of errors. I think that even now as someone who is part of the hiring process of Customer Service personnel, one of the criteria I look out for is someone who has a growth mindset, and who is teachable, because if you have those two things the rest will follow. Those are things that helped me. I really wanted to make it to work, I wanted to be excellent at it. I wanted my manager to know that anytime I was working, she could go and have a seat and I could handle anything.

What's your day-to-day like at this point?

It could go one of two ways. One, you wake up to an emergency, handle the escalations, then get into meetings that have already been set up, and handle other third-party projects that I’m a part of.
There is the operational part of it where you have to spot-check and make sure my team members are doing an excellent job.

What are the chances of an emergency popping up every day?

Because of the way the team is groomed, it doesn't happen as often. So in 2022, it was a bit different, but at the moment, things and processes are better managed which is a really important thing for the customer service team. I make sure that the team is aware of these processes and can actually use them in any situation with little supervision.

How does it feel to lead a team & how do you ensure everyone brings their A-game?

Gosh, I feel like it can be both rewarding, and on some days it can just be like, Nah, I can't do this anymore. Because I think it's just such a mix of personalities that have to be managed. Everybody has their personality and it could be a struggle.

So it's been a learning curve, but it has also really fulfilled our desire to see that we've created a team that works together seamlessly, I would say that it takes a lot being a balance of both firm and relatable. There is a balance of; you can come to me if you have an issue, you can talk to me about this and that, but at the same time have to do your work and professionalism.

Also, there is an understanding of what the consequences are if things are not done right. Everybody sort of understands and works together to make sure we meet our end goal. And one thing that also helps is knowing that they have someone advocating and supporting them. 

One of the things I've had to learn to do is ask the people that I'm leading if they have any issues and what they need to work better. When you have someone who is actually interested in your growth, not just professionally, but also personally, it makes you motivated and makes it easier for you to do your job well.

What’s your take on the growth process in customer service?

It's easy to grow because this is one of those cases where your work speaks for itself. There are situations where you have customers saying; ‘hey, I want to speak with XYZ, they attended to me perfectly’. So it's easy to get noticed if you do an excellent job in customer success. And of course, everybody has their KPIs. We also have structured ways to grow in the company so you already know what you need to do to get to the next step.

For my specific situation, my lead at the time was leaving so she chose me to be interim leader at the time before it became official.

So with customers' success, your work kind of speaks for itself. It's easy to see that okay, this person is improving, they're growing, the way they're communicating before and the way they're communicating now is sort of different. So I think it's pretty easy to grow and there are so many customer success roles that we ought to explore in Nigeria from representatives to leads to managers to HOD etc.

There seems to be a trend of people who studied microbiology going into customer service. What do you think about that?

I think I would've taken anything, even if it was not healthcare at the time as long as it was customer support. I was not really thinking of the fact that I studied microbiology so let me go into the healthcare industry. I was just looking for a customer support role.
So, I don't know of the trend I may not have noticed it, but, I think when you study a course and you’re in a country that doesn’t offer a lot of opportunities to explore that specific course, you’ll have to find other career paths, hence why people pivot. Then again, I don't really know if that's the case, but I think the options are sort of limited

What's your advice for people trying to build a career in customer service?

One piece of advice for people who are trying to get into customer service should know is that ‘patience is key’. And I think just in general, anybody who's looking for an opportunity in any field needs patience.

Also, another piece of advice I'd give is, if you are lucky to make it to the interview phase, ‘be authentic’! Try to infuse a bit of storytelling and authenticity when you are having your interviews and let your personality shine through. 

And for people already in the support field wondering if it's best for them, I think the question you should ask is how do you feel when you've done something? At the end of the day, if you've resolved that issue, how does it make you feel? Do you feel great? Because working is good but doing what you love is great, and that was one defining thing for me when I started my career as a customer service representative.