Friday was my last day at Higher Logic. By extension, my time with the Gain Grow Retain community comes to an end as well.
This leg of my career journey began in 2020 when Jeff and I sold our business, Customer Imperative (a B2B tech consulting firm), to Higher Logic.
We saw an opportunity to bring together a brilliant community of customer success leaders with a company that could provide tools to help them succeed (customer community software).
Gain Grow Retain became a part of Higher Logic, and we became full-time employees. Me the Chief Customer Officer, Jeff the director of CX (and later, the director of marketing).
I’m proud of what we did at Higher Logic during our time:
Grew the company significantly Maintained a stellar team through the pandemicImproved the efficiency of the business while deepening engagement with and outcomes for our customers
To accomplish this, we leaned into our customer communities.
Community is a key tool available to every B2B tech company to drive customer engagement at scale. It isn’t theoretical. During my time at Higher Logic, I saw firsthand how customer communities helped our business and our customers’ businesses grow efficiently.
B2B software customers EXPECT a community and scaled customer enablement programs they can participate in. These programs help them get the most use out of the platforms they purchase.
These scaled programs also help the business scale.
Although we’re parting ways, I will continue to promote Higher Logic and do everything I can to support my colleagues’ success there.
As for Gain Grow Retain, I am stepping away from day-to-day involvement with the podcast, events, and community.
Founding this community with Jeff is one of the highlights of my career.
Our mantra from the beginning was and still is “Lead with value, don’t expect anything in return.” As a result of this mindset, thousands of people engaged, found jobs, elevated their careers and made lifelong friendships through GGR.
This created a wave of tangible results. Mostly in pipeline generation. Companies who choose to go beyond their customer base, and truly embrace and lead the markets they serve, without any expectation of a return, stand to capture outsized gains.
Besides the tangible benefits, my life has been enriched because of the community we built. I’m so appreciative of the thousands of people who joined us on this journey and made GGR what it is today.
I look forward to carrying these many friendships with me as I move on.
I’ll share more in January about what I’m up to next. But rest assured that customersuccess.io will be an integral part of it.
I’ll be taking some time off during the holidays to rest and recharge. Expect it to be mostly quiet until January.
I hope that no matter where you are in the world reading this, and no matter what traditions you celebrate, you have a peaceful and joyful holiday season filled with love.
During this season I’m grateful for my family and my health.
I’m also so grateful for YOU. It still blows my mind that you’re willing to let me into your inbox each week, and I don’t take it for granted.
See you in 2024.
🤘
