Employee Spotlight: Nurul Mohd-Reza, Customer Retention Specialist | Webroot

Nurul Mohd-Reza knows how to empathize with the customers
she serves. Her work with marginalized groups as a college student, she says,
helped prepare her for when the pandemic turned many of her customers’
businesses upside down last March.

Here she discusses what she’s learned after just 10 months
in the industry and provides some advice for those looking to dive headfirst
into something new.

Tell us a little bit about your career background. How
did you get to where you are today?

I started working at Webroot back in January, so my time
here hasn’t been long. For most of my collegiate career I worked in the
Division of Student Affairs at CU Boulder, focusing specifically on leadership
and development. I served as a student advisor to university officials and local
businesses. And so, as time went on, I became very interested in the dynamic
between people and business. From there, I knew I wanted to dive deeper into
this realm but was unsure on how to get started. So after college I began
working in healthcare operations.

I believe what got me interested in this career path was
when I attended Denver Start Up Week, which was a phenomenal experience. It
opened my eyes to the unfamiliar world of customer success. Seeing how
companies used technology and data to proactively understand their customer
persona, and on top of that, scale engagements to fit their customer’s needs was
truly insane. I thought what better way of molding my interests than being on
the front lines serving as an advocate between people and product.

And how did you land at Webroot specifically?

It’s a funny story. I had come across this position and
halfway through filling out the application I thought I might not be well-equipped
for the role, so I actually ended up not finishing the application. And then a
recruiter reached out to me and said they were interested in starting a
conversation. It was unconventional, but I’m very grateful she reached out
because it gave me an opportunity to explain my transition and why I wanted to
make that jump into tech. 

From there, I ended up interviewing here at Webroot and it
was a great experience overall. Being early on in my career, I knew I wanted to
work in an environment that obviously fostered growth, professionally and
personally. After speaking with my current boss, I was very optimistic about
the trajectory of Webroot, as well as the vision for Customer Success and this
team specifically.

What are your core responsibilities as a customer
retention specialist?

I would say my time is split between two main
responsibilities. My primary role is to oversee the renewal process for a subset
of SMBC contracts projected for the quarter. On the other hand, we are a
customer facing role. So handling business customer inquiries as
they arise. This involves everything from advising customers on certain buying
decisions to providing in-product guides.

However, we are starting to shift our
focus on how to effectively connect with customers throughout their lifecycle. Previously,
we’ve concentrated on the renewal period which is 90 days before expiration.
Now, we’re starting to expand our scope and engage with customers to create
those smooth onboarding workflows, as well as push early-on adoption of the
product. 

At the end of the day, it’s really about strategy—how do we
effectively educate and guide the customer to build depth behind the product in
hopes of retaining that relationship for the long haul.

What would you say has been the most significant
challenge of your career so far?

I think one of the most significant challenges was switching
to an industry I’d never worked in before. The learning curve was steep in
terms of familiarizing myself with the products we offer, our workflow with all
the various systems we use, and the dynamic relationships between our various
partners.

In Customer Success, it’s not simply about securing
renewals. The process involves having to solve roadblocks in order to help a
customer achieve their goal. We have to work with a range of departments to
solve issues the customer is facing—whether it be from a product standpoint or
a billing redundancy. So being able to learn each player’s role and then manage
those relationships was obviously a challenge to begin with. It’s exciting,
though. It keeps you on your feet and you get to meet a lot of new people from
diverse backgrounds. 

Another obvious challenge was COVID-19. I had only been
working in the office for about two months when the pandemic hit. Learning how
to onboard remotely was new and something I had to juggle with most definitely.

What skills do you feel have carried over well from your
work in public affairs?

I believe Customer Success is focused on building
relationships with our customers—which to my advantage was a valuable skill I
carried over from my work in public affairs. In this role, it’s very important
to enjoy solving problems and addressing issues head-on. You have to be
incredibly flexible and create some sense of fluidity in the midst of a growing
que of customer requests.

In my previous role, I worked with marginalized communities to
combat an array of social issues. So learning how to communicate with empathy,
while also moving with focus and intent was crucial and very much transcends
into my current role now.

Do you have a favorite part of the job after 10 months
with the company?

I’m optimistic about being able to refine the customer
journey. I believe the beauty behind Customer Success is it’s still an unknown
territory. Everywhere you look, companies have a different way and methodology
on how they interact with the customer. Not to mention, the type of technology
and automation coming into play is fascinating.

In addition to that, our team is fairly new, which gives us
a range of autonomy to create the structure and the formatting that we believe
will best deliver value to our customers throughout their lifecycle. Although
we are now part of a 15,000-person organization, it still feels like a start-up
environment. We are constantly working to strategize and envision how we want
the customer experience to evolve. To me, it’s very exciting to be at the
intersection of all these moving parts. 

Any advice for someone in your same situation, looking to
cross over into the tech industry?

Well, given my experience, I’d say don’t doubt your
capabilities. No experience is wasted experience. Even if you might not be the absolute
perfect fit for a position, you have a breadth of skills you’ve developed over
the past couple of years that will help mold you into whatever new role you’re
interested in.

I believe one of the best pieces of advice I was ever given
was don’t close a door on yourself before the opportunity even presents itself.
By saying you can’t do this, or you don’t have the skills for that, you’ve
already blocked out all these great possibilities. So be open to new
experiences and don’t hold back.

To see what positions are available for
you at OpenText, visit our careers page here.