Stephanie Pereira

I'm relatively new to having 'Customer Success' in my official title, but I've actually spent the last five-plus years doing that type of work from the SEM side. When our company officially formed a CS department in July, I decided to hesitantly take the leap. I was a little nervous at first about dealing with tough escalations, but it's been a really positive experience so far. My favorite part of the job is partnering with clients to solve problems and brainstorm strategy.

Nothing is more rewarding than watching a client scale and succeed. A highlight of my career was partnering with a brand-new dealership and helping guide their growth. Within just a few years, they became one of the top-performing Subaru dealerships in the country.

I make it a point to be exceptionally responsive. Clients want to feel heard and know that you genuinely understand their goals. For me, being a true partner means replying with the speed and dedication of an internal teammate.

It's hard to pinpoint a specific instance, but throughout my client-facing SEM role, I made a habit of checking campaign metrics daily, allowing me to spot downward trends early and optimize campaigns to protect and improve results.

I always assure clients that our team is actively on the case, and I stay closely attached until the issue is fully solved. Keeping the lines of communication open is key. I share updates as soon as I get them so clients know they're always a top priority.

I see huge potential in using AI to handle repetitive administrative work, like turning client requests into clear task lists and drafting meeting recaps. Automating those daily tasks would save hours and keep follow-ups fast and accurate.

I'm fortunate that most of my day-to-day contacts are the key decision-makers. Whenever that isn't the case, I make sure to send weekly recap emails so they stay completely in the loop on our progress and upcoming priorities.

I always send a quick confirmation of receipt, even a simple 'Got it, thank you' goes a long way. If the request is complex, I'm upfront that I'm reviewing it and will get back to them soon. It lets the client know they've been heard while buying me the time I need to put together the right answer.

1. 1

   Care genuinely about your clients and treat their business like it's yours, that's where real trust begins.

2. 2

   Back that up by actually delivering, because promises don't mean much without results.

3. 3

   Above all, be honest. We're all human, and if something goes wrong, just own it right away. Clients will trust you much more when you're candid than if you try to spin the truth.

The advice I disagree with is “The customer is always right and never say ‘no’ to a client.” If you just blindly say yes to everything, you're not acting like a partner, you're just an order taker. Treating a client's business like your own means caring enough about their bottom line to be completely honest with them. Especially in SEM and Customer Success, clients often react to a slow week or a short-term panic by making drastic changes. If I just roll over and say yes to make them happy in the moment, their performance will tank, and at the end of the day, that falls on us. A true partner isn't afraid to push back with real data and say, “I hear what you're trying to do, but here's why that move will actually hurt your numbers, and here's what we should do instead.”

Right now, I mostly use AI to turn my rough notes into clean, visual slide decks. It's been a game-changer for translating complex data into something clients actually understand, and it gives our meetings structure. While we use Kaizan for overall meeting recordings, I still take my own notes to capture the deeper context. AI reliably records the conversation, but it can miss the tone, underlying priorities, and emotional weight of a client's concerns, things that are critical for genuine partnership.

I would definitely miss having it for recap summaries and documentation. Having all my meetings recorded in one place makes it so easy to look back, double-check details, and stay completely organized.