{"id":2642,"date":"2023-02-28T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-28T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/138.197.200.24\/resources\/blog\/top-customer-success-influencers\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T10:29:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T10:29:59","slug":"top-customer-success-influencers","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.smartkarrot.com\/resources\/blog\/top-customer-success-influencers\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 50 Customer Success Influencers 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The evolving field of Customer Success<\/a> owes its origin and rapid rise to a passionate community of pioneers, proponents, and practitioners. Here\u2019s our Top 50 Customer Success Influencers list celebrating those frontiersmen and women pushing the boundaries and making Customer Success the force that it is today.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This list has been compiled by the editorial team at SmartKarrot taking into account overall influence in the form of original insights, industry contributions, community engagement, followership, and similar guiding metrics.<\/p>\n

While all care has been taken to ensure our selection (presented in no particular order) is free of bias, we understand we might have had our blind spots. If you find any prominent influencers missing, kindly nominate them in the comments below.<\/p>\n

Without further ado, here is presenting to you our Top 50 Customer Success Influencers for 2021.<\/p>\n

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Lincoln Murphy<\/h2>\n

Proclaimed as the Customer Success growth expert, consultant, and thought leader, Lincoln is a customer-centric growth mastermind. His brainchild, Sixteen Ventures<\/a>, is his medium of sharing his expertise and ideas to help businesses obtain sales acceleration and augmented customer engagement. His blog is highly credited as one of the richest sources of actionable information and guidance on Customer Success and SaaS growth. Lincoln\u2019s valuable Exponential Growth Framework is the culmination of his tactics to bolster the growth strategy for companies around the globe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Allison Pickens<\/h2>\n

Leading the world of SaaS businesses, Allison Pickens is recognized as one of the Fortune Most Powerful Women, for her contributions as a growth expert, a thought leader, and her eminent presence on the board of directors in top SaaS companies. Having scaled up Gainsight from $1M in ARR to a market-leading giant, Allison has chaired several C-suites and advised founders on go-to-market strategies for their businesses. She has also geared up many product-based SaaS companies as an Investor in recent times.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Dave Jackson<\/h2>\n

Known as the Founding Director at Customer Success Leaders Institute and the CEO at The Customer.Co<\/a>, Dave\u2019s ideologies and work are ubiquitously respected. In the past two decades, he has not only advised several SaaS leaders on customer strategies but also founded and established customer-focused SaaS businesses. A Customer Success expert, speaker, and a published author, Dave is known for his remarkable expertise in supporting B2B SaaS companies and developing their Customer Success capabilities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Jeanne Bliss<\/h2>\n

Ruling the Customer Success industry with her tried-and-tested business growth practices, Jeanne is a celebrated coach to over 20,000 leaders and a 5-time Chief Customer Officer with global giants. The 4-times best-selling author has not only transformed global businesses through her revitalizing Customer Success guidebooks but has delivered over 1,500 keynotes globally. Being passionate about guiding leaders on making their companies \u201cunforgettable,\u201d she is the Founder and CEO of Customer Bliss<\/a> and is fondly known as the \u201cGodmother of Customer Experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Andrew Marks<\/h2>\n

Throughout all his phenomenal pieces of work in the Customer Success domain, Andrew has strategically drafted a brilliant approach towards leveraging Customer Success for business growth. Fortunately, he now spends his time coaching and training individuals on effective customer acquisition, satisfaction, retention, and revenue generation. Well-recognized as one of the Top 100 Customer Success Strategists, Andrew has founded SuccessHACKER<\/a> and SuccessCOACHING to share his Customer Success insights and advise the SaaS business owners.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mikael Blaisdell<\/h2>\n

The trust and following of over 40,000 members in The Customer Success Forum<\/a> on LinkedIn is just the tip of the iceberg for Mikael. He is the Founder and Executive Director at The Customer Success Association<\/a>; and as the Director\/Analyst of Mikael Blaisdell & Associates Inc.<\/a>, he has been supporting companies worldwide to design, build, and assess effective Customer Success resources for over decades now. Apart from consulting and writing about customer lifecycle management and sustainable profitability, he is a generous contributor to non-profit initiatives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Rick Adams<\/h2>\n

Starting a career as a systems engineer and transitioning into business ownership cannot be more glorious than the way Rick achieved this. Today, his love for technological innovation, science, and creativity has established him as one of the most respectable business outcomes and Customer Success experts globally. Simultaneously, he has been a consultant, coach, and trainer for technology professionals across 30 countries. Rick has authored the book named \u201cPractical Customer Success Management: A best practice framework for managers and professionals<\/a>\u201d which is an amazing collection of practical advice and assistance for Customer Success professionals at all levels.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Peter Armaly<\/h2>\n

Acclaimed multiple times as a top-notch Customer Success leader, Peter is the Senior Director, Customer Success Enablement and Thought Leadership at Oracle. Being highly devoted to the Customer Success community, he also chairs the Advisory Board at CSM Practice<\/a> wherein he consults with several executives to drive their Customer Success operations and scale up their business. An award-winning contributor to the Oracle Marketing Cloud Blog series, Peter\u2019s content on Customer Success is highly valued in the Customer Success community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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James Scott<\/h2>\n

If you believe in an interwoven community, built truly for Customer Success enthusiasts, you may know about the Atlanta Customer Success Leadership Forum co-founded by James. Being an active Customer Success leader, he is currently serving as the VP of Customer Success at ShootProof, and he has also founded the Atlanta Customer Success Network<\/a>. Truly invested in sharing his amazing insights on best practices for Customer Success professionals, James has assisted several individuals and organizations on their customer journeys through the Atlanta Tech Village<\/a> community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Jay Nathan<\/h2>\n

Co-founder of the Gain, Grow, Retain<\/a> community for Customer Success leaders and Founder of Customer Imperative<\/a>, Jay is a distinguished personality in the Customer Success industry. Apart from these mediums of sharing customer-centric growth ideas, he also shares conversations with industry executives on his podcast<\/a>, specifically targeted to B2B SaaS and tech leaders. Additionally, he serves as the Chief Customer Officer at Higher Logic<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Jeff Breunsbach<\/h2>\n

An ardent believer in providing value to the customers, Jeff knows the magic of connecting people and executing data-driven approaches for SaaS organizations to provide value to their customers. His magnificent expertise has placed him as the Director of Customer Experience at Higher Logic<\/a>, Managing Partner with Customer Imperative<\/a>, and the Founder of Gain, Grow, Retain. Being actively involved in Customer Success leader communities, Jeff finds himself sharing his knowledge and ideas on customer strategy execution.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Nick Mehta<\/h2>\n

Nick is CEO of Gainsight,\u00a0one of the first customer success companies, which recently got acquired by Vista Equity Partners in the first unicorn deal of the industry. Apart from his pioneering leadership in the field of customer success and community contributions, Nick has co-authored two seminal books on customer success: Customer Success: How Innovative Companies Are Reducing Churn and Growing Recurring Revenue<\/em>, and\u00a0The Customer Success Economy: Why Every Aspect of Your Business Model Needs A Paradigm Shift<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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