Previous article
Transforming Customer Engagement with the Celonis Customer Value Team
As the global leader in process mining and developer of the Execution Management System, Celonis has differentiated itself from all other traditional software vendors. We have created an unprecedented opportunity to create value for every customer - across every process and industry. In 2021, we introduced a new framework to operationalize our customer engagement model, moving from Customer Success Management to Customer Value Management. As we continue to hire, grow, and develop our Customer Value Team at Celonis, a few of our colleagues shared insights into our framework, what the team does, and the impact we’re having on customers around the world.
Let’s start with the basics. What is Customer Value?
Simply put, Customer Value is generating sustained value in alignment with customers’ strategic priorities and objectives.
What is Celonis’ framework for customer engagement, and how has it developed over time?
“#LiveForCustomerValue isn’t something new,” shared Sangita Ray, Director, Customer Value. “It has been a driving principle right from the beginning for Celonis. We transformed our core principles to make ourselves a value partner for our customers and ensure that we drive measurable and sustainable value throughout the entire lifecycle.”
Our Customer Value framework, made up of four essential parts, includes a well-defined and structured journey through all of the value stages to realize sustainable value, as well as a thorough plan to track progress:
Align with our customers’ strategic priorities and objectives.
Ensure we have the right team and scale in place to generate sustained value for every customer.
Engage with customers very early in the journey to provide a seamless experience from identifying value to realizing value.
Work with our partners to help our customers realize value.
What are the jobs within the Customer Value Team?
To support the Celonis Customer Value framework, new roles and teams were formed, opening up a lot of doors for internal and external talent alike.
The Value Team comprises of:
Customer Value Manager, who leads the Value Team and is accountable for driving customer success and value.
Customer Value Architect, who provides expertise in framing, realizing & sustaining value through a well-defined and tested methodology.
Customer Transformation Advisor, who provides world-class expertise and coaching in setting up the Center of Excellence and driving process transformation.
How does the Customer Value team operate and succeed?
“Our Customer Value team advises and guides a wide variety of customers, ensuring they deploy Celonis successfully, adopt it widely and continuously gain business value from our products and services,” continued Ray. “We serve as the trusted advisor for Celonis' strategic key customers across the entire customer lifecycle - onboarding, implementation, adoption, advocacy, renewal, and expansion.”
Together with the Services Team and Partner organization, the Value Team sets the strategic direction for our clients' digital transformation, enabling their entire organization to leverage Celonis and meet their objectives. To ensure success, continuous engagement with customers is critical at various levels including weekly project updates with the core team, monthly health checks with customer champions, and quarterly business reviews with executive sponsors.
“We operate with the ‘customer always wins’ mindset, where our priority is making sure customers get what they want and proactively looking after what customers’ needs would be daily,” explained Christine Lee, Senior Customer Value Architect. “This comes with remembering the customer’s vision for Celonis in their organization’s day-to-day and collaborative team effort to achieve the same end goal as one Celonis team, not just with the customer value organization but also with professional services.”
What makes the Customer Value Team at Celonis unique?
It’s worth mentioning that each role within Customer Value focuses on a small set of customers. That’s very different from the broad market perspective where you might have an account structure of up to 30 different customers. Our framework allows each team member of Customer Value to have an intimate relationship with their customers.
Additionally, Duncan Slater, Customer Value Director UKI, noted that our hyperfocus on value in itself is unique. “Driving real tangible value for our customers, which they will attest to, makes us stand out when it comes to renewals and expansions. We are the engine of Celonis' industry-leading Net Retention Rate.”
For Richard Travers, Customer Value Senior Manager, it’s all about impact. “The investment put into our team here at Celonis is a testament to the importance placed on realizing value, and our role in that. Our everyday actions are so closely aligned with the strategic goals of Celonis and Celonis' customers. There are very few roles where you can have such a meaningful impact on so many organizations.”
What success stories does the team have so far?
“My favorite customer success story is the work we are doing with Lufthansa - using process mining to continuously monitor and optimize pre-flight fuel orders and gross weight thresholds against actual consumption" shared David Whinfrey, Customer Value Senior Manager. “Celonis is playing a vital role in helping Lufthansa achieve their sustainability goals and reduce their carbon footprint.”
Check out additional customer success stories here.
What is the culture like within the team?
“It is an extremely exciting and rewarding experience to be working in such a hyper-growth environment,” said Martina Weberruss, Manager, Customer Value Architecture. “You can feel the high energy and people are really motivated to be part of Celonis and shape the future of the company.”
Extremely dynamic and fun
Local office events such as Karaoke, happy hours, and holiday celebrations
In-office snacks, drinks, and games to encourage watercooler chat
Business Resource Groups such as Black@Celonis, Pride@Celonis, & Women and Allies@Celonis, as well as culture committees to foster belonging
Entrepreneurial
Challenging but rewarding work
Supportive teams to keep you motivated
Resources and training enabling your success
Global and collaborative
Offices and customers around the world
Weekly global company All Hands
Hands-on Leadership team
What type of professional background do you look for when hiring for the Customer Value team?
Generally, we look for professionals from diverse backgrounds with:
Innate curiosity to solve problems
The ability to build relationships and drive change
Analytical skills and interest in and experience working with data
A high drive and energy level to engage with our customers and to keep up with the speed of Celonis
Weberrus noted that a diverse team is important in order to deliver the best results to customers. “We look for people that can successfully drive value realization and change in a company - you could come from a traditional management consulting background, a transformation role, or a value role within a software company and be successful at Celonis.” Does this sound like you? Learn more about our Customer Value Team and explore our open opportunities. → Learn More
More blog posts on Employee Blog
