The best part of my job is working together with my multicultural team

Welcome to How it started vs. How it's going, an interview series where we sit down with members of our?#FoleonFam?to find out more about their Foleon journey, what makes them excited about their work, and the all-important question: what gets them out of bed in the morning?

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Lars Steffen joined Foleon in 2021 while the entire world was working remotely. Joining a new team from behind your computer screen can be challenging and a bit chaotic at the start, but Lars was ready! And his dog, Hansi, made sure he had a proper cup of coffee every morning.???

Find out more about his journey at Foleon in the interview below.

Hi Lars! To start, tell us what gets you out of bed in the morning. Are you a coffee or tea person??

I'm an early bird, so I get up at 6 am every morning. Once I go out with my dog Hansi, he drags me to?'his'?favorite coffee place because he knows he gets treats there. So I guess that makes me a coffee person for life unless a teashop opens up with better treats!

How did your Foleon journey start? What do you remember about your first week?

I started at Foleon in early 2021 when everyone was still working from home, and I remember my first meeting was the?All Hands?on Monday at 9 am. The first item on the agenda was for the new people to introduce themselves. So I was put 'on the spot' in front of the whole company. But I received a warm welcome from Daan, our CEO, and my new colleagues, which was great!?

How is it going? How has your role changed?

I joined the company as Senior Customer Success Manager. After a while, I noticed that someone from the US team needed to be added to the global communication and decision-making meetings. The US office by that time was in a restructuring process, so I got the opportunity to become the Team Lead for the CSM & Support teams to ensure that we had a seat at the table and aligned better with the company's global strategies.

I worked closely with Gabriel Box , who was starting as our new VP of Customer Success at the time, to find a better team alignment process that came into effect globally. That also led to a new onboarding process that allows our customers to adopt our platform faster.

In October 2022, I moved into the Director role. I currently oversee the dedicated Customer Success Managers team. Together with Minke Kiers , Foleon's Head of Customer Operations & Programs, and Yvonne Brugman , the Professional Services Lead, we formed a triangle of Customer Success Leadership working more efficiently as one unit, removing all team silos. It's an excellent turnaround for our customers to get more help adopting the Foleon platform and gain more data and insights from their usage.?

What do you enjoy most about your new role?

I'm blessed to work with an amazingly talented team with many cultural backgrounds. Our CSM team is a melting pot of Dutch - British - US - Canadian - Spanish - Russian & German-speaking individuals, and it's fun to work together!?

I enjoy developing new strategies to improve customer engagement and executing them with the team. The CSM team is the backbone of every organization, and creating a long-term partnership with our customers and helping them to succeed is critical!?

"With a customer, we're not running a sprint. We're doing a marathon, and we want to succeed together."

We're the trusted advisors for the customer, so we're building long-lasting relationships. And it's great to see a customer growing their partnership with us, referring Foleon to other teams in their organization.

I also enjoy my one-on-one meetings with every CSM team member. During each session, we review the 'current book of business' and get to the bottom of certain blockers or hurdles.?

Sometimes, I miss working directly with customers. So I occasionally join customer calls to hear firsthand from them what is working well and where they see room for improvement!?

What's your favorite thing to do outside of work??

As a German who moved to New York, I spend most Saturday mornings around 9 am in front of the TV cheering or yelling on my hometown team Eintracht Frankfurt! I'm a very passionate soccer fan, and if I'm back in Frankfurt, I make sure a visit to the 'Waldstadion' is on the agenda. I also enjoy other sporting events with my fellow Foleonies.

Otherwise, my favorite thing is to spend time with my wife Jessica and our dog Hansi! I enjoy wandering around in our neighborhood, exploring new restaurants, or, if we get tired of the city, driving outside New York City to go on long nature walks/hikes.

How can people make you laugh if you're grumpy??

I usually am not a grumpy person, to begin with! I always try to have a positive attitude. However, if the situation occurs, my wife always says, "Stop being a grumplestikskin" (the grumpy brother of Rumpelstiltskin), and that makes me laugh all the time!?

What are you currently craving? Any book, podcast, or tv series that got you hooked?

The book Radical Candor by Kim Scott helped me to develop a specific skill set and viewpoint when I became a Director, and I recommend it to everyone who wants to go that path!

Severance with Adam Scott, a science fiction psychological thriller, was my 2022 favorite television series. However, my binge series is What we do in the shadow. It's a comedy series about vampires living with their familiar in Staten Island. I recommend you check them out if you haven't already.

As for podcasts, Smartless with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, & Will Arnett is my favorite. Their chaotic conversations with each other or their guest always make me laugh.??

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Curious about the open roles in our team? Take a look at our Careers page?here.