Connor Downs
Bishop's Stortford,United Kingdom
Summary
Results-driven Director of Customer Success with a proven track record of building high-performing teams, driving retention, and unlocking revenue growth in global SaaS markets. At Spendesk, scaled UK ARR from £1M to £12M in two years, expanded remit across DE, FR, ES, and US, and grew the CS team from 3 to 30 while achieving 121% NRR. At Metomic, managing a $2.5M enterprise portfolio (Revolut, Octopus Energy, Checkout.com, Leroy Merlin, Crypto.com), delivered a 21-point NRR uplift to 107% in six months, introduced new pricing and packaging strategy, and built the CS and Onboarding org from the ground up. Board-level operator with expertise in enterprise lifecycle management, strategic upsell motions, and scalable pre-sales enablement.
Overview
14
14
years of professional experience
Work history
Director of Customer Success
Metomic
2025.01 - Current
- Building & Leading the CS Organisation: Architected and scaled Metomic's Customer Success function from the ground up, establishing the team structure, hiring strategy, operating model and performance frameworks. Made the company's first CS hires (Senior CSM and Onboarding Manager) to build a high-performance post-sales capability.
- CS Strategy & Operating Model: Designed and implemented the company's first end-to-end CS strategy, covering onboarding methodology, lifecycle management, renewal playbooks and expansion motions. Creating a repeatable, scalable model for the team to execute against.
- Revenue Performance & NRR Growth: Led the commercial turnaround of the CS function, introducing a new pricing and packaging strategy to unlock upsell motions and strengthen net revenue retention. Delivered 107% NRR within the first six months, up from 86%.
- Pre-Sales & GTM Enablement: Developed and embedded a pre-sales motion in partnership with the wider GTM team, including a pre-onboarding methodology and optimised customer journey helping accelerate time-to-value and improving new business win rates.
- Strategic Account Oversight: Maintain executive oversight of a $2.5M ARR enterprise portfolio including Revolut, Octopus Energy, Checkout.com, Leroy Merlin and Crypto.com. Setting the standard for strategic engagement, EBRs and value realisation across the team.
- Board-Level Reporting & Influence: Present monthly to the board on CS performance, revenue retention metrics and strategic priorities.
Head of Customer Success|UK,FR,DE,ES,US
Spendesk
2022.07 - Current
- Strategic Leadership: Hired, led and directed a team of 34 Customer Success Managers, KAMs, and Onboarding Managers. Oversaw all aspects of customer success operations. Established a clear vision and strategy for the Customer Success department, aligning it with company objectives.
- Coaching: Established and led a highly successful coaching program for the Customer Success team, aimed at enhancing team performance, improving customer interactions, and fostering professional development.
- Retention and Growth: Implemented customer success strategies that resulted in consistent quarterly and annual retention rate improvements, achieving a NRR of 121%. Developed upsell and cross-sell programs that contributed to a 50% increase in MRR closed MoM.
- Customer Onboarding Excellence: Revamped and optimised the customer onboarding program, reducing time-to-value by 75% and elevating customer satisfaction scores. Created tailored onboarding paths for diverse customer segments.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Fostered collaboration between Sales, Product, Compliance, and Marketing teams. Successfully advocated for customer-centric product improvements, resulting in the successful launch of NetSuite Integration, Purchase Order Feature, UK Mileage.
- Customer Health Scoring: In partnership with the data team, implemented a customer health scoring system, enabling early identification of at-risk customers. Reduced churn to 1.4% through proactive interventions and tailored customer success plans.
- Data-Driven Insights: Established robust data analysis processes, regularly reviewing customer data and performance metrics. Utilised insights to inform strategy adjustments, product enhancements, and resource allocation.
- Customer Feedback Loop: Introduced a comprehensive feedback loop to capture customer insights and translate them into actionable improvements.
- Advocacy Programs: Pioneered and managed customer advocacy initiatives, resulting in 23 new customer references for 2023.
- Operational Efficiency: Developed and implemented a customer success playbook, streamlining workflows, standardising processes, and improving team efficiency.
Team Lead, Customer Success|UK,DE
Spendesk
2020.06 - 2022.07
- Strategic Leadership: Lead and mentor a team of 15 Customer Success Managers, Onboarding Managers and Key Account Managers, fostering a customer-centric culture and driving team performance. Develop and communicate strategic objectives, ensuring alignment with company goals.
- Customer Health Monitoring: Developed and implemented strategies for monitoring and assessing the health of customer accounts. Identifying at-risk customers and develop plans for retention.
- Account Planning: Collaborated with CSMs to develop account plans for key customers. Ensure these plans align with the customer's goals and Spendesk's objectives.
- Upsell and Cross-Sell: Identified opportunities for upselling or cross-selling additional products or services to existing customers. Work closely with sales and marketing teams to execute these strategies, supporting the CSMs.
- Issue Resolution: Assisted in resolving customer issues and escalations. Ensure that customer concerns are addressed promptly and effectively.
- Data Analysis and Reporting: Analyse customer data and performance metrics to identify trends, insights, and opportunities for improvement. Providing regular reports to management and stakeholders on my ideas.
- Customer Feedback Management: Gather and analyse customer feedback, including surveys and NPS scores, to identify areas for improvement and developed action plans.
- Training & Development: Provided ongoing training and development opportunities. Keeping the team updated on product knowledge, industry trends, and customer success best practices.
Senior Customer Success Manager|UK
Spendesk
2020.02 - 2020.06
- Portfolio Management: Managed a diverse portfolio of 130 high-value customer accounts, ensuring their satisfaction, retention, and successful product adoption.
- Revenue Growth: Achieved over 120% to target MoM by identifying expansion opportunities and collaborating with customers to realise value.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborated with cross-functional teams, including Support, Product, and Sales, to resolve customer issues and deliver seamless customer experiences.
- Customer Advocacy: Identified and nurtured potential customer advocates.
- Voice of the Customer: Engaged in internal product discussions and provided feedback on how we can better serve our customers to maximise value and retention.
- Stakeholder Mapping: Built strong relationships with multiple stakeholders from day 1 - maintaining a regular cadence of touch points to understand individuals measures of success and using this to build mutually agreed long-term plans.
- Transversal Projects: Participated in company wide initiatives - using my expertise in the customer base to support cross functional projects, collaborating with internal stakeholders to support activities outside of my immediate scope.
- Leadership : Supported leadership by seeking opportunities to enhance internal processes - challenging what we are doing today, considering the possible challenges of the future, being creative with new ideas and solutions.
Senior Customer Success Manager 🇬🇧
DOJO
2019.02 - 2020.01
- Portfolio Management: Managed a diverse portfolio of 240 customer accounts, ensuring their satisfaction, retention, and successful product adoption.
- Revenue Growth: Achieved 148% average target achievement through increasing transactions volumes and geographical expansions.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborated with cross-functional teams, including Support, Technical Support, Product and Sales, to resolve customer issues and deliver seamless customer experiences.
- Data Analysis & Reporting: Analyse customer data and spend metrics to identify trends, insights, and opportunities for growth.
Technical Consultant
SAP Concur
2018.07 - 2019.02
Senior Customer Success Manager 🇬🇧
SAP Concur
2015.12 - 2018.07
Senior Implementation Manager 🇬🇧
SAP Concur
2013.11 - 2015.12
Implementation Manager
SAP Concur
2012.10 - 2013.11
Skills
- EMEA Customer Success Leadership
- Multi-Stakeholder Engagement & Executive Influence
- Strategic Planning & Business Acumen
- Upsell and Cross-Sell Strategies
- Data Analysis and Insights
- Team Building, Coaching & Performance Management
- Customer Onboarding and Training
- Retention and Churn Reduction
- Customer Feedback Management
- Product Development Collaboration
- Process Optimisation
- Customer Health Scoring
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Director of Customer Success
Metomic
2025.01 - Current
Head of Customer Success|UK,FR,DE,ES,US
Spendesk
2022.07 - Current
Team Lead, Customer Success|UK,DE
Spendesk
2020.06 - 2022.07
Senior Customer Success Manager|UK
Spendesk
2020.02 - 2020.06
Senior Customer Success Manager 🇬🇧
DOJO
2019.02 - 2020.01
Technical Consultant
SAP Concur
2018.07 - 2019.02
Senior Customer Success Manager 🇬🇧
SAP Concur
2015.12 - 2018.07
Senior Implementation Manager 🇬🇧
SAP Concur
2013.11 - 2015.12
Implementation Manager
SAP Concur
2012.10 - 2013.11