MIKE STONE
Farnham,Surrey
Summary
Accomplished professional specializing in customer success strategy and enterprise account management. Expertise in driving customer adoption and engagement through strategic business reviews and executive stakeholder management. Proven ability to enhance customer health management, renewal, and expansion strategies, alongside SaaS implementation and onboarding. Skilled in utilizing AI productivity tools, Salesforce, Gainsight, and Catalyst for data-driven decision-making and cross-functional leadership.
Overview
18
18
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work history
Customer Success Manager
Achievers
2020.01 - 2026.06
- Leading strategic relationships with enterprise organisations using Achievers' employee recognition and engagement platform.
- Key Achievements:
- Own and manage $3M+ portfolio of enterprise customers, guiding organisations from implementation through adoption, renewal and expansion.
- Deliver executive business reviews with CHROs and senior HR leaders, aligning platform utilisation with strategic business objectives including employee engagement, retention and DEI outcomes.
- Increased platform adoption to 119% MAU YoY through proactive success planning, customer education and value-realisation programmes.
- Maintained industry-leading 9.6 CSAT score, consistently driving customer satisfaction, advocacy and long-term retention.
- Partner with Product, Sales, Marketing and Support teams to communicate customer needs, influence product improvements and enhance customer outcomes.
- Lead customer onboarding, training workshops and adoption programmes, accelerating time-to-value and long-term platform utilisation.
- Identify commercial growth opportunities through strategic account planning, renewal management and expansion discussions.
- Developed customer advocacy initiatives resulting in multiple enterprise customers receiving industry recognition, including Lloyds Banking Group being named one of Achievers' 50 Most Engaged Workplaces.
- Product Subject Matter Expert for Voice of Employee solutions, advising customers on best-practice adoption and business impact measurement.
- Most recognised employee in EMEA region in 2025
- Certified in Force Management's Command of the Message methodology.
Customer Success Director, APAC
Vision Critical
2012.01 - 2019.01
- Led Customer Success operations across the APAC region, managing enterprise customer relationships and scaling customer-facing teams.
- Key Achievements:
- Built and scaled the APAC Customer Success organisation to 12 team members across onboarding, training, support and customer success functions.
- Managed a portfolio of more than 85 enterprise customers representing approximately $12M in annual contract value.
- Maintained 74% retention across a four-year period while managing strategic customer relationships and renewal planning.
- Established executive-level relationships across major enterprise accounts including Westpac, Optus, Singtel, Mars, Visa, Cochlear and Gartner.
- Acted as Voice of the Customer, partnering closely with Product teams to influence roadmap priorities and improve customer outcomes.
- Implemented customer success processes, playbooks and operational frameworks using Salesforce and Gainsight.
- Coached Customer Success Managers on account planning, customer health management, QBR delivery and value-based customer conversations.
- Drove alignment between Customer Success and Sales teams to improve renewal performance and expansion opportunities.
- Led adoption initiatives for new technologies, operational processes and customer engagement frameworks across the region.
- Previous Positions at Vision Critical
- Senior Customer Success Manager
- Senior Account Manager
- Account Manager
Senior Project Manager
Kantar TNS
2008.01 - 2012.01
- Managed complex research and insight programmes from scoping through delivery for major global brands.
- Led multiple concurrent projects while ensuring stakeholder alignment, budget management and delivery against agreed objectives.
- Provided strategic recommendations and consultative support to clients based on research findings and operational insights.
- Managed client relationships across organisations including HSBC, Vodafone, Heinz, Cadbury, DWP and Liverpool Victoria.
Education
BA (Hons) - Sociology
University of Northampton
Skills
- Customer Success Strategy
- Enterprise Account Management
- Customer Adoption & Engagement
- Executive Stakeholder Management
- Customer Health Management
- Renewal & Expansion Strategy
- SaaS Implementation & Onboarding
- Voice of Customer Programmes
- Strategic Business Reviews
- Customer Advocacy
- Cross-Functional Leadership
- Customer Retention
- Data-Driven Decision Making
- Salesforce
- Gainsight
- Catalyst
- AI Productivity Tools
- Solution-Focused mindset
- Consultative approach
Certification
- Force Management – Command of the Message Certified
- Customer Success Leadership
- Executive Stakeholder Management
- Enterprise SaaS Strategy
TECHNOLOGY & AI
Strong interest in AI-powered software and emerging technologies. Regular user of ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and other AI productivity tools to improve customer engagement, account planning, content creation, workflow efficiency and business decision-making.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- Member, Achievers Cares Committee
- Member, Social Committee
- Community volunteering and charity engagement
- Passionate about technology, property, sport and continuous learning
Timeline
Customer Success Manager
Achievers
2020.01 - 2026.06
Customer Success Director, APAC
Vision Critical
2012.01 - 2019.01
Senior Project Manager
Kantar TNS
2008.01 - 2012.01
BA (Hons) - Sociology
University of Northampton