Insights from the Top: John Sabino on Leadership and Transformation

# CCO Online

Omid Razavi

December 20, 2023

On December 7, 2023, the CCO Online forum proudly hosted John Sabino, an executive celebrated for his dynamic leadership and transformative approaches during periods of rapid organizational growth. At VMware, Sabino's leadership of the Customer Experience and Success (CS) organization, which includes 8,000 employees, resulted in a remarkable annual revenue of $1.3 billion. His tenure as the Chief Customer Officer at Splunk k was equally impactful, where he implemented transformative customer engagement strategies, leading to a revenue surge of over $900 million and driving renewals worth over $2.5 billion.

As Sabino embarks on his new journey as the CEO of LivePerson, a leader in conversational AI and customer engagement software, we celebrate his past accomplishments and eagerly look forward to the influence he will continue to wield in the industry. His career is a shining example of innovative leadership and the power of transformative business strategies.

Military Foundations: Leadership Lessons from Service

Sabino credits his time as a Captain in the U.S. Army for shaping his leadership and customer service philosophy. He highlights the military's emphasis on flexibility, adaptability, and transparency, qualities that defy the stereotypical rigidity often associated with military structures. This background has ingrained in him the importance of understanding the 'why' behind actions, ensuring his teams are not just operationally sound but also strategically aware of their purpose and impact.

From GE to Splunk: A Journey of Leadership and Innovation

John Sabino's ascent in the corporate world, particularly at NBC Universal and GE, is a narrative of preparedness and seizing opportunities. His strategic positioning during the shift from traditional TV to digital media, notably his involvement with digital streaming media and the development of cross-platform digital advertising capabilities, exemplifies his foresight in technology trends. This ability to anticipate and leverage technological advancements continued at Splunk, transitioning the company to a SaaS model and VMware, where he played a crucial role in deploying and supporting its multi-cloud strategy.

High-Pressure Leadership: Steering Through Challenges

Sabino's approach to high-pressure situations involves quick, deliberate decision-making while keeping the team focused and removing obstacles. He emphasizes the necessity for a Chief Customer Officer to act swiftly in aligning resources and making strategic decisions. This mindset pivots to flexibility and effective management rather than aiming for perfection.

Evolving Strategies in Customer Success

Discussing the evolution of strategy in customer success, Sabino prioritizes having a clear vision and mission to align traditional strategic plans versus isolated tactical financial execution. He believes customer success is not one team or organization but a synergy between the Professional Services, Customer Success Management, Education, Support, and Renewals organizations. He advocates for Professional Services to be more than a profit center, focusing instead on enabling customer adoption and rapid consumption alongside the traditional Customer Success function. Tactics like developing prescriptive value paths and segmentation are crucial for tailoring engagement to different customer needs, particularly in a market prioritizing profitability over hypergrowth.

The Maturation of Customer Success

Sabino observes the significant evolution of the customer success discipline since the early 2000s. He believes in Customer Success as a potential profit center when its capabilities are bundled with Professional Services, Support, and Education offerings. This creates an attractive revenue stream along with traditional license and service sales. Effective customer success teams, according to him, are capable of creating high-margin recurring revenue streams and achieving renewals and expansions more effectively than just traditional sales teams selling licenses and isolated service offerings. These offerings, when packaged correctly, not only stimulate adoption and consumption leading to improved renewals, but also make it easier for traditional sales teams to sell new products and more license to customers in future engagements. When done correctly, it has a compounding effect on growth for any technology company.

Renewals and Consumption: Key Metrics in Customer Success

Highlighting the importance of renewals and consumption, Sabino underscores these metrics as crucial in the evolving market landscape. He advises focusing on these metrics rather than the nebulous concepts of “adoption or customer value” so that CFOs and CEOs can better understand the value a CS organization contributes to the topline of their companies. These metrics more directly reflect the CS organization’s value and contribution to the company's financial health. That does not mean “adoption” and “customer value” are unnecessary metrics. Those metrics complement the CS organization's contribution to future renewals and current license consumption. You must keep track of all four metrics and continually prove your worth to your customers and internal company stakeholders.

Expectations from a CCO: Insights from an Incoming CEO

As he prepares to lead an AI-focused company, Sabino outlines his expectations for the Chief Customer Officer role. He emphasizes the need for a CCO to ensure customers realize the promised value of what they have purchased and to play a crucial role in providing internal feedback on product development, ensuring that customer insights are at the heart of product evolution.

AI's Impact on Society and Business

Sabino sees AI as a transformative force, poised to redefine roles and improve skillsets across industries. He envisions AI not as a job replacement but an enhancement tool, advocating for its ethical application to solve complex challenges and promote a more efficient, equitable world.

Closing Remarks

We sincerely thank John Sabino for his valuable contributions and insights shared during our forum. His forward-thinking perspectives and rich experience continue to inspire the community. We eagerly anticipate the innovations he will bring in his new role as CEO and look forward to his ongoing influence in our industry. Our participants' engagement and insightful inquiries significantly enriched our forum, for which we are equally thankful.

About CCO Online

CCO Online is a monthly forum that brings together chief customer officers and customer leaders to exchange insights and strategies to elevate their roles. It's a space dedicated to shaping the future of customer engagement and success, featuring insightful discussions, active idea exchange, and speakers who bring fresh perspectives to customer-centric discourse.

About CCO Online:

Our next forum features Atul Nanda, customer experience executive at industry giants Salesforce and Google Cloud, discussing "Masting Customer Support and Success" on January 18, 2024. For more information and to apply to join, visit lu.ma/cco118.

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