The Experts' Choice for the 2025 Creative Customer Success Leader Award

Celebrating Bold Innovation in Customer Success
Customer Success professionals continue to push the boundaries of innovation, creating impactful strategies that drive meaningful results for their organizations. Their ability to navigate complex challenges, align cross-functional efforts, and guide customers toward success is unmatched. This year, we witnessed groundbreaking approaches that redefined what’s possible in Customer Success, turning obstacles into opportunities and delivering measurable outcomes that set new benchmarks for the industry.

For the first time, we’re thrilled to introduce the Experts’ Choice category to the Creative Customer Success Leader Award. A distinguished panel of industry leaders reviewed the top 20 submissions and selected the most inventive, high-impact stories. These exceptional entries earned the prestigious Experts’ Pick badge, recognizing their standout contributions to advancing the field.

At EverAfter, we’re proud to present the 2025 Creative Customer Success Leaders Award. Now in its third year, this award celebrates 25 exceptional individuals whose bold ideas and innovative programs are shaping the future of Customer Success. Compiled through community votes and expert insights, these honorees are setting the standard for excellence in 2025.

Meet the Judges: Industry Leaders Driving Excellence

Irit Eizips
Chief Customer Officer and CEO of CSM Practice, Irit is renowned for her expertise in Customer Success operations and strategy. With a track record of driving scalable growth for SaaS organizations, Irit’s ability to identify and implement impactful initiatives made her an essential part of this year’s judging panel. She is passionate about fostering innovation and creating measurable results.

Kristi Faltorusso
VP of Customer Success at ClientSuccess, Kristi is a thought leader in scaling customer engagement and revenue growth. Known for her hands-on approach to blending human touch with digital solutions, she brings a unique perspective to Customer Success and excels at leading high-performing teams.

Dan Ennis
An expert in operational excellence, Dan specializes in leveraging data and technology to optimize Customer Success programs. As a judge, he focused on stories that showcased creativity and cross-functional collaboration to deliver measurable outcomes.

Swati Garg
Swati Garg is a seasoned Customer Success leader with a global perspective and a passion for relationship-driven strategies. Known for her ability to scale teams and deliver measurable outcomes, she combines operational excellence with a focus on empowering customer partnerships. Swati’s expertise spans strategic planning and human-centric leadership, making her a valued voice in the Customer Success community.

Emilia D’Anzica
Founder of Growth Molecules, Emilia combines strategic insight with a focus on scalable outcomes. Her consulting work has empowered countless organizations to unlock the full potential of their Customer Success teams, and her ability to spot innovative solutions was invaluable.

Shachar Avrahami
VP of Product at EverAfter, Shachar specializes in creating seamless customer-facing experiences. His expertise in onboarding and digital customer journeys brought a unique lens to this year’s judging process, with a particular focus on leveraging technology to drive results.

The Experts’ Picks: Creative Stories That Redefined Success

Joshua Vogel – "Reactivating 44% of Churned ARR and Achieving 98% Retention with a Renewal Strategy"

Chosen by: Irit Eizips

Joshua addressed the challenge of seasonal churn with a comprehensive renewal strategy tailored to residential and commercial customers with fluctuating usage patterns. By combining off-season discounts, automation using QuickBooks and Salesforce, and streamlined payment processes through DocuSign, Joshua delivered remarkable results:

• 44% reactivation of churned ARR
• 98% retention rate
• Fully automated payment processes for new customers

Why Irit Chose This Story:
“Joshua’s story showcases outstanding metrics and measurable results, perfectly aligning with one of the contest’s categories. His comprehensive approach to tackling seasonal churn was both strategic and results-driven. By combining automation, incentives, and operational efficiency, he demonstrated how to stabilize revenue and turn a recurring challenge into a growth opportunity.”

Judith Platz – "Reducing Negative Sentiment by 31% with SupportLogic’s 'How Low Can You Go' Challenge"

Chosen by: Irit Eizips

Judith addressed the high costs of support escalations with an AI-powered gamification initiative: the "How Low Can You Go 30-Day Challenge." Support teams used actionable insights to proactively resolve issues, reducing negative sentiment and improving team morale.

• 31% reduction in negative sentiment by the top-performing team
• Consistent improvements of 23-24% among other participants

Why Irit Chose This Story:
“Judith’s ability to transform sentiment management into an engaging, team-wide challenge was both creative and impactful. Her use of AI-driven insights and rewards created a program that tackled escalations head-on while boosting morale and customer satisfaction.”

Marcus Euzebio – "Achieving a 20% Increase in Renewals with a Hybrid Tech-Touch Model"

Chosen by: Kristi Faltorusso

Faced with scaling Customer Success for SMB clients, Marcus developed a hybrid model combining automation with targeted human intervention. His strategy included:

• Personalized automations to segment customers and deliver tailored communications
• Proactive CSM engagement during critical moments like renewals
• Educational content to reinforce product value

Results: A 20% increase in renewals and improved scalability for SMB accounts.

Why Kristi Chose This Story:
“Marcus’s strategy was a perfect blend of tech and touch, solving the scalability challenge while maintaining the human element that customers value. His model offers a blueprint for teams balancing personalization with efficiency.”

Guy Rahamim – "Boosting Retention and Forecasting with Ideal Customer Behavior (ICB) Metrics"

Chosen by: Kristi Faltorusso

Guy revamped customer engagement by replacing traditional churn scores with Ideal Customer Behavior (ICB) metrics. By focusing on proactive engagement and actionable insights, Guy’s team:

• Improved retention rates by addressing risks earlier
• Provided more accurate forecasting of renewals and churn
• Enabled better prioritization of accounts based on behavior

Why Kristi Chose This Story:
“Guy’s approach is a great example of how data-driven strategies can shift Customer Success from reactive to proactive. His innovative use of ICB metrics provided a clear roadmap for prioritizing accounts and improving forecasting accuracy.”

Sumitra Narayanan – "Strengthening Customer Relationships with Multi-Threading to Reduce Churn"

Chosen by: Swati Garg

Sumitra tackled the critical issue of surprise churn, which threatened the Gross Renewal Rate (GRR) and overall customer retention. By implementing a strategic multi-threading framework, Sumitra strengthened partnerships and minimized risks through proactive engagement with multiple stakeholders across customer accounts.

Key Results:

• 12% YoY improvement in GRR for a $20M book of business.
• Significant reduction in surprise churn.
• Broader, more resilient customer relationships, fostering advocacy and long-term partnerships.

Why Swati Chose This Story:
“Sumitra’s creative application of multi-threading offers a scalable, relationship-driven solution that often goes overlooked. Her focus on identifying key stakeholders and building trust resulted in outstanding measurable results. This approach is a game-changer for mitigating churn and driving deeper customer connections.”

Stijn Smit – "Driving Revenue Contribution from 33% to 56% with AI-Driven Customer Success Expansion"

Chosen by: Dan Ennis

Stijn transformed CS into a revenue-driving function by integrating AI and predictive analytics to identify upsell opportunities and reduce churn risks. His strategy included:

• Real-time product usage analysis to identify expansion-ready accounts
• AI-powered churn prediction for proactive interventions
• Cross-functional collaboration with Sales and Product teams

Results:

• 56% of company revenue driven by CS, surpassing Sales
• 47% increase in upsell opportunities

Why Dan Chose This Story:
“Stijn’s creative use of AI and his ability to align CS, Sales, and Product teams delivered exceptional outcomes. His work demonstrates the power of data-driven strategies to transform CS into a revenue engine.”

Amber Monroe – "Boosting EBR Efficiency by 400% with a Structured Feedback & Reporting Solution"

Chosen by: Dan Ennis

Amber revolutionized Paradigm’s EBR process with a structured form that standardized feedback collection and automated reporting. This led to:

• 400% increase in weekly EBRs, scaling from 15-20 to 92 in just one week
• Engagement of 50% of the customer base quarterly, up from 12%

Why Dan Chose This Story:
“Amber’s creative use of structure and automation turned a bottleneck into a strength. Her approach to scaling EBRs while gathering actionable insights is a model for leaders facing similar challenges.”

David Gordon – "Improving Onboarding Time-to-Value with a Visual Kickoff Program"

Chosen by: Shachar Avrahami

David created a visual onboarding timeline that set clear expectations for customers during kickoff calls. By showcasing the entire journey, David ensured customers stayed on track and engaged earlier in the process.
Results:

• Faster deployment across accounts
• Clearer communication of customer milestones

Why Shachar Chose This Story:
“David’s use of visual tools to simplify onboarding exemplifies how clarity and proactive engagement can improve customer outcomes. His work set a strong foundation for faster time-to-value and seamless onboarding.”

Ankit Aggarwal – "Generating 7-Figure ARR with a Scalable CSQL-Based Upsell Strategy"

Chosen by: Swati Garg

Faced with the challenge of evolving the Customer Success function to include revenue generation, Ankit designed a robust Customer Success Qualified Lead (CSQL) system. By integrating tools like Google Sheets, Zapier, and Gainsight, his team built an efficient framework to manage and nurture leads, enabling seamless collaboration across teams.

Key Results:

• 100+ CSQLs generated in one quarter.
• 7-figure ARR growth from CS-driven upsells.
• A scalable, automated lead management system that provided actionable insights for CS and Product teams.

Why Swati Chose This Story:
“Ankit’s CSQL system demonstrates how creativity and innovation can transform CS into a revenue engine. His ability to integrate tools and align cross-functional teams resulted in scalable processes and significant revenue impact. This solution is a testament to the power of well-executed collaboration and automation.”