When Sarah Bunting Lamos joined the Flyreel team as VP of customer success in 2019, she was heading into uncharted territory.
As a former executive at a global management consulting firm, Bunting Lamos was new to the startup space. She understood the risks that sometimes come with early-stage companies, such as a lack of product-market fit or crucial resources. Yet after meeting Flyreel Founder Cole Winans and other team members, Bunting Lamos knew she had found the right place to take the next step in her career.
“I was excited about Cole’s vision for Flyreel and quickly realized our disruptive potential for solving real customer pain points in the property data space,” Bunting Lamos said.
WHAT THEY OFFER
Since joining the team, Bunting Lamos has been able to draw on her corporate expertise while adopting new skills related to software-as-a-service and the industries Flyreel serves. “We’re creating new, disruptive technology, which requires leveraging our background knowledge while adapting to the market and building together,” Bunting Lamos said.
For Bunting Lamos, Flyreel has unlocked countless opportunities for professional growth, granting her the chance to actively shape an organization and put words into action quickly. She said she is proud that the company cultivates a culture that empowers employees to step up and make an impact.
“We offer an open and creative environment where all ideas are welcome and initiative is encouraged,” Bunting Lamos said.
Built In Colorado caught up with Bunting Lamos to learn about her decision to join the startup space and how she leveraged her previous experience to transition into her new role at Flyreel.
What compelled you to leave behind the global management consulting realm to join the startup space?
I was excited about being closer to value creation, especially at a company focused on continuous, customer-first innovation. I also was intrigued by the opportunity to help grow and shape our company and witness the results and impact of my work more directly, given our size.
How have you been able to utilize your past experience in your current role at Flyreel?
My focus for leading Flyreel’s customer success team is all about delivering the absolute best to customers and growing a sustainable business. I have more than 20 years of experience in strategy and implementation, ensuring the successful delivery of programs and engagements for a wide range of customers.
Having a consulting background makes you accustomed to learning new industries and business models quickly. Also, consulting is defined by delivering great services and driving value for customers, which aligns well with customer success. In consulting, you learn the customer-first mindset. In a way, lacking a formal customer success background was helpful, as it enables me to look at things from a fresh perspective. Transitioning to Flyreel in this position allowed me to think about the work in a new way that was grounded in our product and customers.
SUPPORT + COLLABORATION GO TOGETHER
What does a typical day look like on your team, and what opportunities do team members have to connect and stretch their skills?
A typical day on my team is challenging, busy and exciting. I engage directly with customers while retaining an internal view of how we evolve, grow and optimize our processes to better support customers and company growth objectives. Customer success is constantly balancing strategic and tactical aspects of working with customers. We always ensure we’re focused on making our customers successful today while keeping an eye on the future to understand how we can provide them with even more value.
Every day our internal discussions focus on optimizing Flyreel’s value for our customers. We also hold ongoing internal training and coaching sessions to enhance the team’s skills, learn from each other and enable opportunities for growth.
We’re focused on making our customers successful today while keeping an eye on the future to understand how we can provide them with even more value.”
What do you enjoy the most about working at Flyreel?
Having the ability to build and grow a customer-first company is what I enjoy the most. We are changing the game for our customers and making their jobs significantly easier. We partner with our customers to understand industry challenges and their specific needs. Then, we take what we learn in real time to help improve and evolve our product. I’m so appreciative of how willing our customers are to dive in and help us and become evangelists for our platform.
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