Paige M.

Senior Program Manager, Employer Brand 

When Ben Smith joined Toast in March 2019, he never could have predicted where this journey would take him. Through it all, though, one thing has remained the same: Ben’s dedication to empowering the hospitality industry. Hear from Ben on the opportunities ahead for Toast and advice he has for growing your career in Customer Success!

What inspired you to join Toast, and what are you most excited about as you look to the future?

When I was joining the company over six years ago, I was really inspired by our mission and the opportunity to disrupt the restaurant technology industry by helping our customers do what they love and thrive. I could be in a Customer Success leadership role anywhere, but being able to continue to work in hospitality and to see our impact out in the wild at local bars and restaurants makes it all so much more fulfilling. I’ve been in Customer Success for the duration of my career here, and one thing I always tell customers is that their success is our success– that couldn’t be more true at Toast. 

From late stage startup challenges and the COVID-19 pandemic, to IPO and continued global expansion and growth, the last six years have been a wild ride. We have grown so much, and yet we still have so much opportunity ahead of us across our core business and our emerging businesses in Enterprise, International, and Retail. We have had tremendous success as a company, but we really are just getting started. That makes all of our career opportunities here pretty unique and exciting.

As Toast expands globally, how do you ensure we’re able to provide a world-class experience for all customers?

We’ve learned a lot as we have grown to approximately 148,000 locations, and we are definitely applying those lessons as we scale internationally. Our International business reminds me a lot of the early days with our core business in the US. While we are applying some of the best practices from that playbook, it’s critical that we leave room for some nuance and flexibility based on the needs of each market. What worked well in Canada, for example, won’t necessarily be a home run in Australia. 

In my role, I try to make sure we have clear direction strategically across all of our Customer Success teams and segments. For International, we are developing an account management model that is consistent with some of our other segments. Best in class Customer Success organizations require an engagement model that can flex from high touch dedicated account management to more scaled motions to on-demand professional services that accommodate the needs of all customers. We are working on applying those same principles globally.

At a growing company like Toast, scalability is always a priority. How do you see AI empowering your teams?

For starters, we find AI to be very empowering simply as an educational and experimental tool. We are currently focused as a management team on documenting all of the use cases across the roles on our teams that could benefit from AI and automation, and experimenting with different solutions. We also recently had a Hackathon focused on AI, and many team members participated in that. This continues to be an area of interest and experimentation that will help us scale, be more productive, and ultimately spend more time delivering a differentiated customer experience. 

Can you share a little bit about your career growth within the Customer Success organization? What are some of the different avenues people can take, not only within CS but also across Toast?  

I started at Toast as a Director of Mid-Market and Enterprise Customer Success, and over time my role– and team–  grew in scope to include all teams and segments, including our core SMB, Regional Mid-Market, Mid-Market, Enterprise, Retail, and International businesses. In addition, I also lead a Professional Services team that focuses on delivering managed services like menu or configuration assistance to our customers in service to driving a better customer experience. My team has grown from six people back in 2019 to over 100 people today. 

One of the things I am most proud of from my time at Toast is that three of my first six direct reports are still on my team, and have grown from customer success manager roles to senior manager and director roles on the team. At this stage of my career, I find it extremely fulfilling to help pay it forward and enable my team to grow and achieve their personal and professional goals. 

Our team is also a home to many people who navigated through our amazing internal mobility program from other areas of the company like Customer Care, Sales or Onboarding to Customer Success.

Learn more about the different teams that come together to support our customers:

What is one piece of advice you would give a candidate who is considering joining Toast?

One piece of advice I give all candidates is to experience Toast in the wild. Have a meal at one of your local restaurants. Grab a coffee from one of your local cafes. Have a drink at the local pub. Talk to the servers and bartenders. Ask them about Toast. What do they like about the product? How is support and service? What could be better? This all helps inform your own point of view on Toast, whether you are interviewing for a Sales role or a Finance role, and how you can make an impact in the role you are applying for. It’s one of the simplest ways to be prepared that often goes overlooked. 

____

Are you interested in joining a world-class organization that’s empowering the hospitality industry? See our open Customer Success roles here!