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Sven Gerhard

Customer Success & Support Executive | Driving Scalable Growth, Operational Excellence & Innovation | Empowering Global Success & Support Teams

Vancouver, CA

About

I am an experienced executive leader with over 25 years in customer support and success, specializing in driving operational excellence, revenue growth, and customer satisfaction across global teams. My passion lies in building and scaling high-performing teams, improving processes, and implementing strategic programs that boost adoption and reduce churn. I've had the privilege of leading customer success operations in high-growth environments, where I’ve consistently increased efficiency, enhanced customer experience, and achieved exceptional results. My approachable leadership style fosters collaboration and innovation, helping teams thrive and businesses succeed. I'm excited to bring this expertise to new opportunities in dynamic and forward-thinking organizations.

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Work experience

  1. November 2024 – present

    CloudBees

    Senior Director, Global Technical Support (Remote)
    As Senior Director of Global Tech Support at CloudBees, I lead a dynamic, global team dedicated to delivering top-tier technical support and continuously advancing service quality. In this role, I've implemented strategic improvements that streamline workflows, boost efficiency, and elevate customer satisfaction. My focus on data-driven insights, KPIs, and customer feedback enables me to refine our processes, ensuring timely issue resolution and enhancing our self-service and knowledge management systems. By fostering collaboration across departments, I help integrate customer insights into product development and drive seamless customer experiences. My commitment to proactive problem-solving and innovation empowers our team to stay ahead of industry trends, enabling scalable support solutions aligned with CloudBees’ global growth.
  2. February 2022 – November 2024

    DoiT

    Head of Customer Support & Success (Remote)
    In this pivotal role as part of the Senior Leadership Team, I built and managed a global team of Customer Success Managers and Product Support professionals from the ground up. CSM Team Achievement Established and scaled global Customer Success and Product Support teams, expanding Product Support by 80% and optimising team performance through learning paths and career ladders. Spearheaded the development of a Product Health Score, resulting in a 40% increase in product adoption and feature usage. Improved ticket efficiency by 400%, reducing average resolution time from 10 to 3 days and increasing one-touch resolution rates. Boosted CSAT from 96% to 99.21% through process improvements and cross-functional collaboration with Finance, Sales, Engineering, and Product Management. Led the deployment of AI-driven ticket deflection solutions, significantly enhancing customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. Introduced Product Certification programs and Office Hours, facilitating internal education and driving customer adoption.
  3. August 2020 – February 2022

    SecurityScorecard

    Director- Global Customer Support (Remote, USA / Canada)
    Creation and development of a true support organization from the ground up, including the implementation of Standard Operation Procedures and scalable automation processes. Servicing B2B customers while striving to resolve issues within an 80% One Touch resolution target, achieving 95.5%. SLA achievements of all issue types within 95% target while achieving 98.3%. Improved Engineering SOPs with new SLA targets for Engineering for greater customer satisfaction. Moved overall Customer Satisfaction rating from 80.1% to 86.3% in first 6 month of support operation. Implementation and roll out of a new and enhanced Knowledge Centre. While increasing the view and attachment rate by over 800%.
  4. August 2015 – July 2020

    Tableau Software

    Director of Global Strategic Customer Support (Remote, USA / Canada)
    Key Contributions: Oversee the development, execution, and delivery of paid support programs internationally, to support Tableau’s strategic B2B clients in conjunction with Technical Support departments. Cultivated the Customer Satisfaction Score from 88% to 98% in a few years by delivering exceptional Customer Service. Amplify revenue for paid support with 30% to 50% YOY growth with a capital margin of 42%. 18 straight quarters of capital growth for the paid support framework. Improved Customer Satisfaction within the Technical Account Management Program from 90% to over 98% top box scores for the paid support programs. Established and maximized the Escalation Account Management department by 400% to deliver superior Escalations service to Enterprise accounts.
  5. December 2013 – June 2015

    Allocadia Software

    Vice President of Customer Success
    Key Contributions: Handled Customer Success Management for SaaS clients by designing a Customer Success Model for the company, including Customer Success Plans. Streamlined professional services by executing project management operations and tools to enhance efficiency to guarantee scope, time, and budget to customers. Facilitated product support team, delivering punctual, and on target SLA’s. Drove capital and selling of services for the organization. Fabricated a reporting system to monitor Annual Recurring Revenue and tracking renewals. Oversaw, created, and developed a successful training division, providing end-user, administrative, self-serve, and tailored training.
  6. December 2010 – December 2013

    Elastic Path Software

    Director of Global Customer Support / Account Management
    Key Contributions: Controlled an annual budget of $3.5M while reporting directly to the COO. Surveyed customers using the NPS scoring system. Configured and aligned support teams to cover escalations for continuous-time zone coverage. Drove continuous business process improvement between internal departments. Collaborated with major organizations to ensure superior support.
  7. October 2009 – December 2010

    Elastic Path Software

    Manager / Call Center Support
    Key Contributions: Governed a 40+ customer service representative team that generated sales of $10M during the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Instituted and deployed business process improvement for the call centre, phones, call centre software, and call flows. Executed multiple structures to assist in managing the influx of online requests. Built a support organization while designing processes and measures to offer client support.
  8. May 2007 – June 2009

    GET - Global Enterprise Team

    Chief Executive Officer / Owner
  9. March 2006 – March 2007

    Quasar Business Solutions Inc.

    Director – Professional Services
  10. January 2003 – January 2006

    Business Objects

    World Wide Director of Global Customer Escalations (formally Crystal Decisions)
  11. January 1999 – January 2003

    Business Objects

    World Wide Senior Customer Relations Manager (R&D)(formally Crystal Decisions)
  12. January 1998 – January 1999

    Business Objects

    Senior Quality Assurance Manager (formally Crystal Decisions)
  13. January 1997 – January 1998

    Business Objects

    Senior Quality Assurance Team Leader (formally Crystal Decisions)
  14. January 1996 – January 1997

    Business Objects

    Presales Engineer (Germany) (formally Crystal Decisions)
  15. January 1994 – January 1996

    Business Objects

    Technical Support Team Leader (formally Crystal Decisions)

Education

  1. Present

    Capilano University

    Diploma, Business Computer Systems Management