Employee Spotlight: 12 Questions with Alli Golden, Director of Customer Success
Today in our Employee Spotlight series we’re shining a light on the one and only, Alli Golden, our leader of Customer Success. Alli is a ball of fun, bringing a smile to every face she works with. She has a way of making everyone feel valued and supported, which makes her an invaluable team member and a perfect fit for Customer Success!
- How long have you worked at Verikai?
I joined Verikai in September 2020.
2. Where did you grow up, and where are you based now?
I was born and raised in a small town in Florida. I have lived all over the US – Miami, Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, Las Vegas. I have to say San Francisco was my favorite place to live so far and will always have my heart and living in Las Vegas is not for the weak of heart – it was way too much fun.
3. What brought you to the company?
I interviewed with Verikai, and during the interview process, I kept saying, “it’s too good to be true”… I quickly realized that I had found a company that had every single one of the things I was looking for in a company. I was hoping & praying I would get the offer & It’s been amazing since day one. Verikai is full of AMAZINGLY talented and intelligent people. We have such an innovative product in a vertical that is really in need of innovation. The culture here is simply the best. I have finally found a place that I genuinely enjoy each and every day.
4. Can you explain to everyone exactly what Customer Success is and what a day in the life looks like at Verikai for you?
One thing about Customer Success is no single day is ever the same, and that is what I love about it. We wear many hats. The typical day-to-day may start with renewals and contracts and then work on a client case study, pulling usage metrics and conversion data, then hosting a training webinar and wrap the day up with a client happy hour. We also partner closely with the product team, relaying information back from our clients. This helps prioritizes our roadmap of future initiatives. Working in Client Success, you need to be an expert in many things outside of just platform support. The biggest thing is to make our clients feel like family while also helping show ROI from their investment in our platform.
5. What do you like most about your job and working at Verikai?
Ohhhh, where do I start? Working with our clients is where all the fun is for me. My clients are the best; they share our passion for innovative data/analytics and are driving off-the-charts conversion comps. Helping companies drive results is so rewarding for me. I also TRULY enjoy working with everyone at Verikai. Team Verikai is made up of the most brilliant people I have ever worked with, PLUS they have the best sense of humor. I am not exaggerating when I say I am laughing or smiling for the majority of every day. We take our jobs seriously, but we also know we need to balance it with levity. Our company exists to serve and evolve the insurance industry; enabling our customers to be the best they can be at managing risk… along the way why not also have some fun.
6. What are you most looking forward to in the next year with Verikai?
I am so excited about the launch of our Marketplace. We have been finalizing the last few things for this game-changing offering and are on track to launch in June. The Marketplace is for both our Brokers & our Carriers. Brokers can come and pre-qualify their groups using the Verikai score and also get connected with our extensive network of Carriers and MGU’s, making it super easy to get multiple quotes on groups and close quickly. Carriers also get a considerable benefit of having access to new submission channels that we pre-filter for them, so they only receive groups that meet their exact requirements in terms of size and risk. It’s a win–win for everyone.
7. What makes for a great Customer Success team member?
To be great in Customer Success, you have to have empathy, patience, and a genuine love for helping people to achieve their goals. Every client is unique and so are their needs, so people have to be willing to work in an environment that is unstructured and at times unpredictable as our work with our clients is both proactive and reactive. There is no script to read from, so active listening and critical thinking are required skills if one wants to perform really well in this role.
Now a few fun ones…
8. What do you like to do in your free time during Covid and non-Covid?
I love the beach, so the beach was there for me during Covid… but my favorite thing to do is travel and I cannot wait to get back out there!!! My next two trips will hopefully be to Greece and Costa Rica. I love to discover a good dive bar when traveling, have a nice cocktail, and meet some locals.
9. Tell us something that most people don’t know about you?
I love doing extreme things – skydiving, roller coasters – the scarier, the better.
10. Book, movie, play/theater, television, concert? Choose one and why?
Concerts! I love live music and my whole family loves music in general. My husband is a musician and has an amazing voice. I have also taken my daughter Piper to over 20 concerts; we’ve tried to attend 2-3 a year since she was little. The last concert we attended was Joan Jett (pre-Covid) – she still sounds fantastic!!
11. Tell us about your scariest or craziest experience?
When I was a flight attendant, I worked the first commercial flight permitted to fly after 9-11. It was super strange and scary, nobody said a word, and we all just sat there staring at each other. I resigned from the airlines a few years later, it wasn’t what I signed up for any longer, but I still have amazing friends from those years.
12. What’s the best piece of advice someone has given you?
“Never write down anything you wouldn’t want read in court.”
If you’d like to learn more about Alli, check her out on Linkedin!