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Welcome to
After the Close
the Blog
Thoughtful insights and honest perspectives on Customer Success and leadership, focused on the work that happens after the deal is done.
After the Close is a space for reflection, insight, and the conversations that don’t always happen in the meeting or the deck. This blog is here to share real stories, practical lessons, and honest perspectives on Customer Success and leadership.
Whether you’re a CSM, a CS leader, or an executive, you’ll find insight on what happens after the deal is signed. From navigating adoption and retention to leading teams and driving impact, the goal is simple: help you think more clearly, act more intentionally, and build work that lasts.


The Coaching Mistake That Almost Broke Me and the Framework That Saved Me
Coaching is one of the hardest parts of leadership and I learned that the hard way. When I first moved from being an individual contributor to a leader, I thought coaching meant carrying my team. I believed my job was to have every answer, jump in at every sign of trouble, solve every problem, and of course, do it all faster and better. At least that was the story I was telling myself. In reality, all I did was exhaust myself and unintentionally signal to my team that I did n
Kristi Faltorusso
Dec 6, 20253 min read


The Journey: #47 Thanks for Nothing
There’s a certain type of manager you meet early in your career who teaches you something important, not through their brilliance, but through their absence of it. In my first SaaS role, over five and a half years, I cycled through a handful of managers. All different. All memorable for different reasons. But one sticks out because she was genuinely lovely, warm, positive, thoughtful, the kind of leader who asked how your weekend was and actually cared about the answer. She w
Kristi Faltorusso
Nov 24, 20253 min read


The Journey: #46 Too Little, Too Late
Lately, I’ve been thinking about timing, not the “trust the universe” kind, but the real-world timing inside startups and scaleups that determines whether you move forward or stall out. After 13 years in SaaS, I’ve seen a consistent pattern: Companies rarely suffer because they make the wrong move. They suffer because they make the right move far too late. You see this everywhere: Waiting to hire Waiting to fire Waiting to buy the technology Waiting to invest in onboarding, e
Kristi Faltorusso
Nov 24, 20252 min read


The Journey: #43 Stay In Your Lane
Some of you may not know this, but my daughter Adriana is actually my stepdaughter. When Anthony and I got together, she was just three years old. She only knows life with me and Anthony… and then with her mother. In our house, we’ve never used the word step. She is my daughter, and I am a mother. Period. But in the beginning, it was hard. Really hard. I was trying to find my place, what was appropriate, what wasn’t, how to show up as a parent without overstepping. I wanted t
Kristi Faltorusso
Oct 27, 20253 min read


If You Can’t Forecast Retention, You Can’t Lead Customer Success
Early in my Customer Success career, I made a huge mistake. I thought forecasting was just another way to “surprise and delight.” My...
Kristi Faltorusso
Oct 7, 20252 min read


The Journey: #40 CAB, PAB, EAB ... Oh My
In 2009, I was a mid-20-something marketer just trying to figure it all out. I was using a software platform that helped manage my...
Kristi Faltorusso
Oct 6, 20252 min read


The Journey: #37 Leadership, Not Mentorship
We often blur the lines between leadership and mentorship, but here’s the truth: just because you are someone’s leader does not mean you...
Kristi Faltorusso
Sep 28, 20252 min read


She's So Suite: The World Traveler turned Founder & SVP at Certinia ft. Deb Ashton
LISTEN TO THE LATEST SHE'S SO SUITE PODCAST IN THIS EPISODE KRISTI AND DEB DISCUSS: 1. Career Paths Are Rarely Straightforward Deb’s...
Kristi Faltorusso
Sep 8, 20253 min read


She's So Suite: The Artist turned The Founder at The Borden Group ft. Melanie Borden
LISTEN TO THE LATEST SHE'S SO SUITE PODCAST IN THIS EPISODE KRISTI AND MELANIE DISCUSS: 1. Embracing the Unpredictable Career Path...
Kristi Faltorusso
Sep 8, 20253 min read


She's So Suite: The Fashion Designer turned Founder at Down to a T ft. Talya Heller G
LISTEN TO THE LATEST SHE'S SO SUITE PODCAST IN THIS EPISODE KRISTI AND TALYA DISCUSS: 1. You Don’t Need a Perfect Plan Some of the...
Kristi Faltorusso
Sep 8, 20254 min read


She's So Suite: The Actress Turned SVP of Marketing at Pavilion ft. Kathleen Booth
LISTEN TO THE LATEST SHE'S SO SUITE PODCAST IN THIS EPISODE KRISTI AND LESLIE DISCUSS: 1.Owning Your Own Business =/= Work-Life Balance...
Kristi Faltorusso
Sep 8, 20253 min read


She's So Suite: The Teacher Turned President & CSO at The Engineered Innovation Group ft. Karen Mangia
LISTEN TO THE LATEST SHE'S SO SUITE PODCAST IN THIS EPISODE KRISTI AND KAREN DISCUSS: Success Is a Personal Definition Karen emphasized...
Kristi Faltorusso
Sep 8, 20253 min read


The Journey: #35 Decision to Downsell
Customer Success has always been about helping customers realize value: understand the use cases, configure the solution, drive adoption,...
Kristi Faltorusso
Sep 1, 20252 min read


The Journey: #33 Flip the Risk
I remember my first CSM role when the business really started to scale. Suddenly, “risk” became the centerpiece of every conversation. At...
Kristi Faltorusso
Aug 17, 20252 min read


The Journey: #32 The Missing Mindreader
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been ambitious. Every job I’ve ever had came with a built-in, personal side project: designing the...
Kristi Faltorusso
Aug 10, 20253 min read


Your Past Doesn't Dictate Your Future
I used to believe success came from privilege. I was wrong. For most of my life, I let my upbringing, my education, my wealth, or lack of...
Kristi Faltorusso
Jul 12, 20252 min read


Fear of Failure is Holding You Back
The greatest risk I ever took, was trying to play it safe. The greatest success I ever saw, was when I stopped. Over the past 13 years,...
Kristi Faltorusso
Jul 9, 20251 min read


The Journey: #23 All Systems Go
When I started my career as a CSM, everything felt manageable. I had a book of business, a list of clear priorities, a schedule that I...
Kristi Faltorusso
Jun 8, 20253 min read


She's So Suite: The Marine Biologist turned Founder of The Sales-Led GTM Agency ft. Leslie Venetz
LISTEN TO THE LATEST SHE'S SO SUITE PODCAST IN THIS EPISODE KRISTI AND LESLIE DISCUSS: Redefining Success and Self-Worth True worth isn’t...
Kristi Faltorusso
Jun 7, 20254 min read


She's So Suite:The Paleoethnobotanist turned Founder & CEO at Hyphenate ft. Debra Senra
LISTEN TO THE LATEST SHE'S SO SUITE PODCAST IN THIS EPISODE KRISTI AND DEBRA DISCUSS: 1. Embrace Custom Solutions Building tech that...
Kristi Faltorusso
May 22, 20253 min read

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