Irene F. Lefton is an author, Customer Success strategist, and longtime advocate for the voice of the customer. Recognised multiple times as a Top 100 Customer Success Strategist, she has built and led global professional services, support, and customer success teams across the US, Europe, and Asia — spanning industries, business models, and companies of all sizes.

Her career has been driven by a simple belief: that centring the customer is not just the right thing to do, it’s good business. Today, she speaks, advises, and consults with companies on improving results through outstanding customer experience, including the thoughtful use of AI. She holds a degree in Economics and an MBA from the University of New Mexico.

Irene grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and now lives in the Silicon Valley area of California. She is semi-retired but very much still engaged — writing, speaking at conferences, mentoring professionals at all career stages, and doing selective consulting with early-stage companies. She serves on the boards of two nonprofits, where she leads initiatives focused on community engagement.

When she’s not working, you’ll find Irene cooking, attending the theatre, and spending time with friends and family. She travels whenever possible — for concerts, new places, and the people she loves. She is, at heart, a curious lifelong learner who enjoys sharing hard-earned wisdom.

• In this episode, Irene F. Lefton talks about her book “Who Speaks for the Customer? Improving Results within a Customer Centric Network”. Irene believes that fundamental human connectivity and human attention to customers remain critical even as technology progresses. While every organisation claims that they are customer-centric, the truth is that real customers who deal with them most often do not feel so. The outsider looking in view is therefore very important for companies to get a feel of the customer requirements.
• New departments such as “customer success” do spell progress, but the field has not matured enough, and the right metrics to measure customer success have not been implemented yet. Cultural differences, generational differences and large customer bases make it difficult to cater to everyone with the same messaging, and often companies find it difficult to make the right choices in terms of which requirement becomes critical. This applies even more when the business is scaling, as well as when customers are scaling, leading to shifting goalposts on both sides.
• While AI can help in aggregating and analysing diverse data, it still takes a human to understand which data is relevant and what to do with the data. New roles such as “Forward Deployed Engineers” are fulfilling that role, leveraging their deeper understanding of the customer voice along with their technical knowledge of AI.

Run time – 01:11:32 mins.

Links for Subhanjan

subhanjan@pitch.link

https://www.linkedin.com/in/subhanjansarkar

R. Scott Gillum has spent his career studying the one variable most sales and marketing strategies ignore: the human being on the other side of the conversation.

As a buyer behaviourist and the founder and CEO of Carbon Design, Scott helps B2B organisations close the gap between how they communicate and how their buyers actually make decisions. His work draws on decades at the intersection of behavioural science, marketing strategy, and enterprise sales — giving him a perspective that is equal parts analytical and deeply human.

Before founding Carbon Design, Scott served as an Office President at gyro (now Dentsu), one of the world’s leading B2B agencies. Before that, he spent more than a decade as a Senior Partner at MarketBridge, advising some of the most recognised brands in technology and professional services.

Scott is a contributing writer for MarTech and serves as a Senior Fellow at the School of Professional Sales at the Naveen Jindal School of Management at UT Dallas, where he helps shape the next generation of sales and marketing professionals.

He lives in Raleigh, NC with his wife Jennifer and dog Leo.

• In this episode, R. Scott Gillum talks about his book, “The Hidden Buyer Journey”, which is based on observational research with buyers and sellers. It concludes that sellers often miss the most important cues while trying to close deals because they focus on features and functionality, whereas ultimately it is the personality of the stakeholders that drives the conversation.
• The Hidden Buyers are people who do not appear in databases but may be called in during the last phase of a buying cycle. They have huge influence on the final call to close but are not visible to the seller organisation until the last moment.
• Today, technology is set up to detect the wrong kind of signals, which is why effort could be wasted. A website visit or a white-paper download does not indicate intent to buy, yet tools are set up to track these activities. With AI, it is possible to do better by tailoring messaging for exact personas- those that actually matter in making a decision.

Run time – 01:11:32 mins.

Links for Subhanjan

subhanjan@pitch.link

https://www.linkedin.com/in/subhanjansarkar

David Homan

David Homan is the founder and CEO of Orchestrated Connecting, a global community of connectors; Orchestrated Opportunities, an impact-focused advisory firm; and SOAR CONNECT, a start-up focused on the strength of authentic relationships. He hosts a podcast called Orchestrated, focused on developing relationship value, is an active classical composer, and is a proud father of two. From middle-class beginnings as the son of a college professor father and nonprofit-focused mother, he has built a network reaching into the most private and incredible circles globally while maintaining a code of purposeful community building called Orchestrated Connecting.

Noah Askin

Noah Askin is an Associate Professor of Organisation and Management at UC-Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business, where he also serves as Faculty Director of their Leadership Development Institute. An award-winning teacher and researcher, Noah is an expert in organisational dynamics, leadership, and culture, focusing on the informal networks of communication and connection that drive organisational life. Noah’s work has garnered him recognition on the Thinkers 50 Radar list and has been covered by various publications, including the BBC, The Economist, Rolling Stone, NPR, Vox, and Forbes. He lives with his family in Southern California.

• In this episode, David Homan and Noah Askin talk about their book, Orchestrating Connections. The authors believe that meaningful relationships emerge when people are connected through shared values rather than credentials, status, or transactional goals. They propose five principles, namely curiosity, diversity, vulnerability, generosity, and gratitude, that lead to transformative communities.
• Noah Askin approaches relationships through sociology and network science. While many people study the structure of networks, his interest was in what actually creates meaningful connections. As David was already running a community, Noah started interviewing members to get a sense of the on-the-ground reality of connections. He realised that many of the most connected individuals identified as introverts rather than extroverts, and traced their empathy to formative challenges earlier in life.
• These findings challenged conventional assumptions about networking, leading the authors to distinguish between “networking for personal success” and “community building to help others”. Networking is focused on personal success and exchange, while community is oriented toward support, learning, development, and collective growth. Strong communities emerge when people are guided by a clear sense of purpose and create environments where relationships become a long-term source of mutual growth rather than short-term transactions. Trust and reciprocity, rather than transactions, become the foundation.

Run time – 01:17:38 mins.

Links for Subhanjan

subhanjan@pitch.link

https://www.linkedin.com/in/subhanjansarkar

For Authors:

https://orchestrating connection.com

https://noahaskin.com

LinkedIn – https://linkedin.com/in/noahaskin

LinkedIn – https://linkedin.com/in/davidhoman