Ep 35. Deena Metz on Building a Customer Success Function at Flagship—From Digital Health to Retail Tech

Calling Operator with Laura Nicol

Today, I'm connecting with Deena Metz, Head of Customer Success at Flagship. For Deena, being at the nexus of a company is where she thrives, so she’s placed herself at the heart of an early-stage startup: customer success (CS). She’s one of 12 employees, building alongside Simon Molnar to establish Flagship as the backbone of retail operations in Australia, the US, and beyond. In today’s episode, we discuss: Deena’s childhood dream of playing soccer for the Matildas; How an internship in New York launched her career in digital health at ANDHealth+ and Perx Health; Joining Flagship as the first female on the team, and her approach to building the company's post-sales function and customer experience; Why CS is a team sport, and how sales, post-sales, and product teams need to be “Batman to each other’s Batman”; Partnering with retail brands to raise the bar in visual merchandising and bring more data to brick-and-mortar stores; And the refreshing reminder: “we’re not saving lives”.

Find Deena Metz:

• LinkedIn
• Flagship

Deena Metz’s Northstars and Frameworks:

• Gabriel Baker (Co-Founder at Mosh)
• Rachel Kelly (Ex-EVP, APAC and Global Instore at Afterpay)
• Steph Leathers (Managing Director ANZ at GHD)
• Alex Brogan, Faster Than Normal Newsletter
• Wes Kao's Newsletter
• Atlas (Zendesk alternative for customer support)

ANZ Operators—Ones to Watch:

• Zoe Champtaloup (Director of Operations and General Counsel at Perx Health)
• Jackie Rotman (Director, Strategy at OakNorth)

Other Folks Mentioned in the Episode:

• Simon Molnar (founder at Flagship)
• Scott Taylor (Co-founder and CEO at Perx Health)
• Hugo Rourke (Co-founder and COO at Perx Health)
• Marcel Ninio (Retail Innovation and Partnerships at Flagship)

A note from your host, Laura:

My goal for Calling Operator is to open-source stories from startup operators across various functional areas and learn how they excel at building and scaling companies. As a Chief of Staff, I often find myself in (virtual) rooms with people facing similar challenges and reinventing the wheel. I want this podcast to open a line for operators across Australia and New Zealand to learn from fellow operators. Each episode shares personal stories, the execution behind big ideas, career-defining moments, successes, failures, and lessons.

Guest ideas?

Do you have an operator on speed dial who could be perfect for the show? Please share your suggestions with me via LinkedIn.

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