Welcome back to Inside Drift, where we introduce you to all of the people that make Drift such a great place to work.
So far you’ve met Shannon Donovan, Mary Mitchell, Catherine LaMacchia, Nadine Shaalan, Britnee Laughlin, Carolina Caprile, Michelle Ai, Frank Schepps, Tate Knapp, Zareena Javed, Stacy Chen, Lillian Frost, Josh Perk, Fiona Heaney, Moe Lawson, Richard Wright, Andrew Jones, Sara Miller Blanc, Carter Stepanovsky, and Luis Sanchez.
Today we’re introducing you to Chris Cardone, Customer Success Manager, Focused Mid-Market. Chris joined Drift almost two years ago — and in that time, he has seen incredible career growth and worked with hundreds of Drift customers. He is also a frequent host of one of our favorite company rituals: Monday Metrics 📈 When Chris isn’t working, you can find him hiking, scuba diving, or at home in Boston watching Survivor.
Ready to meet Chris? Let’s go ⚡
Editor’s note: The following has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Kaitlyn Martins: Hi Chris! Let’s dive right in — can you tell me a bit about what you do at Drift?
Chris: I am a customer success manager on our mid-market team. I’ve been at Drift for going on two years and, during that time, I have had the pleasure of partnering with hundreds of Drift customers and helping them discover how they can leverage our platform to truly boost their revenue.
Kaitlyn: What does your day-to-day typically look like?
Chris: While my days vary, it usually consists of connecting with customers to walk through their results and celebrate their wins, digging a bit deeper into what’s going on at their organization, and delivering recommendations on how they can achieve greater results. Additionally, I frequently connect with our product team to share what our customers are saying to help further develop and improve Drift.
Kaitlyn: Can you tell us about the structure of the customer success org at Drift?
Chris: Our customer success team is made up of customer-centric strategists. We all serve different company sizes, becoming subject matter experts in the way those businesses operate and the best strategies for driving major wins.
At end of the day, Drift’s entire customer success org is here to help customers drive results, support change management initiatives, and inspire go-to-market teams to build better customer experiences.
Kaitlyn: You recently have taken on some additional responsibility outside of your role and have been a frequent host of one of our weekly company rituals, Monday Metrics. Can you tell us a little bit about what the ritual entails?
Chris: Monday Metrics is one of our weekly rituals here at Drift. At the beginning of each week, we have a 20-minute meeting where our leaders come together to share how their department is doing and provide calls to action so we can expand our cross-functional impact.
It’s one of my favorite parts about Drift because it drives a level of transparency unparalleled to that I’ve seen at any other organization.
Kaitlyn: What is a fun fact that people might not know about you?
Chris: I am scuba certified. My dad was a diver, so I followed in his footsteps and got certified myself.
I’ve been doing dives around the Florida Keys, exploring the different shipwrecks and amazing underwater life 🤿
Kaitlyn: When you aren’t working, what can we find you doing?
Chris: Usually exploring Boston, hiking the White Mountains of New Hampshire, or planning my next adventure! I’m eager to head out to Colorado this year for some hiking.
I love the outdoors — but I also won’t hide the fact that, whenever I’m not out exploring, you can find me on my couch watching a new series or one of the seemingly million seasons of Survivor.
Kaitlyn: Tell us a little bit about why you chose Drift and the career growth you’ve experienced here.
Chris: I was actually taking a leap in my career when I came to Drift because I was moving from leading customer success to an associate role here. But shortly after, I was promoted to customer success manager on the growth team, then later on to the mid-market team.
Drift is truly a rocket ship. Our commitment to career growth is immense, and a big part of that is the emphasis that we put on impactful projects that bring together all our business functions.
Kaitlyn: What’s one of your favorite things about life here at Drift?
Chris: Our executive team’s openness. It’s not common that you can message a C-suite leader with a question or ask for feedback and be met with humility and a readiness to jump in and help. Extreme ownership is one of our leadership principles, and I can confidently say that it’s practiced at every level.
Kaitlyn: Finally, what advice do you have for prospective Drift candidates?
Chris: Be your authentic self, and practice extreme ownership over your skills and career. Drift is not only a place that develops its talent but it also cultivates an environment where you can bring your whole self to work. So, don’t be afraid to bring your full self — we’re happy to have you!
Want to work with Chris? We’re hiring. Check out our open roles here.
