Meet Shonna Ver Kuilen of Spruce

We are excited to introduce you to Shonna Ver Kuilen, our Customer Success Manager with Spruce building materials software. Learn how Shonna makes Spruce a better product for all our customers.

Describe your role in 50 words or less.

Customer Success Managers (CSMs) are trusted advisors for our customers. CSMs are responsible for understanding their business needs and priorities, ensuring the organization is fully utilizing our products and keeping their customers satisfied. CSMs work with stakeholders across ECI’s sales, support, professional services, marketing, product engineering, and finance teams.

Tell us a bit about your background and the path that led you to your current role.

In my previous work life, I was in residential home construction for over 30 years. I have had several roles over the years, from consultant to general contractor. While working as a consultant for a high-end remodeling contractor, I was trying my best to have him sign up for construction software. I know personally how much it can impact your business, but during that time, Covid hit, so the remodeler decided he couldn’t afford my services any longer. Fortunately, I had previewed ECI BuildTools and when the BuildTools sales representative followed up, he found out I was laid off, so he “hunted” me down on LinkedIn to see if I would be interested in becoming a CSM for BuildTools. I applied and was hired. I wanted to move up to a bigger product, so I transitioned in August 2022 to ECI Spruce.

What does your day-to-day work life look like?

Being the voice for our Spruce customers is a huge responsibility that can go in many directions! My day-to-day can consist of putting out fires, escalation of support cases, building customer-facing initiatives, and bridging the gap through departments for a better customer experience. It also extends to hosting meetings such as: customer account reviews, CSM Program Kick-off customer calls, and internal meetings.

What advice would you give to someone just starting in your industry? Any words of wisdom?

Be patient! Trust others and don’t be afraid to speak out when you feel something else may work better than the “status quo”. Teach others that customer success is everyone's job. And always ask questions!

What excites you most about working within this industry?

The people I meet, plus being a technology junkie definitely helps! It’s fast-paced and constantly changing, making it one of the most vibrant industries around.

What do you find most challenging about working within this industry?

The constant struggle to make as many people as happy as I can. This industry is constantly evolving and changing, so it’s hard to keep up sometimes.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned since you began your career?

Have patience and accept that you can’t own or control everything!

Since you started working in the industry, what changes have you witnessed?

There have been increases and improvements in processes. Covid affected us, like most industries, by not having enough qualified people to hire.

What do you enjoy doing when you're not at work?

I love spending time with my husband and our 16-year-old daughter, gardening, and traveling to see my family as much as possible! I also love making our 1-year-old new home ours through renovations.

What book would you recommend for anyone to add to their ‘must-read list?

If you’re talking non-work-related books then I’m a huge Sci-Fi, horror, and thriller reader, so anything written by Steven King, Dean Kootz, or Bram Stoker is good. As far as work-related reads, I would say everyone could benefit by reading: ”Customer Success and The Customer Success Professional’s Handbook.”

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