Edmund Barna
Customer Success, Solutions Engineering
Florham Park,NJ
Summary
Technology focused, transformational leader with over 10 years of experience building, leading Customer Success and Solutions Architecture/Engineering teams and 20+ years of Industry experience. Developing mutual-success with a keen, customer experience focus on driving consistent revenue growth and retention through impactful client engagements and solution sales for Global Accounts in Media & Entertainment, Financial, Retail, and General Enterprise Industries.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
4
4
years of post-secondary education
Work History
Director, Customer Success – Media & Entertainment
Lumen Technologies
New York, NY
01.2021 - Current
- Lead and transform legacy “Client Support” and “Solutions Engineering” team into passionate “Customer 1st” driven Customer Success (Executives and Consultants) responsible for $200M of Annual Recurring Revenue. Revenue is comprised of monthly recurring and usage/consumption based.
- Dedicated to key, high-profile global customer base including Major Broadcasters, Content Producers, Professional Sports, Gaming, and Digital Media.
- Attract, hire, and develop high-performing talent to consult, partner and build trusted relationships at executive and operational levels.
- Focused teams on developing innovative and customer success approaches with effective resource allocation and strategic planning.
- Extreme dedication and focus on call-to-actions through our Gainsight implementation and Customer Net Promoter Scores (NPS). Increased NPS score 59.2 points (10.0 1H of 2021 to 69.2 2H 2021).
- Decreased Discretionary Credits by 2/3 over 2020.
- Renewal Strategy led to 2% revenue growth and retention with Customer Success led upsell initiative.
- Developed Objectives and Key Results related to identifying risk and mitigation, (ex: churn propensity - % of out-of-term revenue, renewal and write-down strategies aimed at protecting and growing revenue).
- Key stakeholder leading development of Customer Success Playbooks and understanding interlocks throughout Learn, Buy, Get, Use, Pay, Renew (LBGUPR) customer lifecycle. Create alignment with all cross-functional teams to ensure each phase of customer experience LBGUPR journey is running optimally.
- Monitored metrics and developed actionable insights to improve efficiency, performance and drive customer adoption.
Dir Solutions/Sales Engineering & Client Support
Lumen Technologies
New York, NY
12.2015 - 01.2021
- Led highly tenured and experienced Solutions Engineering team and Client Support Managers supporting Global Media and Entertainment Accounts.
- Developed custom solutions to enable digital transformation of media workflows leveraging traditional infrastructure - Core Network Services to compliment public, private, hybrid cloud migration strategies.
- Defined strategy and alignment with sales on account planning and targeted campaigns to increase sales traction with increased win rate.
- Worked closely with cross-functional teams to plan, develop, coordinate and execute technical solutions aligned to client's vision, mission and purpose.
- Oversaw development of customer proposals, design, and delivery, ensuring all expertise, information and recommendations are concisely defined.
Mgr Solutions & Global Sales Engineering Lead
Lumen Technologies
New York, NY
11.2010 - 12.2015
- Led day-to-day activity of Global Solutions Engineering team responsible for delivering creative and custom client solutions while adopting their digital transformation strategies.
- Helped mentor and develop Solutions Engineers to continue to expand on their technical knowledge, presentation and problem-solving skills focusing on complex, business solution selling.
- Drove team objectives on cross-sell/up-sell opportunities, funnel growth, networking and promoting company brand.
- Participated in development of new process procedures that would help streamline internal provisioning workflows and shortening delivery cycles.
Solutions/Sales Engineering III
Lumen Technologies
New York, NY
09.2005 - 11.2010
- Utilized strong technical knowledge to create and present custom solutions that helped customers grow, evolve, and transform their networks.
- "Trusted-Advisor" and "Thought-Leader" as extension of customer's team to assist in technology discussions and design
- Engaged closely with Eco-system partners to ensure delivery and implementation of custom solutions met all design criteria which would lead to quick customer adoption and recognized revenue.
- Hosted training sessions assisting sales teams' development and expand their technical sales skills.
Education
BBA -
University of Phoenix
09.2002 - 06.2006
Skills
Customer Success
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Gainsight
Industry trends knowledge
Technical Requirement Design
Product Adoption
Client service optimization
Inter-department collaboration
Key accounts development
Digital Transformation
Effective Communication
Accomplishments
- Successful Transformation and Initial implementation of Customer Success at Lumen Technologies 2020
- Presidents Club – Level (3) 2007
- Pinnacle Award – Level (3) 2008
Graduate - Emerging Leaders Program – Level (3) 2010
Program Entrance Criteria included:
- Written Application and Manager Recommendation
- 10-minute presentation to Executive leadership panel consisting of CIO, President of Sales, Head of Human Resources, who decided final program participants.
Timeline
Director, Customer Success – Media & Entertainment
Lumen Technologies
01.2021 - Current
Dir Solutions/Sales Engineering & Client Support
Lumen Technologies
12.2015 - 01.2021
Mgr Solutions & Global Sales Engineering Lead
Lumen Technologies
11.2010 - 12.2015
Solutions/Sales Engineering III
Lumen Technologies
09.2005 - 11.2010
BBA -
University of Phoenix
09.2002 - 06.2006