Heather Forst
Costa Mesa,CA
Summary
Results-driven Vice President with excellent employee development, customer service, and analytics skills coupled with more than 18 years of experience. Comfortable giving engaging presentations to clients to drive new business, expand accounts, and establish a brand profile. Excellent team builder and leader of initiatives.
Overview
18
18
years of professional experience
Work History
VP, CUSTOMER SUCCESS & OPERATIONS
Smart Energy Water - SEW.ai
01.2023 - Current
- Spearheaded a Salesforce training and learning program, resulting in a 25% increase in usage and efficiency in the internal Salesforce instance
- Led as executive sponsor for key accounts, keeping all stakeholders informed, overseeing successful deployments and managing escalations, ensuring swift resolutions, and maintaining customer satisfaction; built trust and credibility with clients to drive long-term partnerships
- Developed and executed near-term strategies, resulting in a 20% increase in client retention and a 15% boost in upsell opportunities within the first year
- Orchestrated business transformation initiatives to cultivate and nurture relationships with the customer base, driving a 20% increase in product adoption, a 15% boost in value realization, and a reduction of 83% in churn year over year
- Pioneered programs to capture (Voice-of-the-Customer) and relay product feedback and recommendations to the Engineering team, driving a 25% enhancement in product development alignment with customer needs
- Aligned closely with Delivery Operations on over 50 projects to ensure smooth client journey onboarding post-go-live transition to the Account Management team.
VP, CUSTOMER SUCCESS OPERATIONS
mPulse Mobile
01.2022 - 01.2023
- Played acritical role as an executive team member, providing strategic input and guidance to support overall business goals and objectives
- Partnered with the GTM team to ensure all technology solutions aligned with our customers and partners' needs to provide the best customer experience
- Provided management consulting to key partners to identify solutions to problems, maximize business performance, and improve business processes
- Achieved a $200K reduction in department overspending by establishing ROI metrics and budget controls to improve prioritization of the $4MM department budget
- Spearheaded the implementation of new project management software across the organization, cutting project lead times by 28% and improving efficiency
- Successfully led the implementation of a time-tracking software initiative, recovering $1 million in yearly client revenue loss
- Took the lead on M&A initiatives, aligning staff and processes with the core business and ensuring successful integration of acquired companies, resulting in enhanced growth and profitability.
AVP, CUSTOMER SUCCESS
mPulse Mobile
01.2021 - 01.2022
- Scaled the Customer Success (CS) organization to deliver on KPIs, including gross margin, gross and net revenue retention, and EBITDA
- Led the implementation of risk mitigation measures, leading to a 36% growth across the business book; orchestrated strategic interventions that fortified the company's financial health and bolstered operational efficiency
- Directed initiatives to forge strong alliances with top healthcare accounts, delivering $18M in annual revenue; upheld exceptional client retention rates with near-zero churn across five years
- Delivered targeted coaching sessions focused on advanced account management strategies, leading to a 30% increase in upsell opportunities and a 20% boost in annual contract values.
DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC ACCOUNTS
mPulse Mobile
01.2018 - 01.2021
- Engineered and managed a high-achieving team of National Account Executives (NAE) and Client Success Managers (CSM), delivering exceptional results by securing partnerships with 5 Fortune 500 companies, driving a $2M increase in annual revenue
- Championed attaining $5.4M in annual revenue by developing and maintaining strong relationships with top accounts, establishing the organization as a reputable and dependable partner in the industry.
NATIONAL DIRECTOR, HEALTHCARE ACCOUNTS
mPulse Mobile
01.2014 - 01.2018
- Led monthly and quarterly strategic account reviews, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to customer service and adding new customers while maintaining excellent service levels with existing accounts
- Engineered and managed business affiliations with premier healthcare accounts, yielding $1.7M in annual revenue and securing minimal churn for three successive years; crafted bespoke solutions and cultivated robust client relationships for enduring success.
NATIONAL ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE - RETAIL & AGENCY
mobileStorm
01.2012 - 01.2014
DIRECTOR, AGENCY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
mobileStorm
01.2009 - 01.2012
SENIOR SALES, DIGITAL MARKETING
mobileStorm
01.2006 - 01.2009
Education
Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) -
USC – Marshall School of Business
Los Angeles, CABachelor’s in Business Administration (BBA) -
Chapman University
Orange County, CASkills
- Vendor Management
- Data Analysis
- Salesforce
- Project Management
- SaaS
- Startups
- Customer Lifecycle
- Sales Strategy
- Contracts/Pricing
- Negotiation
- Performance monitoring
- Contract Negotiation
- Critical Thinking
- Budget Administration
- Strategic Planning
- Budget Oversight
- Process Improvement
- Public Speaking
Accomplishments
- Received the USC “Best and Brightest” award for graduating class (only 2 students received this award in the graduating year)
- USC Marshall School of Business - Dean’s List (top 5% of students)
- Customer Relations - Earned highest marks for customer satisfaction, company-wide.
- Conflict Resolution - Responsible for handling customer account inquiries, accurately providing information to ensure resolution of product/service complaints and customer satisfaction.
- Product Promotion - Up-sold products and motivated customers to upgrade current product plans.
- Supervised team of 35 staff members.
Timeline
VP, CUSTOMER SUCCESS & OPERATIONS
Smart Energy Water - SEW.ai
01.2023 - Current
VP, CUSTOMER SUCCESS OPERATIONS
mPulse Mobile
01.2022 - 01.2023
AVP, CUSTOMER SUCCESS
mPulse Mobile
01.2021 - 01.2022
DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC ACCOUNTS
mPulse Mobile
01.2018 - 01.2021
NATIONAL DIRECTOR, HEALTHCARE ACCOUNTS
mPulse Mobile
01.2014 - 01.2018
NATIONAL ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE - RETAIL & AGENCY
mobileStorm
01.2012 - 01.2014
DIRECTOR, AGENCY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
mobileStorm
01.2009 - 01.2012
SENIOR SALES, DIGITAL MARKETING
mobileStorm
01.2006 - 01.2009
Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) -
USC – Marshall School of Business
Bachelor’s in Business Administration (BBA) -
Chapman University
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