“Saying no isn’t a weakness; it’s a strength. It’s proof of belief in what you do.”
In our Friday Five, we ask five questions to our special guest. The Silver Lining? There isn’t one. We range from a look behind the business scenes to insights into our guest’s personality. From MobieTrain employees to beloved customers or topic experts, anything goes. Sometimes sweet as pie, sometimes razor-sharp, always with the aim of learning from each other.
Today’s Guest: Sara Davidson
Sara is our Customer Success Manager.
Customer Success is all about building relationships, setting clear expectations, and finding solutions—sometimes in the most unexpected ways. Sara knows all about that. From Persian hospitality to the power of saying no, she shares her insights on what makes great customer success (and what pitfalls to avoid).
1. What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned about Persian culture through your Iranian husband that could totally apply to customer success?
“One of the biggest things I’ve learned is how incredibly friendly, open, and flexible Persian people are. Hospitality, for example, is on another level there—if you go to a restaurant in Iran, they may have a menu, but if you ask for something different, they’ll do their very best to accommodate you. There’s a strong focus on understanding the customer’s needs and presenting everything in the best possible way.”
“That’s something that absolutely applies to customer success: being open, listening carefully, and adapting to what customers need. But there’s also a risk—being too flexible can lead to unclear expectations.”
“As a Customer Success Manager, you have to balance understanding and flexibility with clear boundaries to ensure customers are successful without over-promising.”
Do you think that, as a Customer Success Manager, the Iranian approach—being more open and extroverted—is an advantage or maybe even a must?
“I do believe that as a Customer Success Manager, it helps to be more open than average because you must build a strong relationship with your client as fast as possible.”
“For an introverted person, that can be a bit more challenging. Nowadays, with most meetings being digital, it’s even harder to make a meaningful connection. But it’s only by creating that connection that you can build trust and share information as effectively as possible.”
“So, having a little bit more of the Persian approach is definitely an advantage.”
Is there also a tricky side? People might perceive you as being too direct.
“We need to distinguish being extroverted and open from being direct. Communication with clients requires a bit of tact, of course. Active listening and asking the right questions are crucial, but so is challenging customers on what they are doing and why.”
“For some people, being challenged can feel like a shock. But that should only happen as a last resort. Being direct doesn’t mean being brutal or arrogant—it’s about having a tactical approach. Try to understand people, ask the right questions, and then hold up a mirror for them.”
“We need to distinguish being extroverted and open from being direct.”
2. What’s the most unexpected skill you’ve learned while working in customer success?
“Learning to say no. When you start in customer success, you want to help your customers in every way possible. But sometimes, you help them even more by clearly stating what you won’t do, to avoid setting unrealistic expectations and creating a weak foundation for a long-term relationship.”
“Admitting that your platform isn’t suited to fix a specific problem is clearer than saying We’ll check with development when you know it’s not the right approach. You want to keep your customers happy, but overpromising only leads to disappointment. That’s a huge pitfall in customer success because we genuinely want to be helpful.”
“It’s a learning process, but once you do it a few times, you realise your customers actually appreciate it. They’re not afraid to hear no—it makes things clearer and builds confidence in your product and company. Saying no isn’t a weakness; it’s a strength. It’s proof of belief in what you do.”
3. I think we can link this to the classic saying ‘the customer is king.’ But is that still true?
“They’re related, but I don’t think that statement fully applies anymore because there are limits to everything. Jumping on every customer request immediately isn’t smart—it often leads to frustration.”
“It all starts with challenging customers and defining what would actually bring value. For example: would changing the colour of a button really solve their issue? Probably not—there are often better, more sustainable solutions. It wouldn’t be wise to spend valuable development time on that instead of something with a greater impact.”
I can imagine there’s a thin line between gathering feedback and saying no?
“That’s correct. The key is distinguishing valuable, broadly applicable feedback from requests that are too specific to one customer and don’t align with our company strategy.”
“That’s why a company needs a clear (product) strategy, vision, and mission, communicated across all departments. If everyone is aligned, it becomes much easier to explain to customers what we do—and what we don’t do.”
“For example, if things go wrong during the sales and marketing process and we create a completely different expectation of our platform’s capabilities, it will never be a good fit. Setting the right expectations is crucial throughout—from the sales conversation to the customer success relationship.”
“Sometimes, you help customers even more by clearly stating what you won’t do, to avoid setting unrealistic expectations and creating a weak foundation for a long-term relationship.”
4. Saying no would definitely be one chapter, but what else would you include in a ‘Survival Guide to Customer Success’?
“Next to The Power of No, I would definitely add What’s in a Workaround? because customer success managers are the kings and queens of workarounds, haha. We’re always finding creative solutions while knowing when to escalate an issue to the product and development teams.”
“Another chapter would reference Simon Sinek’s famous speech: Start with Why. In customer success, the first step is understanding why a company wants to use your platform—what’s their strategy? From there, we can determine how they want to use the platform and what they hope to achieve.”
I can imagine there’s a thin line between gathering feedback and saying no?
“I think it’s because customer success is still a relatively new role in software companies. It started in the U.S., but in Europe, it’s not as well-known yet. Plus, every company structures customer success differently—some actually include first-line support.”
“So, I understand why people mix them up. While we have a support team for technical issues, we sometimes juggle between solving requests ourselves or forwarding them to support.”
“As a Customer Success Manager, you’re not just the first point of contact for customers you’re also the bridge between departments. We inform the marketing team about customer challenges and FAQs, provide sales with leads for upselling opportunities, and relay feedback to the product team to improve our platform.”
5. Let’s end with some great tips. What are the common pitfalls companies face when rolling out a new training platform?
“We see two major pitfalls.”
“The first is lack of involvement. Often, HR or L&D departments purchase a platform with a specific idea of how to use it, what trainings should be on it, etc.—but they don’t involve the target audience.”
“For example, HR might prioritise compliance training and procedures, but is that what employees actually want? If you launch a platform filled with content no one cares about, it’s doomed from the start.”
“So, involve the target audience. Invite frontliners and middle managers who are directly impacted to ensure the content is relevant and useful. Many companies operate in silos, which leads to misalignment.”
And the second?
“Poor communication before launch. Implementing a new tool requires change management. Sending an email the day before launch isn’t enough. You need to build excitement at least a month in advance—teasers, benefits, sneak peeks of the platform. This makes adoption much easier and prevents surprises.”
“Well-planned communication leads to higher registration and engagement. That’s why we always recommend involving marketing or internal communications teams in the launch and rollout.”
One final question: is it harder to convince employees at companies that already use a learning platform than those who don’t?
“It mostly depends on whether a learning culture is in place. If employees are used to digital training, adoption can be easier—unless they had a negative experience with their previous platform.”
“At the same time, I’ve seen companies with no prior learning platform adopt MobieTrain exceptionally well—thanks to smart communication, efficient planning, and great training content.”
“Conclusion: culture matters most; the platform follows. At MobieTrain, we aim to build both. That’s a strong ending, right? Haha.”
Do you want to read more MobieTrain articles and Friday Five interviews? Check our blog: https://www.mobietrain.com/blog/.
