Crowdsource Your Solutions: Interview with Elizabeth Maughon, Chief Customer Officer of Simpli.fi

I recently went one-on-one with Elizabeth Maughon, Chief Customer Officer of Simpli.fi.

Adam: How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?

Elizabeth: In 2011, I responded to a LinkedIn job posting about a Director of Client Success role at Simpli.fi. At the time, we were a very small start-up that has grown to where we are today. In the past 12 years, I have experienced wonderful successes driven by a dedicated team of professionals. Of course, we have also had challenges during this time. Looking back, the challenges that have been most instrumental in my growth have been those challenges that required the team to come together and crowdsource solutions. I am lucky to work with some of the smartest people in ad tech and sharing thoughts/challenges and working through problems together has taught me ways to think outside the box, look at situations from a new perspective, and to ultimately find the right solution for the company, our team, and our clients.

Adam: In your experience, what are the key steps to growing and scaling your business?

Elizabeth: There are a few key steps to growing and scaling your business. To begin, you have to put people first. Of course, you should always put customers first, but you must also ensure you put your team members first. If you do not take care of your team, they cannot take care of your clients. Providing your team with systems and workflows to create efficiencies, drive customer satisfaction, and exceed expectations are foundations to ensuring your team and your business grow and scale efficiently.

Next, you have to measure results. Ensure that your business systems provide granular insights that can be sliced and diced to provide the most insights possible. Moreover, talk to your team and your clients. Gather their feedback and then measure changes and results. These measurements allow you to track progress, celebrate wins, and determine future tweaks as your business and industry change.

Lastly, remain nimble. Creating too much structure and restricting the flexibility of your team will result in unhappy team members and unhappy clients. Our team does have performance expectations, but they also have the freedom to consult with others, crowdsource ideas and ultimately determine the best path forward for the client and the company.

Overall, be sure to communicate. Communicate with other departments within your organization, with your teams and your partners.

Adam: How can leaders build customer-centric businesses?

Elizabeth: For leaders to build a customer-centric business, it starts with an internal people-first approach. When you do this, you’re taking care of the needs of the team. It’s critical for leaders to develop customer teams that respect each other in their roles, responsibilities, and career development. While not everyone will be 100% on board with every decision made, it’s up to leaders to guide the team through any disagreements, with the end goal of providing customers with the highest level of success.

Additionally, it’s important to ensure your team has the right guidelines to handle what’s needed to get the project done effectively and efficiently. Guidelines are systems for making decisions, they’re not directives or orders, so you need to maintain that flexibility within the team so they can serve their clients and exceed the client’s expectations. Businesses need to embrace how a client defines success, and how their mission and identity play key roles in building their brand. Meet the client where they are, and jointly develop their growth plan. Moreover, trust and transparency go far with customers, as they are counting on you to help them build their operations and deliver ROI that align with their goals and KPIs.

At Simpli.fi, we work with clients with varying levels of understanding of the space. If they’re brand new to the industry, we teach them from the ground up – best practices, how our solutions can help achieve their goals, etc. But if we partner with an expert, we give them more free reign. Regardless of a customer’s experience level, one must deliver a tailored approach and always offer superior support. Through all of this, you have a customer-centric business that is all about creating an environment where you have the right systems and guidelines in place so your team can do what they do best and serve the clients.

Adam: What do you believe are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Elizabeth: Defining qualities of effective leaders starts with caring about the people you encounter and understanding the business. Having empathy for your team and understanding what they need to do their jobs well is key.  Effective leaders build trust and camaraderie with their teams and with everyone their teams interact with. It is critical to ensure you’re able, as a leader, to lead your team through any daily challenges and be solution-oriented. At the end of the day, you set the tone and create a clear path and clear vision for your team. I use “servant leadership” to empower, develop, and support my colleagues. This means that I ask the tough questions that will help my teams do their best but also give them the tools they need to succeed, get out of their way, and support them if they need my help.

I also strive to build a non-punitive environment. For example, we know mistakes are going to happen. People generally don’t make mistakes because they want to, they make mistakes because something is missing in a guideline, process, or workflow. When mistakes happen, talk to your team about it and ensure everyone has a clear understanding on how to avoid it moving forward to reduce errors.

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?

Elizabeth:

1.       Crowdsource your solutions when you can. Make sure you’re getting input so you can make the best decision. When you’re making decisions - make sure you can scale.

2.       Measure what’s important.

3.       You can’t control everything that happens, but you can control how you react.

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?

Elizabeth: When we look for employees to join our team at Simpli.fi, we look for good people. We focus on finding applicants who are kind, employ good communication skills, and use a “service-first” approach when working with customers. As advertising technology constantly evolves, it’s not as important that they are experts with all the tools out there, but it is important that they are receptive to being taught and eager to learn the latest innovative technologies.

Leaders need to set the tone for everyone on their team, so tapping into the company’s culture of sharing job responsibilities, learning from others, and helping others grow is essential for leaders to lead and manage productive teams.

There are a lot of great books I’ve read about leadership that have made a lasting impression. One that comes to mind is Ben Horowitz’s “The Hard Things About Hard Things.” As co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, Ben shares his insights from his decades of experience in the rapidly evolving world of technology, be it developing tech, managing teams of many sizes, and investing and advising in tech companies from startups to established entities.

One of my favorite quotes from that book is “Spend zero time on what you could have done, and devote all of your time on what you might do.” While it’s good to identify how to avoid mistakes when they happen, be that forward-thinker of “what’s next.” Think about how to build a team that aligns with and remains nimble to your customers’ new annual goals; how to lead in ways that help members of your team grow to next levels; identify what sparks creativity in your team and nurture it with the right tools.

Adam: What are your best tips on the topics of sales and marketing?

Elizabeth: A good tip on the topic of sales and marketing is to really think about solving a problem your customer has. Your product should solve a problem. When you’re selling your product to someone, you should always ask the question, “Do they have this problem?” From there, you likely have the solution to solve it with your product or tool. Don’t be afraid to ask clients hard questions to ensure you’re meeting their needs. Just because you sign on a client and deliver on SLAs, see if there’s more you can be doing for them to ensure client satisfaction.

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Elizabeth: Short and simple - Work hard and be nice.


Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally-recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.

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