We’re pleased to announce Silvia DeBastos as the Customer Success Manager for Ricoh eDiscovery. In this newly-developed role, Silvia — who first joined our team in 2016 — acts as a bridge between the Sales and Fulfillment teams.
The role of Customer Success Manager is an integral part of our ongoing focus to deliver exceptional customer service every time. Through delivering predictable outcomes, access to our team of experts and acting as a trusted partner for our clients, Silvia is able to provide an elevated experience that continues to differentiate Ricoh in the eDiscovery market.
We recently spoke with Silvia about her new role, what she’s most looking forward to and how she plans to drive our goal of continuous improvement.
How did you get into the eDiscovery industry?
15 years ago, I started as a litigation law clerk and worked with various firms, where I had the opportunity to engage with their eDiscovery team, focusing on the project management side of things. From there, I worked as an Evidence Management Analyst with the Alberta Securities Commission. Since joining Ricoh eDiscovery four years ago, I’ve worked as a Project Manager. Each of these experiences helped me develop a real appreciation of the work that both law firms and vendors do.
What first attracted you to this opportunity?
The idea of being able to support the success of our clients as well as our team. Having been the client myself, I felt I had a good handle on the client/vendor relationship. I understand the bumps in the road on both sides and can see the holistic view of what’s needed.
What does a typical day in this role look like?
I work with the sales team to provide information about timelines and costs, pulling in our experts whenever they're needed. This role really helps both sides get clear on expectations. In turn, I get to see where potential friction points may lie and identify how we can improve them. I also work to determine how we can automate some of our processes to remove the outdated administrative aspects. This way, the team can work more efficiently.
How will having a Customer Success Manager improve the service we provide to our clients?
Once upon a time, eDiscovery was quite transactional and functioned on an as-needed basis. Now, we’re with the client from the beginning of the project to the end. Files and projects can change very quickly depending on what’s happening in a lawyer’s case. This role will help alleviate some of the challenges around change management by building processes that will efficiently respond to clients’ change requests as soon as they come in.
What are you most looking forward to in your new role?
I’d say the change management aspect is what excites me the most — really seeing how we can improve our client on-boarding, processes and workflows behind the scenes to remove that traditional "transactional" mindset.
What is one of the biggest challenges we are solving for our clients?
Communication with their partners. Understanding what the client is asking, allowing them to communicate their needs and understanding our services and processes.
When a client comes to us and says, “I want to host 50GB of data,” it often isn’t that simple. What’s the purpose of it? Is it going to be disclosed? Are there court-imposed deadlines for disclosure? Is there a production protocol we should be aware of? When we allow clients to tell us what they really need, we can better help them and help alleviate any frustrations.
What does client success mean to you?
Having no surprises! We want to make sure the client knows what to expect and that we can deliver just that. Clearly defined expectations from the onset of a project as much as we can sets our client and team up for not only a successful project, but a successful relationship. If the client is happy, we’re happy. We want to make it a win-win for both parties.
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Thank you, Silvia! Be sure to stay tuned for more great content from Silvia in the future.
