Gordon L.
Customer Success Leader - Interim, Fractional, Consultant
Experience
Mar 2024 - Aug 2025
1 year 6 monthsHamburg, Germany
Vice President Customer Success
Finion Capital GmbH, a Sport Alliance Company
- Assignment: Transform and professionalize the entire after-sales organization, strategy and processes within 18 months.
- Responsible for the entire customer lifecycle, strategy and operations (onboarding, support, B2C operations, customer success, 35 staff).
- Built proactive customer success from scratch – the company previously had only reactive support with high churn.
- Implemented a customer health scoring system with automatic alerts for churn risk and growth opportunities.
- Introduced AI-powered customer communication strategies: 30% reduction in manual touchpoints with improved customer satisfaction.
- Implemented a customer success management platform for unified customer data and automated workflows.
- Consolidated redundant teams (Finion + Sport Alliance) and built a new group-wide organization and strategy for all after-sales functions.
Jan 2022 - Oct 2023
1 year 10 monthsCologne, Germany
Managing Director and GM DigRiv (Digital River spin-off)
Digital River Inc.
- Spin-off leadership (+$80M ARR, 32 FTE worldwide) – built an independent business unit from registrations, customer migration and organization setup to partner relations and operational excellence.
- P&L responsibility and commercial operations: contract negotiations, renewals, pricing, services, partnerships, revenue strategy.
- Achieved 20% over-forecast in the first year through strategic account management, new positioning and expansion.
- Improved NPS by 20 points through a complete redesign of customer engagement models.
- Managed global enterprise accounts at C-level, with complex subscription and revenue-sharing models.
- Responsible for all legal, financial and operational aspects of the business unit, with staff in Germany, UK, Ireland, USA, Brazil and Taiwan.
Jan 2017 - Dec 2021
5 yearsCologne, Germany
Vice President Customer Success (EMEA)
Digital River GmbH
- Regional P&L and revenue responsibility for enterprise, mid-market and European SMEs in the existing business.
- Commercial leadership: contract negotiations, renewals, expansion, win-backs, upselling/cross-selling for existing customers.
- 30% revenue growth across the entire portfolio through strategic account management and revenue operations.
- Advised corporate clients on complex integrations, provided strategic guidance on platform optimization and best practices.
- Developed industry-specific retention and expansion strategies for subscription-based customers, as well as consumer electronics and API clients.
- Initiated various strategic product improvements and partnership implementations based on evolving customer and market needs.
- Led distributed teams across multiple time zones as direct reports and in a matrix organization (Europe, USA, India).
Jan 2012 - Dec 2017
6 yearsCologne, Germany
Director-Level Roles (Account Management, Client Marketing & Operations)
Digital River GmbH
- Led the commercial customer business in continental Europe (DE & RU offices) with revenue responsibility.
- Responsible for retention, renewals, upselling, cross-selling and account expansion in the existing customer business.
- Built and led customer marketing, consulting, operations and account management for enterprise clients in Germany.
- Coordinated a new go-to-market strategy for the global SMB business (MyCommerce).
- Developed and implemented online marketing and e-commerce strategies to optimize revenue.
- Regularly exceeded revenue targets, awarded "President's Club" two years in a row as a top 10 performer in sales achievement.
Jan 2011 - Dec 2012
2 yearsCologne, Germany
Senior Consultant & Account Manager, International
nexum AG
- Advised strategic clients, led a team of consultants, and managed technical and creative resources for large international customers.
- Created and delivered interactive content and campaigns for a wide range of product categories across 45 countries in Europe.
- Managed projects/contacts and motivated the client-focused team and shared resources.
- Accelerated growth in the Sony Europe account.
Jan 2004 - Dec 2010
7 yearsBiot, France
Head of Marketing & Digital Media
European Society of Cardiology
- Set up and managed the consolidated marketing department.
- Developed and implemented the demand generation strategy.
- Built online communication channels and team in coordination with an advisory group of senior cardiologists from across Europe.
- Renewed the brand and optimized the PR and media strategy.
Summary
Experienced interim manager with over 15 years of leadership experience in revenue-responsible roles in SaaS, tech and e-commerce – from revenue generation in existing accounts to P&L responsibility as managing director. Many years in leadership roles in international sales organizations.
Experience as managing director (HRA) and global general manager at a Digital River spin-off. Several years as a GmbH authorized signatory with sole signing authority at a US corporation. Solid expertise in complex regulated environments (payments, e-commerce, BaFin-licensed) and international scaling.
Available for interim mandates (6-18 months) at the C-level/managing director level: customer success, after-sales, business unit leadership. Trilingual (German, English, French) and immediately available.
Languages
German
NativeEnglish
AdvancedFrench
AdvancedEducation
Flensburg University of Applied Sciences
Diploma in Technical Translation (FH) · Engineering and Communication · Flensburg, Germany
Swinburne University of Technology
Bachelor of Technology program (year abroad) · Melbourne, Australia
Certifications & licenses
Certified Coach Level 1
ICF
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