Nicholas Smith

About Nicholas Smith

Nick is a uniquely versatile sales and customer success leader with over 30 years of experience spanning capital markets, enterprise technology, and SaaS solutions. He combines the strategic rigor of 14 years in capital markets—navigating complex deal structures, high-value negotiations, and risk management—with 16 years of success in enterprise software and SaaS sales, driving measurable outcomes for both net-new and long-term client relationships. He has a proven record of exceeding multi-million-dollar quotas, cultivating executive-level partnerships, and delivering customer value across the full sales lifecycle—from prospecting and solution design to implementation, adoption, and expansion. Known as a trusted advisor and customer advocate, Nicholas consistently aligns business objectives with innovative solutions that maximize ROI and foster enduring partnerships. Core Competencies: Strategic Deal Making • Enterprise & SaaS Sales • Customer Success Leadership • Capital Markets Expertise • Portfolio & Book of Business Management • Executive Engagement • Net New Acquisition • Contract Negotiation • Upsell & Cross-sell Strategy • Risk Mitigation • Voice of Customer • NPS Management • Full Lifecycle Account Growth • Staff Development & Mentorship • Budget Oversight

Experience

1. Senior Customer Success Account Manager at Microsoft

   Microsoft

   May 2022 — Present · Minneapolis, MN, US

   Drive key initiatives and strategic customer engagement by aligning Microsoft technology solutions with client business objectives across cloud, Modern Work, and Dynamics platforms with a focus on compliance, revenue generation and operational excellence. Lead executive-level business value conversations, define customer success plans, and orchestrate internal and external stakeholders to ensure long-term customer value realization. Serve as a trusted advisor to both customer and internal leadership, leading program planning, success reviews, and proactive escalation management to drive retention, satisfaction, and usage.• Drove strategic customer engagement, created net new opportunities by aligning Microsoft technology solutions with client business objectives across all entire Microsoft stacks (Azure, modern work - AI, GitHub, Dynamics)- attainment: 20•••15%, 20•••13%, 20•••08%•Managed monthly, quarterly customer reviews detailing relationship and driving company strategic goals while forecasting milestones, opportunities, and expansion deals.•Led executive-level business value conversations across all assigned accounts, resulting in a 20% increase in customer investment in Microsoft solutions by aligning offerings with customer strategic goals.• Sold, developed, successful onboarding my strategic customer in the first new worldwide rollout of \"Mission Critical for Azure\", resulting in multimillion dollar contract and a referenceable client.•Acted as strategic liaison between customers and Microsoft teams, quickly diagnosing complex needs to drive timely resolutions and uncover expansion opportunities.•Proactively identify risks and escalate concerns promptly. Actively support controls, review processes, and investigations by effectively remediating any issues. •Led delivery program reviews with internal stakeholders to ensure alignment on customer outcomes and account priorities, resulting in over 10% improvement in delivery efficiency.

Education

• University of Saint Thomas

  Bachelor of Arts (B.A.)