In this edition of the Life at FT Blog, we catch up with Savin Wong, Head of Customer Success for APAC, based in our Hong Kong office. Savin shares what drives him, the biggest surprise after joining the FT, and how embracing our value of being subscriber focused has had a direct and meaningful impact on his role.
What drew you to the role at the FT?
I joined FT in June 2022. I started as a customer success manager in the FT Professional team and I’m currently the head of customer success for the APAC region. I saw the role of the customer success manager advertised on LinkedIn and decided to explore this opportunity as I believed I had transferable experience and skillset to thrive in this role. So after three rounds of phone/virtual interviews, here I am with the FT family and I haven’t looked back since.
A Day in the Life: Leading Customer Success in APAC
I usually start off the day by responding to any pending customer requests and ensure they are addressed or handed off to corresponding teams. Internally, I will focus on team related meetings and initiatives like 1-to-1 meetings with my direct reports and currently a series of webinars that we are organising to allow both existing readers and new prospects to understand the value of FT’s journalism and product features for their roles. I also connect with team members from sales and marketing regularly to ensure we are working on all fronts to achieve the same goals for each of our customers in their use of the FT.
Externally, I usually have a couple meetings planned with my customers from the APAC region daily. These can be regular check-in meetings or usage review meetings to ensure they are continuously finding value from their FT subscription and maintain good relationships with our key stakeholders.
The rest of the day involves tasks like researching our customers, reading updates of our new content/product features to stay informed, reviewing usage data of our customers to develop/identify appropriate engagement plans and proactively reaching out to find more stakeholders in our customers’ organisations to build a stronger network.
What excites you most about working in Customer Success?
Working in the FT Professional customer success team allows me to fully embrace our vision to “provide customers the best information, at the best time, to make the best decisions”. On a daily basis, I am building stronger rapport with our existing customers by helping them to maximise their use of their FT subscription to meet their goals and understand their needs. The opportunity to talk to various stakeholders like their CEOs, knowledge consultants, library managers, procurement departments and department managers, etc. in their organisations excites me. I love to act as the bridge between the FT and our corporate/education customers and help them to realise the value the FT can bring to their day to day.
What has surprised you about working at the FT?
Since joining the FT, I am surprised that the FT is so much more than just a newspaper. Apart from subscription services, there is also a wide range of businesses and products such as FT Live which organises global conferences and FT Board Director Programme which focuses on board education, runs training courses, workshops and network events for existing executive and non-executive directors. There is so much more the FT can offer to organisations and individuals in addition to quality journalism.
The FT's values are Ambition, Inclusion, Integrity, Curiosity, Trust and Subscriber Focused. Which of these values speaks to you most and why?
The value of “Subscriber Focused” speaks to me most. From a customer success perspective, the most important aspect is to help our customers to realise the value that the FT can bring to them. Understanding the right value proposition for different customers is key to our success in driving adoption and engagement of not only our subscription services, but also positioning FT Professional as their business intelligence resource.
How have you developed during your time at the FT?
The FT has provided me with different learning and training resources to equip myself better in my role. I have the ability to choose where and when I can learn best at my own pace via Thrive, our learning platform at the FT. My manager has also given me continuous coaching and mentoring, this really helps me to grow professionally and personally.
Savin’s story is a great example of how the FT empowers people to grow, make meaningful connections, and deliver value to our subscribers. From customer calls in APAC to global webinars and stakeholder engagement, his work is a reminder that great journalism is supported by a plethora of roles and disciplines that go behind it. If you are interested in learning more about the breadth of different opportunities across the FT, please visit our Careers site and follow our Life@FT Instagram and X accounts.