Mark Bernardin

Senior Customer Success Manager

Lewis Center, OH

Professional Summary

  • Senior Enterprise Customer Success Manager with 10+ years driving retention and expansion across Fortune 100 and Big Four enterprise accounts in cybersecurity SaaS.
  • Managed portfolios up to $8.5M ARR, achieving 115%+ net revenue retention through systematic at-risk account recovery, executive relationship building, and multi-product adoption strategies.
  • Turned around Lowe’s, The Home Depot, and Ernst & Young from RED to GREEN status through structured risk mitigation and cross-functional recovery execution.

Professional Experience

DTEX Systems, Senior Customer Success Manager

Aug 2024 - Jan 2025
  • Recruited for enterprise managed security services role with leadership pathway.
  • Position eliminated during onboarding as incoming VP restructured team.

Palo Alto Networks, Customer Success Manager

Jun 2022 - Aug 2024
  • Rescued three RED-status enterprise accounts (The Home Depot, Lowe's, Ernst & Young - combined $4M+ ARR), converting them to GREEN through systematic risk mitigation, executive stakeholder management, and cross-functional recovery plans. Upon transition, Lowe's VP described the work as the greatest Customer Success Manager Lowe's had ever had.
  • Drove multi-product adoption strategies and customer lifecycle management resulting in a 40% increase in engagement across security operations platforms.
  • Delivered Executive Business Reviews (EBRs) to C-suite stakeholders demonstrating measurable ROI, driving product adoption decisions, and identifying expansion opportunities that generated $2M+ in additional ARR.
  • Maintained proactive account health monitoring through regular cadence calls, health scoring frameworks, escalation management, and risk mitigation playbooks to prevent churn.
  • Redesigned Professional Services-to-CS handoff process reducing customer time-to-value by 20% and improving CSAT scores from 7.1 to 8.8, subsequently adopted as team standard.
  • Served as acting team lead coordinating seven CSMs during manager's extended leave, maintaining 100% renewal pipeline health.
  • Mentored peers on strategic account planning methodology and risk management best practices.
  • Departed for Director-level opportunity after maximizing impact in IC role.

Deepwatch, Customer Success Manager

Oct 2021 - May 2022
  • Managed enterprise MDR portfolio during strategic organizational shift.
  • Achieved 100% logo retention through proactive health monitoring and executive engagement.
  • Partnered with Security Operations teams to reduce customer MTTD/MTTR by 15%, improving security outcomes and customer satisfaction.
  • Developed health scoring framework for MDR accounts enabling earlier risk identification and churn prevention.
  • Departed as company transitioned from relationship-focused CSM model to technical TAM structure.

Swimlane, Customer Success Manager

Mar 2020 - Jun 2021
  • Managed B2B SaaS SOAR platform portfolio serving enterprise customers.
  • Achieved 120% net revenue retention through strategic account planning and proactive engagement.
  • Rescued at-risk enterprise account four months before renewal by orchestrating cross-functional recovery plan and compressing stalled implementation timeline.
  • Drove product adoption across seven accounts through workflow optimization and platform deployment expansion.
  • Identified and closed $1.5M+ in expansion opportunities tied to increased platform utilization.
  • Accelerated customer onboarding and time-to-value by 25% through improved handoff playbooks and proactive early engagement.

Proofpoint, Managed Services Representative - Customer Success

Jan 2019 - Feb 2020
  • Managed phishing defense and security awareness portfolio for B2B SaaS enterprise accounts.
  • Achieved 35% average improvement in security outcomes through customized engagement campaigns and customer advocacy.
  • Improved retention by 18% via outcome-driven onboarding, quarterly business reviews, and data-driven executive presentations.

Cofense (formerly PhishMe), Senior Information Security Program Manager/CSM

Aug 2014 - Nov 2018
  • Managed 50+ enterprise accounts, maintaining 95%+ logo retention while driving measurable phishing defense outcomes.
  • Achieved an average 40%+ reduction in phishing click rates through proactive customer engagement and program execution.
  • Prevented $500K+ in potential annual churn through early at-risk identification, executive engagement, and escalation management.
  • Identified and influenced $1M+ in expansion revenue through strategic account planning, ROI modeling, and targeted cross-sell and upsell initiatives.
  • Built onboarding playbooks and success frameworks that reduced new CSM ramp time by 25%, becoming standard practice organization-wide.
  • Mentored 10+ team members on at-risk account recovery methodology and customer relationship management best practices.

ClearPath CX, Founder & Customer Success Advisor

2021 - Present
  • Consultancy focused on at-risk account recovery methodologies.
  • Maintained part-time through 2024, expanded to full-time focus in 2025.
  • Authored 6 books on Customer Success including The Path to Green: Rescuing At-Risk Accounts and Building Resilient Customer Relationships.
  • Provide strategic advisory services to B2B SaaS companies on retention and account recovery.
  • Developed playbooks, templates, and toolkits used by practitioners across the industry.

Core Competencies & Technical Skills

Enterprise Account Management

$8.5M+ ARR Portfolio Management, B2B SaaS, At-Risk Account Recovery (95-115% NRR), Fortune 100 Relationship Management, Strategic Account Planning, Executive Business Reviews (EBR/QBR), Multi-Product Adoption, Expansion & Upsell, Customer Health Scoring, Churn Prevention, Renewals, Big Four Account Management

Cross-Functional Leadership & Collaboration

Sales Partnership, Product Feedback Loops, Professional Services Coordination, Support Escalation, Acting Team Lead, Peer Mentorship & Enablement

Technical Skills & Tools

Cybersecurity SaaS (SOAR/XSOAR, XDR, SIEM/XSIAM, Xpanse, MDR), Gainsight, Salesforce, HubSpot, Planhat, Excel, Smartsheet, Customer Analytics (CSAT, NPS, ARR/NRR, Adoption Metrics, Time-to-Value)

Certifications & Professional Development

Certifications
  • Certified Customer Success Manager (SuccessCOACHING) - Levels 1 & 2
  • CompTIA Security+ (Active through 2026)
  • Swimlane Certified SOAR Administrator
Advanced Training (2023-2025)
  • AI-Powered Customer Success & Journey Mapping with Generative AI (LinkedIn Learning)
  • Customer Success Value Realization & Loyalty Programs (LinkedIn Learning)
  • Critical Thinking with Generative AI (LinkedIn Learning)
  • Productivity Enhancement with AI Tools (LinkedIn Learning)
  • CompTIA CySA+ Complete Course (Udemy)
  • Smartsheet Tips and Tricks (LinkedIn Learning)
Target: Senior / Enterprise Customer Success roles