Nutanix

While wrapping up her undergraduate studies in 2017, Sabrina Leung stumbled across a Product Marketing Intern role at Nutanix. She applied and landed the internship, giving her the opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at the many logistics that went into producing the Nutanix .NEXT® user conference. During her internship, she honed her skills and seized opportunities to work across the company, building a strong reputation for herself beyond her immediate team. After completing her internship and graduating from San Jose State University, Sabrina took on a contract events role at Nutanix before accepting a full-time customer marketing position.

We spoke with Sabrina to get her perspective on Nutanix customers, the exciting and challenging parts of her work, and what brings her joy in her free time. Here’s our conversation.

What does customer marketing do?

Our mission in customer marketing is to infuse the voice of our customers in all we do. Customer marketing oversees customer references and customer engagement programs. We use customer storytelling to spotlight the work that our customers do as they modernize their IT infrastructure with Nutanix solutions. Beyond that, we’re about strengthening customer relationships and building communities for people who are passionate about technology.

What are some projects you work on?

My main focus is our .NEXT conference. I identify customers to highlight throughout our conference program. This includes guest speakers on the mainstage and technical breakout sessions. Additionally, we host a customer awards program to evangelize and recognize the work our customers are doing to drive digital and technological transformation at their companies. Off stage, our customers are also speaking with the media and analysts.

One of my favorite parts of .NEXT is the experiential component where we find creative ways to weave our customers and their brands into the event. For example, at .NEXT Copenhagen, we hosted an evening party where we featured customer Lindt and served their chocolates fondue style. Another activation we set up was my “Best Day Ever” storyboard in the expo hall to showcase customer brands like Belkin, WD-40, Nandos, and Stella Artois.

Pre-pandemic, most of my work centered around an in-person conference. When the pandemic struck, we moved to hosting .NEXT virtually. This meant we needed to think through how to optimally share our customer stories that would captivate attendees the same way in person events did. There are a lot of possibilities with remote recording software nowadays! 

Tell us about the Nutanix customers. What stands out?

Our customers are passionate, loyal, and supportive! They love our technology and go above and beyond to champion it. They’ll take part in all kinds of reference engagements. Many join our engagement programs like our User Groups, the Xtribe advocacy program, and the Technology Champion group—none of which they have to do, but choose to do. 

A recurring theme that I hear from customers is how much they value our support experience. Our support team is accessible and deeply knowledgeable about Nutanix products and other technologies in our ecosystem. This directly impacts the 20,000+ customers we work with and Nutanix as an organization continues to have a 7-year average NPS of 90.

What is the best part of your job? What is most challenging?

The most gratifying part of my work is hearing success stories and getting the chance to share them. The biggest challenge is being patient—many factors go into customer stories, like establishing trust, building customer readiness, and getting the necessary approvals from their communication and compliance teams. 

What do you enjoy outside of work? 

I love concerts and live music. I am a big Drake and Beyoncé fan and have seen them both perform twice. What Beyoncé did at Coachella was unheard of. 

I also go to Orangetheory Fitness a few times a week for exercise. I call it “Orange Therapy” because it helps me relieve stress and get my mind off of things.