Meet Joe Kemple, Senior Customer Success Manager

Joe has joined Obbi Club to lead strategic customer success across our growing club network. We sat down with him to find out what drives him, what he believes makes partnerships work, and most importantly, what he orders at the 19th hole.

Background

Tell us about your background. What were you doing before joining Obbi?

For the past 11 years, I was living and working in Toronto, Canada, building my career in Customer Success. Earlier this year, my wife and I, along with our dog Nova, decided it was the right time to move back to England. Arguably a little more grey and wet here, but a slight improvement on the sub-zero temperatures we were used to.

While in Canada, I worked across a range of organisations, focusing mainly on strategic accounts and building strong, trusted customer partnerships. I also contributed to the growth of Customer Success teams that delivered real value. The principle was simple: if our customers were not happy, neither were we.

What drew you to Obbi specifically?

Obbi takes something that is usually quite reactive and messy and makes it feel clear and manageable. In Customer Success, I have seen how much difference it makes when teams have simple workflows that help them stay ahead of issues rather than firefighting them.

Obbi felt like a product that genuinely helps teams work better every day, especially around safety and accountability. The more it is used, the more value it creates. Joining a growing business at this stage in Obbi’s journey, alongside a passionate and talented team, felt like exactly the right move.

Approach to Customer Success

What does good Customer Success actually look like in practice?

Proactive, clear, and focused on real outcomes. It is about understanding what success actually looks like for the customer and making sure everything we do is aligned to getting them there.

The best CS relationships feel like a genuine partnership where both sides are shaping success together. The customer’s needs guide what good looks like, and the product evolves because of that feedback loop. When it works, both the customer and the product move forward together.

What is the most common mistake clubs make when they go live with a new platform?

Assuming the work is done once the deal is signed and the platform goes live. In reality, that is just the starting point. What happens next determines whether it sticks or not.

Momentum is everything at that stage. If you lose it early, it is hard to recover. Success should be revisited continuously, not just at go-live. The best outcomes happen when customers feel they have a real voice. When they can feed back and shape the product, it stops being a tool they use and becomes something that amplifies their expertise and simplifies their day-to-day.

The Club World

When a club tells you they are too busy to fully adopt the platform, what is your honest response?

I completely understand. But the truth is, you were busy yesterday, you are busy today, and you will likely be busy tomorrow. That is exactly why it is worth starting now, even in a small way.

When something feels like extra work, it usually means the value has not been connected to their day-to-day yet. So rather than pushing for full adoption at once, I focus on a few key areas where the platform can genuinely save time or reduce friction quickly. It is also worth remembering: partial adoption often creates more work, not less.

The Human Side

What part of the job genuinely excites you most?

The early stages of platform adoption. That moment when you help cut through complexity and act in a consultative way. Understanding how a customer works and what they are trying to achieve is the simplest but most effective way to make a real difference.

Working with such a passionate and talented team is a big part of it too. What Obbi is today is the result of that talent, and being part of the mission as it grows into its next stage is genuinely exciting.

Is there a line or idea that has stuck with you recently?

From Andrew Greig’s book Preferred Lies: A Journey to the Heart of Golf:

“Nothing on earth can enlarge the sweet spot, but we can enlarge the area of forgiveness.”

That applies to Customer Success more than people might expect. You cannot control every variable or make every process perfect. But you can build processes that are resilient, simple to use, and forgiving when real-world complexity creeps in. That is what great onboarding and ongoing support should look like.

What would your Obbi colleagues be surprised to know about you?

Most people are surprised by how early I start the day, usually around 4am. I have always enjoyed getting ahead before half the world wakes up. Most mornings, I walk Nova, get to the gym, and spend some time reading, all before the workday begins. There is something I really value about the quiet and structure of those early hours before everything speeds up.

What is your go-to order at the 19th hole?

Two pints of Guinness. One for the round I just played, and the other for the version of me that still thinks I am getting better.

We are delighted to welcome Joe to the team. His experience building trusted, long-term customer partnerships is exactly what our customer success team deliver. At Obbi, success is not defined at the point of sale. It is defined when a club can walk into an inspection or onboard a new member of staff and know with confidence that their systems are ready. Joe and the Customer Success team’s job is to make sure every club we work with gets there. We look forward to introducing him to many of you soon.