Behind the badge

Serious about customers.
Not too serious about ourselves.

I’m Blake Bess, a Customer Success leader with a background in technical customer work, team leadership, and renewal-risk operations. Ruff Justice is where I turn that experience into something useful, approachable, and a little more fun.

Blake’s detective character in a trench coat, holding a magnifying glass
The human half

Why a detective?

Customer work has taught me to be careful with the obvious explanation. A quiet account may still be getting value. A busy dashboard may not mean the customer is engaged. A capable colleague may need confidence rather than another training course.

I have co-built renewal-risk approaches, led customer-facing teams, coordinated customer enablement, and created systems for capturing customer outcomes. The part that interests me most is connecting what we observe to what we actually do next.

A resource, not a sales pitch.

Ruff Justice is an independent, noncommercial Customer Success field guide. It combines anonymized experiences with fictional teaching scenarios and practical tools. You do not need to be looking for a new platform, a consultant, or a course to find something useful here.

The goal is simple: make it easier to ask a better question, support a teammate, and have a more useful customer conversation.

How we tell stories

Playful framing. Clear boundaries.

  • From experience: an anonymized account grounded in my work, with shared contributions credited.
  • Illustrative case: a fictional scenario written to explore a decision, not a claim about a customer I managed.
  • Recreated template: a newly written educational tool, not an internal document from a former employer.

We do not invent performance numbers or present fictional outcomes as personal achievements. Not every investigation ends with a saved renewal. Sometimes the honest result is a better question, a clearer decision, or a useful next step.

The opinions and teaching material here are my own. Customers and colleagues are anonymized, and the site does not speak for or imply endorsement by a current or former employer.

The golden retriever half

Every good detective needs a good partner.

Ruff Justice brings curiosity, loyalty, and an excellent nose for a story that does not quite add up. He is also a useful reminder to stay interested in the person behind the account.

Blake asks the questions. Ruff makes sure nobody leaves a promising clue, or a snack, behind.

The original detective duo, Blake and his golden retriever partner