The Customer Success Channel

This podcast episode marks a special moment as Anika Zubair wraps up her four-year hosting journey on the Customer Success Channel podcast.The exciting news is that we're welcoming our very own, Malin Skoglund, VP of Customer Success Americas, who will be stepping in as the new host. Listen to the full episode now and learn more about the future of our podcast.Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Brandon Ramsey, Head of Customer Success at OnsiteIQ about how to ensure that customer success truly stands on its own and is not overshadowed by sales. Customer Success (CS) is frequently linked with sales and often entails revenue targets. However, is this truly the most effective way to structure your CS department? Why should CS not be seen as a mere extension of sales? And how can you persuade senior leadership that CS should not be responsible for renewals and upsells?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Sue Nabeth Moore, Co-Founder of Success Chain about the future of customer success. As we approach the end of the year, it's crucial to begin strategizing for customer success in 2024. Despite the hurdles we've encountered recently, we must now pave the way for a successful year ahead. So, what should be the key focus areas for customer success in 2024? And how can we strike the perfect balance between customer ROI and fostering business growth? Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Maranda Dziekonski, Senior VP of Customer Success at Datasembly about the importance of viewing customer success as a revenue generator rather than a cost center.The field of customer success (CS) has been through a whirlwind of changes this year due to the global economy. As we near the end of 2023 and start planning for 2024, sustainability and revenue have become top priorities for every CS department. But why is revenue such a vital piece of the CS puzzle? And how can CSMs and CS leaders enhance their skills to adapt to the evolving market?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Chris Regester, Chief Customer Office at Planhat about how to deliver customer outcomes through a value framework. Achieving customer success is a long-term endeavor that demands ongoing dedication and collaboration with our clients. A solid foundation is provided by a company value framework, guiding businesses on this journey. So, how can we consistently deliver lasting customer value through a value framework embraced by the entire organization? And what are the initial steps to building such a framework?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Daniel Ennis, Scale Team Manager at Monday.com about scaled customer success and explores its significance in today's ever-evolving business landscape. Customer success at scale has been a longstanding practice, but it has gained even greater significance in the current economy. So, what are the initial steps to consider when establishing a scaled CS team? How can we strike the perfect balance between automated interactions and maintaining a genuine human connection with customers? And what are the key metrics and KPIs that your team should track?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Tulasi Ryali, CSM of the Year by Customer Success Excellence about how to help your customer reach their business goals through value creation.Being a Customer Success Manager (CSM) requires great multitasking skills and adaptability. You need excellent communication skills, outstanding problem-solving abilities and a remarkable understanding of customers. So, who holds the title of the "Best CSM of the Year" and how can you join their league?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Shannon Nishi, Director of Customer Success at Customer.io about sustainable growth in Customer Success.Times are tough and the “big hiring days” when scaling a SaaS business are long gone. In today's economy, you have to think about sustainable growth rather than growth at all costs. So, how do you do that in Customer Success? How do you ensure your CSMs are strategic and not just support? And how do you measure sustainable growth? Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Declan Ivory, VP of Customer Support at Intercom about how AI is transforming the customer support department. The future of customer support departments is rapidly approaching. So, what changes can we expect in 2023 and beyond? What skills will support agents need to keep up? And what key performance indicators should we be tracking when proactive support becomes the norm?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Jan Young, Principal Consultant for The Success League about AI and it's effect on Customer Success. ChatGPT has taken the world by storm and we are now all wondering how it will transform the Customer Success (CS) industry. For example, how will AI change the role of a CSM or will it even take CS jobs away? How can it help with customer retention? And what positive/ negative effects will it potentially have? Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with  Carly Agar, Founder and CEO at CarlyAgar about landing a customer success job in 2023. As the tech industry experiences a wave of layoffs, the job market is flooded with talented professionals seeking their next customer success opportunity. So, what should you do if you have been laid off? And how do you prep for interviews and find the right next company? Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Jay Nathan, EVP and CCO at Higher Logic about how to manage churn in turbulent times. If you're currently looking for strategies to prevent and reduce customer churn - you're not alone. With the gloomy outlook for the world economy, companies are preparing for the effects of an economic downturn. Hence increased focus on churn and how to handle it. But how do you decrease the risk of churn? How do you show ROI daily to your customers? And how are you working on expansion during renewals?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Julie Reader, Customer Success Coach at Dooly about landing your first CS role without any SaaS experience. Taking the first step into your customer success (CS) career is something we all have to do once. But how do you apply for your first CS role without having any SaaS experience? And what are some of the transferrable skills you can bring from your previous role?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Jennifer Yorke, Chief Customer Officer at Omertria about how to ensure the success of your CS department during a recession.With the recession looming, there are many things a CS leader has to consider in order to ensure that the customer success department is still thriving. For example, how are you able to keep your team focused on the success of their customers during such turbulent times? And how can you do more with potentially less resources?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Prashanth Jothi, Customer Success Manager at HubSpot about how to drive customer outcomes based on customer maturity.The life of a Customer Success Manager (CSM) is never a dull one. Everyday you meet fascinating people, change how businesses operate (normally for the better), and even help a few get out of a hole. Sometimes it can even be a rollercoaster of emotions!But how can a CSM make sure they are making the most of their precious time? What are the best tactical things a CSM can do today to help their customers? How can they ensure every customer in their portfolio continues to see success? And more importantly, how do you measure that success?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Gemma Cipriani-Espineira, Chief Customer Officer (CCO) at Chili Piper about what metrics are important and how to report them correctly. Metrics are critical in customer success – especially when reporting to the leadership team. But often SaaS businesses are unsure on how and what to report. For example, when it comes to customer success, what does leadership want to know? And what are the metrics that really matter?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Claire O'Regan, Director of Customer Success at Juro about how to drive time to value (TTV) for customers in only 14 days.Getting a quick return on investment (ROI) from new software is essential. But how long should it take for a new customer to start seeing value? And is it actually possible to get customers up and running in just two weeks?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Markus Rentsch, CEO at Remark-able about how to grow customer success while focusing on customer outcomes. Many companies talk about customer-led growth and customer-focused business plans. But what does that actually mean? For example, how do you measure customer outcomes and what is the limitation of those metrics?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Irit Eizips, Chief Customer Officer & CEO at CSM Practice about how to close a renewal with an upsell.  While gaining new customers is exciting, retaining them is where your SaaS will generate revenue. So, how does your company build the best renewal process? How do you gauge the sentiment of the customer for the renewal? And how should a CSM be compensated?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Pat Phelan, Chief Customer Officer at GoCardless about charging for customer success.To charge for customer success or not to charge is the question many SaaS companies are currently asking themselves. It can be tricky to know whether or not it should be a part of the cost of goods sold or if it should be charged for as a premium service. So, how can companies start to charge for success? And what are some metrics CS leaders should track if they do?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Marco Carrubba, Director of Customer Success at Microsoft about how to design customer success for a mature organization. An enterprise software company has plenty of functions fighting for priority. But growing your existing customers is just as important - or even more important - at large-scale organizations as at SMBs. So how do you ensure CS is seen as a crucial business function in an enterprise environment? And how do you handle internal change management in order to build a global CS team?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Marija Skobe-Pilley, Head of Customer Success (EMEA) at Clickup about leading a CS team in EMEA and working with EMEA customers.Leading a CS team in EMEA and working with EMEA customers can be quite different from other parts of the world. So, how does local culture play into expanding your CS operations? How do you strategize globally but execute locally? And what sort of CS strategy works best in EMEA? Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Bill Cushard, General Manager at Dragonboat about everything you need to know about customer education.At some point as your business grows your CSMs are not going to have the capacity to continue to educate your customers individually. So, when should a SaaS company start adding customer education into its business? How do you use customer education to grow customers, gain new prospects and educate your market? And what are the KPIs and data points that you need to measure for a successful customer education department?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Harini Gokul, Head of Customer Success at AWS about her experience of shaping and building CS as a value realization.Shifting from defense to offense in Customer Success is not a simple task. But to help your customers achieve their business goals, you need to have a proactive mindset and not a reactive to-do-list. So, how do you make a move and find the time to focus on the offensive? And what are some metrics that companies should focus on to see CS as a value realization?  Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Erika Villarreal, Senior Customer Success Manager at Condeco about how to build your personal brand in Customer Success and how your personal brand can land your dream job. Landing your Customer Success dream job is far from being a simple task. It is a competitive industry and you need to find a way to stand out from the crowd - and that's where your personal brand comes in. When done right, personal branding is a tool to help climb the career ladder. But how do you get started building your personal brand? And why is it so important in CS? Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Matt Myszkowski, VP of Customer Experience for EMEIA at Cision about why mental health should be prioritized in Customer Success. Mental health might still be a taboo topic in your Customer Success department, but we are here to help you change that. So, what are some of the first steps a CSM or a CS leader can take in making sure that mental health is prioritized at their workplace and that it is actually “ok not to be ok”? And how do you find the balance while still delivering results and outcomes for your customers? Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Vijay Mehrotra, Professor of Business Analytics and Information Systems at the University of San Francisco about what tomorrow's CS leaders are being taught. Just a few years ago, Customer Success was still an emerging profession and barely mentioned at university. Many of us have ended up in the industry through a different career path, such as sales, marketing, or product. So, how did CS go from being unknown to being taught as one of the MBA courses at the University of San Francisco? And what's the future of CS education?Vijay's resources:USF Facebook pageUSF Customer Success ManagementAnalytic Magazine Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Andrew Marks, Co-Founder of SuccessHACKER, about how to build effective health scores. Today, most businesses are adopting some level of health scoring in order to track if their customers are healthy or not. So, what are some of the basic metrics that you need to put in place to understand health scoring? And when should a SaaS company consider building out a health score?Check out SuccessHACKER: https://www.successhacker.co/Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with David Jackson, CS Coach, Author and CEO at TheCustomer.Co, about why we should focus on people, not customers. In the early days for SaaS companies, we tend to focus on sales and product led growth as we are trying to find some sort of proof of concept of a product. So, when should a SaaS company really shift to customer led growth? And why should customer success focus on people and not necessarily a company or logo name?Link to David's book: https://www.amazon.com/Customer-Led-Growth-guide-building-company-ebook/dp/B09DBMXJK7Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Jeff Heckler, Director of CS Solutions at MarketSource (former Global Head of CS at Pipedrive) about scaling CS teams and CS models.Scaling Customer Success in (any) organization is not a simple task. It requires the right combination of technology, people, and processes to hit the mark. For example, how do you manage to keep up with rocketship growth and make sure you have a team and process around this to scale effectively? Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Jennifer Cramer, VP of Customer Success at Planhat about "is all churn bad"?Every SaaS business is fearing churn. It is also one of the most important metrics to be tracking for all Customer Success teams. But maybe not all churn is bad? For example, should it be okay to let go of bad fit customers? And when should a SaaS or tech company start monitoring and measuring churn?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Emily Garza, AVP of Customer Success at Fastly about CS responsibility for revenue. Customer Success responsibility for revenue is a hot topic and highly debated in the CS world. So, should a CSM hold a revenue target? Should CSMs be compensated like we do in sales? And should we really be charging for CS or should it be baked into the cost of goods sold? Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Wayne McCulloch, Global Head of CS (SaaS) at Google Cloud, about the taboos of Customer Success. The function of Customer Success is still maturing, and most companies are currently evolving and growing their CS departments. That being said, there are all these unanswered questions that people don't really mention or avoid. For example, is it okay to charge for CS, who should own the customer feedback loop, and should the CSM hold a revenue number?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with the inspiring Emmanuel Malanda, Global Head of Customer Success at Calypso, about data driven workflows and scaling CS Operations. As your Customer Success team grows, there comes a point when your CSMs are spending more time doing some of the administrative work rather than focusing solely on what drives value to your customers. So, how do you build effective CS workflows to help save CSMs time and optimize their processes both internally and externally? And how can a dedicated CS Operation role help scale your business? Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with the inspiring Elisabeth Courland, Digital CSM at Talentsoft, about data driven customer journeys in digital CS.Data is undoubtedly crucial in customer success management, as it enables you to have data driven insights, provide analytics, and any upsell opportunities. So, how do you integrate this data into your customer journey to optimize the process, track sales activities, and ultimately fuel growth?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with the inspiring Kristi Faltorusso, VP of Customer Success at IntelliShift, on switching from a reactive to proactive CS.When establishing their CS team, many organizations start with a reactive business strategy, responding to unanticipated issues only after it occurs. Shifting the mindset to a proactive strategy can enable the team to anticipate those issues, therefore eliminating the problems before they appear. So, how do you make that shift from firefighting churn to a lean and mean proactive CS machine?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Kellie Lucas, author and coach, on how to turn customer feedback into insights.Gathering customer feedback is an important part of the CS journey, not only can it provide valuable insights but can help maintain relationships with customers. But once you've collected this information, what do you do with it and how do you make it actionable?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Ray Rauch, VP of Customer Success at Concord, about the evolution of the CSM.Customer success has been a discipline for over 10 years now and what started out as a proactive account management position has now evolved. Companies have teams, including customer marketing, account executives and product managers who work directly with CS to deliver a customer first product roadmap. CS has now become the heart of most SaaS organizations and the role of the CSM is more important than ever before.Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Alex Farmer, VP of Customer Success at Cognite, about building customer advocacy programs.Creating strong customer advocates is something that every customer success professional strives for with their customer base. But what makes a good customer become an advocate? Is it how much of your product they use? A positive survey feedback? or them becoming a reference? Not only is it difficult to define a customer advocate but it also difficult to transform your good customers into great advocates. Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Fran Beckley, Head of Client Services at SourceBreaker, about keeping CSMs engaged at work and career development.Remote working has become part of the new “normal” and being distant from your team can make it hard to gage what your CSMs are doing, how much they enjoy the job and any issues they may be facing. So, how do you ensure that your CSM team is engaged and what avenues are in place for their career development?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with George C. Huang, Director of Customer Experience & Success at Remo, a tech startup behind Remo Conference, an interactive videoconferencing platform for creating interactive online experiences that rival live, in-person events.A large part of Remos' success is directly related to Customer Success and their customer experience. They have scaled and grown their business but specifically their Customer Success organization over the last 3 months. We discuss how focusing on Customer Success from the beginning can lead to astronomical growth.Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

In this Podcast our host Anika Zubair chats with Chris Jones, Director of Customer Success at Enboarder, an experience driven onboarding platform, about Remote Customer Onboarding. Chris has worked in Customer Success for 6 years, having worked with both small to medium sized businesses, through to global corporations rolling out SaaS solutions. Chris has been involved in developing a Customer Success team at LinkedIn, as well as building and growing a team in the fast growing startup that is Enboarder.Tech companies have started to onboard new customers remotely. For some companies this is something that has never been done before and for others it was a natural transition. But now after months of remote onboarding is your method working? Are you able to keep your customers engaged? And can you deliver a successful onboarding experience remotely?Podcast enquiries: sofia@planhat.com

Our host Anika Zubair chats with Nabil Dabbagh, Head of Customer Success at DeepCrawl, an SEO solution that bridges the gap between marketing and engineering departments by ensuring your website's code is Search Engine-friendly. He has been a part of the growth and scaling up of the Customer Success department at DeepCrawl for over 4 years and has a wealth of information to share, discussing how to structure and restructure your Customer Success organization to fit your growing business needs.

Our host Anika Zubair speaks with Anna Poorna, Head of Community at Freshworks, the customer engagement software company that enables organisations of all sizes to deliver better experiences. A true customer advocate at heart, Anna has 8+ years of experience in Customer Success and Marketing and in her previous roles helped run and scale the Customer Success teams for the EMEA market at Freshworks.Anna has been building up a customer community for years and has held positions like CSM, CS lead and for the last year she has been working on building out a customer community at Freshworks. We discuss with Anna, how to start an online customer community and also how a customer community can be used to scale your customer success effectively while making sure you maximise your communities potential.

Our host Anika Zubair speaks with Lauren Cumming, Head of Customer Success at Fixflo, a property maintenance software solution. Having experienced some of the unique challenges that come with working in startup environments and the growth of Fixflo from startup to scaleup, Lauren shares her tips and tricks on managing and scaling a Customer Success team throughout this transition.

Our host, Anika Zubair speaks with Dan Farley, VP of Customer Success at Seenit on how to make impactful Customer Success changes during Covid-19.COVID-19 has completely changed the global economy and it is now, more than ever, extremely important for teams to work together. It is especially important that Customer Success teams come together, strive to retain customers and support their customer base. As a business, it is difficult to know what to focus on, as there is no playbook for these events.

Our host, Anika Zubair and now VC investor Rav Dhaliwal talk about how he has scaled Customer Success teams, how Venture Capitalists look at Customer Success strategies of their investments and his views on Customer Success leading indicators such as NPS and CSAT. Prior to becoming a VC, Rav has run Customer Success at Slack in EMEA, and held senior Customer Success positions, managing key processes like Customer Onboarding and expansion at firms such as Zendesk, Microsoft and Salesforce.Customer Success is fast becoming one of the key drivers of company valuations. Having a clear, repeatable customer lifecycle, low gross churn, strong customer net retention and a Customer Success strategy that maximises customer lifetime value are differentiators when VCs assess potential investments.

Our host, Anika Zubair talks to Adrian Beck, Senior Director of Customer Success at Tanium about his experiences growing the Customer Success organisation from 15 people to 70 people in 7 countries over 3 years! As any Customer Success leader knows, recruiting strong CS team members is incredibly challenging. Firstly, CS is fast growing but still a young profession so the pool of experience is small, secondly there are many different forms of Customer Success Management from high touch to pure tech touch and thirdly succeeding at Customer Success requires a broad set of skills. Put simply, it's hard to succeed at Success. *Apologies for the audio around the 17 min mark

Working with third party vendors to provide your customers with additional services is beneficial to you and the other vendor involved. It can do a lot from a sales perspective by helping to drive business to you and your partners business more quickly. But in Customer Success we're all about the relationship post-sales, and there is no reason to drop the ball on the customer relationship and success for either party. The third party vendor relationship can be a challenging one to navigate when it comes to how to handle customers; when is it the third-party's responsibility to step in? Who is the best contact for the customer when it comes to handling issues? I talked to Violaine Yziquel, Director of Customer Success at Box, about it. She's in the process of creating and testing out new processes to ensure that this relationship doesn't sacrifice the customer's success.

This week I spoke with Paul Henderson, an author, speaker, consultant and founder of Outcome Leaders on customer success, about his new book that's coming out. The book is called The Outcome Generation - How a New Generation of Technology Vendors Thrive Through True Customer Success, and it provides advice for companies who want to take their operations to the next level with a customer success mindset in marketing, sales, and customer success by focusing on success outcomes. You can find his book coming out on Amazon, and more info on his site: gen3cs.com.

Customer experience and usability is an essential part of customer success. You first need to make sure that you have a product that is built and working in a way that is for the customer, and is constantly considering how the customer is going to be using it to gain value. If your product loses sight of this, it's likely it will flop. I spoke with Zachary Schulte, a member of the Customer Experience team at MeetEdgar, and we talked about how his team, the Customer Experience team, is the voice of the customer and working to ensure the product never loses the perspective of their users. We also spoke about ways to advocate for the customer when there can sometimes be resistance from product team, and how to balance deciding what's best for the product and what the customer wants.