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Onboarding is arguably one of the most critical components of customer engagement and retention, so scaling it well is important. This week, Brittany Soinski, Manager, Onboarding at Loom joins Jay Nathan to share how her team has tackled this program: Created an onboarding team who is dedicated to owning this process Developed strong templates by starting with post-sale, ending with renewal, and identifying all of the things that happen in between Set a 60-day goal for customers and identified how many reached it within this timeframe Utilized Human Centered Design in the process Connect with Brittany -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week, Dan Ennis, Manager of Scaled Customer Success at Monday.com joins Jay Nathan to continue our series about Scaled CS. Starting with Dan's definition of scale, "Increasing the impact with customers without necessarily having the same increase in input on the human side", Dan walks us through the scale process Monday.com went through. Sharing some focused areas that shifted from a 1:1 to a 1:many without a heavy internal lift with ideas such as Office Hours, communication shifts, measuring everything and using that data to identify priorities, and developing asynchronous content, Dan provides some valuable methods that were successful for his team and customers. Connect with Dan here Good Strategy, Bad Strategy Book Summary -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week Jay Nathan is joined by Nisha Baxi, Head of Community and Digital CS at Gong to discuss the 5 questions that are often asked by companies who haven't implemented community. Why Community (What is the ROI/Value) Who should own and run customer communities? How do you staff a community? How do you get people to share content in a new community? Should your community be open? Nisha shares how Gong has become a community that their customers rely on for information, support, and connections. If your company is considering a community, or if you are looking to expand community into Customer Success, be sure to add this podcast to your queue! Connect with Nisha -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week Jeff Breunsbach takes a look at how being successful with a scaled approach relies on prioritizing and executing on a small number of things very well. Simple options such as education and training Tracking consistency Strong content that resonates with customer needs By making sure these pieces are well built and have strong customer awareness, you are setting the stage for a scaled approach that works. -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan of the Gain Grow Retain Podcast join Jared Fuller and Isaac Morehouse on the Nearbound Podcast for a special live crossover episode. They discuss the importance of partnerships in customer success and how to bring the customer voice into planning meetings. They also explore the challenges and opportunities in B2B tech companies and the power of community in customer success. The conversation highlights the need to focus on helping customers and building trust, as well as the role of technology and data in planning for the future.**Key Takeaways:**- Scaling customer success efforts through community and partnerships is essential for success in 2024.- Building trust and delivering value are key to turning customers into advocates.- Understanding the business goals and needs of customers is crucial for effective customer success.- Integrating with partners and leveraging their expertise can enhance customer success efforts.- Taking a customer-centered approach and focusing on their journey can drive retention and growth.**Quotes:**- "Be the DJ, not the talent." - Jay Nathan- "Helping people get where they're trying to go builds trust and advocacy." - Jared Fuller- "Know your customer's business and market to deliver value and create win-win situations." - Jeff Breunsbach******************Chapters:******************00:05 Introduction00:31 The Importance of Partnerships in Customer Success01:07 The Importance of Customer Success in Business01:19 Looking Forward to 2024: Strategies and Predictions01:54 The Challenges and Opportunities in B2B Tech Companie03:04 The Concept of Scaling in Customer Succes03:29 The Power of Community in Customer Success04:40 Turning Customers into Advocates: Strategies and Examples04:46 The Power of Customer Advocacy11:49 The Importance of Trust in Customer Relationships20:24 Leveraging Consulting Partners for Customer Success20:55 Building Partner Communities to Enable Customer Success21:37 The Role of Integration Partners in Customer Retention22:05 Understanding Partner Attach Rate22:42 The Importance of Business Strategy in Partnering22:52 Segmenting Customer Base for Effective Partnering28:46 The Role of Partner Leaders in Driving Connections29:23 The Black Swan Moment in Strategic Alliances31:31 The Power of Understanding Your Customers' Business33:40 Planning for FY24: A Community-Driven Approach
This week, Jeff Breunsbach takes a look at some important components of customer education: Product Learn what part of your product aligns with the customer needs Our customers don't need to utilize every part of our product or be aware of every new feature Focus on the features and aspects they need and help them become experts in those areas Specialized education is better than a 1 size fits all versio Business Use educational pieces that help your users have a better understanding of their own business goals This helps make sure they are maximizing your product for their needs Market Understanding market trends can help your customers understand how your product fits into their goals Keep an eye on other products that have overlap and make sure those intersection points are well understood -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week Jeff takes a look at the impact of equating a Named CSM with quality service. With the current economy, having a named CSM is a luxury many companies are no longer investing. CS teams are now in a position to pivot, but an understanding of that impact must be understood in order to successfully transition. -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week Jeff takes a moment to talk through the waves of the Customer Success Team journey. There are typically 3 waves of focus within the team as specialization becomes necessary. First 2 waves are mainly focused on 1:1 programs while the 3rd is all about scaling. However, in this state of moving away from 1:1 towards a more scaled focus, we need to add roles from the 3rd wave much sooner int the process. Learn more about setting your 2024 team and plans up for the best possible outcome. -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week, Nicole Saunders, Director of Community at Zendesk talks with Jeff about how community can help bring value to the customer experience by bringing CS in as a strong content provider. Helps move from a transactional to a relational and learning experience Helps align the community around scaled ideas to create synergy and utilize tools and offerings collaboratively across the company to become more retention focused Helps focus on certain KPIs and metrics that other teams have so you can use the data to tell the story of the customer and the community well Connect with Nicole -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
In this episode, Mike Sasaki, VP of Customer Success at Emburse talks with Jay about scaling CS. Not simply from a growth perspective, but a more important impact on profitability focus. From areas of his business he has been able to scale effectively with strong results to other areas of consideration that have to be managed when scaling programs, Mike's practical examples and insights will help you take a look at scaling in a broader way. Connect with Mike -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
Change is inevitable, but how a leader handles it can be the difference between success and failure. Join Dillon Young, Leader of CS at Maxwell as he and Jeff Breunsbach take a look at changes and how to handle them well. Identify issues and gaps, focusing on leadeing indicators Evaluate potential solution effectiveness indentifying lagging indicators Trust your fellow teams to do their part in the process...change has to include everyone Ask questions and collaborate Bottom Line: - Prioritization is important - Determining effective use of time for resources - Make sure what you are measuring has an impact and improvement will be invested in Connect with Dillon Lifetime Value -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week Jeff Kushmerek joins Jeff Breunsbach to talk about the difference between onboarding and implementation Onboarding Implementation Ongoing Finite Period Measurement - Time to Value Measurement - Time to Launch No handoffs Multiple handoffs Jeff K. shares his insights into how to handle the differing needs of Implementation in a way that supports the customer's goals, the metrics needed to be measured, and the outcomes that need to be defined. -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
Sandy Yu and Jeff Breunsbach talk about the importance of priorities in this week's Gain Grow Retain podcast. Knowing that there can only be one priority at a time, how do you select what to focus on? Here are some of the questions being discussed: Prepare by understanding the resourcing, the organizational needs, and the cost of NOT doing it for each potential priority Decide after gathering data (but don't let the research go on too long!) What are the responsibilities of the leader in helping the team successfully work on the prioritized project? How can you utilize routines to make it outcomes focused without stifling creativity? Connect with Sandy Revenue CCO -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
Daphne Lopes, Principle Manager of CS at Hubspot joins Jay Nathan to talk about Hubspot's focus on meeting each customer at the right time with the right information through scaled CS. In this episode, learn how segmentation, data models, content, and cross-collaboration all play a foundational role in creating a customer experience that is based on scale without sacrifice. Connect with Daphne -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week Rohan Gupta and Gopal Srinivasan, Partners at Deloitte, join Jeff to talk about a hot topic: AI in Customer Success. Generative AI has made access more accessible for the average person, but what are some ways CS teams can utilize AI to support the work they do in a more effective and efficient way? From practical suggestions for getting started to potential roadblocks, the conversation focuses on the shifts teams and companies are making to utilize this powerful tool. Connect with Rohan Gupta Connect with Gopal Srinivasan Implications of Generative AI: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/consulting/articles/generative-artificial-intelligence.html Sustainable Growth in SaaS: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/consulting/articles/enterprise-saas-ndr-growth.html The Shift to Customer Outcomes: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/consulting/articles/the-shift-to-customer-outcomes.html -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week, Jeff discusses the various stages of the CS team and focuses on the newest realm of specialized roles. All of the stages are important to building an effective team. These specialized roles: Scaled Program Managers, Customer Marketers, and Community Managers can help drive specific outcomes by developing campaigns that benefit customers whether they have a named CSM or not. -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
In this re-release from April 2020, Jay Joined Mark Stoddard and Dave Blake of ClientSuccess as part of their CS Leadership Webinar Series. Although they talk about the impact of COVID on the market in general and customer engagement specifically, the conversation is just as relevant today as teams undergo major changes that often result in the loss of your primary stakeholder. After sharing some practical tips, the group them shifts to answering audience questions, making this a great podcast to revisit. -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week, Jay Nathan talks to Shauna McClemens about how Higher Logic Vanilla has built a strategy utilizing their customer community to scale CS programs. By ensuring that the entire community is focused on customer success, companies are able to provide a space for 'the right information at the right time for the right person' in a way that is more effective than any other method. Listen to the process she and her colleagues worked through to move from a space that was operating without leadership to one that is providing value to customers through a variety of opportunities. Connect with Shauna -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week, Jeff takes a quick look at the idea that every customer gets a CSM. This belief has resulted in high costs, lower impact, and a mistaken idea that the CSM is the solver of all problems. Instead, focus on your top revenue generators for 1:1, and look at scaling the rest in an effective and valuable way. Strong self-service is much more valuable than a CSM with a 500-customer book of business with little to no interactions and no additional programs to support their needs. -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content. This weeks' podcast is brought to you by Totango, a GGR Supporter
Scaled CS is a hot topic due to the constraints most organizations are facing, but what does that really mean and how do you do it well? Chris Dishman, SVP of Customer Success at Totango spends some time with Jeff sharing his insights. Scaling CS doesn't change the focus of CS, it simply looks at ways to make the process of helping customers realize value more efficient, usually with the support of technology. During the podcast, Chris takes a look at making sure your tech stack is set up well, how to removing the friction your customers face, and using composable customer success to ensure processes are bringing value to the customer. Connect with Chris ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Jeff in this week's episode. Most of you will probably know him from Gain Grow Retain and his constant presence on LinkedIn. I was excited for this interview as Jeff has talked with so many amazing CS leaders and as such, has had his finger on the pulse for quite a few years now. In this episode, Jeff and I discuss the evolution of Digital Customer Success, practical advice for those getting started in DCS, the benefits of office hours and user-generated content, building customer relationships over time , among other things!Enjoy! I sure did...Jeff's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scaledcs/GGR: https://gaingrowretain.comHigher Logic: https://higherlogic.comResources Mentioned in this Episode:Newsletters:Chartr Newsletter - Data visualization: chartr.coPodcastsMy First Million: https://www.mfmpod.com/Digital CS Kudos!Greg Danes on the value of paying for educationMatt Dixon on reducing effortMonday.comSupport the show+++++++++++++++++Listener Submissions:If you'd like to call in with commentary or a question to be addressed in a future episode, call our submission line at +1 (512) 222-7381. Leave us a 2-3 minute message with your comment or question using either your real name or a pseudonym, and we'll feature your clip on the show!Like/Subscribe/Review:If you are getting value from the show, please follow/subscribe so that you don't miss an episode and consider leaving us a review. Website:For more information about the show or to get in touch, visit DigitalCustomerSuccess.com. Buy Alex a Cup of Coffee:This show runs exclusively on caffeine - and lots of it. If you like what we're, consider supporting our habit by buying us a cup of coffee: https://bmc.link/dcspThank you for all of your support!The Digital Customer Success Podcast is hosted by Alex Turkovic
In this 10-minute trumpet, Jeff Breunsbach shares his views on how CSMs should be preparing for career growth. Instead of the Enterprise-level CSM being the goal, focusing on building scaled CS skills is going to give you the biggest bang for your buck. How? Leveraging a 1:many focus in areas that increase your reach Focus on writing skills Identifying self-service opportunities Large-scale impact on customers instead of a 1:1 focus with limited reach --- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week GGR dusts off another gem from the past, this one from December 4, 2019. A strong CS Ops team can make a huge difference within an organization and be a force multiplier for the entire CS team. Jennifer Kirkland (formerly VP of CS Ops and Professional Services at Conversica, currently Executive VP of Client Success at Axero) joins Jeff and Jay to talk about how Jennifer used her account and product management experience to create a process that made a difference and helped the CS team build effective 1:many processes. How are you using your CS Ops team to increase your team's efficiency and effectiveness? ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
Where should renewals live, and why it doesn't really matter... That's the focus of a conversation between Julie Fox, Senior Manager of CS at FloQast and Jeff Breunsbach this week. Regardless of which department owns the renewal process, it really has to be a team sport, where success is based on the involvement of everyone. Customers do not renew (or not) based on single experiences or relationships, so making sure a strong customer experience exists across all departments is going to be important. Connect with Julie here ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
Are your customer meetings focusing on your product or your customer? If you are spending time talking about your product, you are leaving a lot of value on the table (and probably finding it difficult to get your customers to keep coming back for more). This week, Bob London and Jeff Breunsbach spend some time talking about how a shift from a product focus to a more strategic role that supports the high level goals and needs of your customer can increase the impact and alignment you have. Move into authentic conversations rather than presentations Show how other companies are using your product successfully Include both tactical and strategic components in your interactions Learn the industry needs by finding resources and conversations that allow you to understand where issues and interests are focused Connect with Bob here Free UBR Training ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
Your customer won't wake up tomorrow thinking "I cannot wait to use XX product more today!" Jeff Breunsbach takes some time to look at the role change management plays in product adoption. Look for ways to reduce customer effort Identify business problems to solve Update processes where necessary Identify customer stakeholders who will be impacted Integrate into their existing tech stack Moving into helping customers through change management with a new product adoption can help you be seen as a business process and minimize the gaps or risks that exist before they impact adoption. ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
Are you making sure your meetings are 'Can't Miss'? In this week's 10-minute trumpet, Jeff talks through some simple ideas for not only using meetings strategically, but adding simple before and after processes that can hep you make a lasting impression and stand out. 'Do the simple things really well' ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
Rod Cherkas, CEO and founder of HelloCCO, joins Jeff Bruensbach this week to talk about creating predictability and stability through consistence processes, which come from building consistent skills. In order to make this happen, CCOs (or those who aspire to become one) should focus on: Building cross-functional relationships Communicating effectively Segmenting customers and building plans for each segment Use 1:many processes for repetive CSM work Help stakeholders learn customer experience Connect with Rod here ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
CSMs are really in the business of helping our customer champions become really great change management experts. Let's prepare our customers for the people, process, and technology updates necessary to adopt our product Connect with Garrett here Connect with Michael here ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
Customer success teams aren't here to simply train the customer on using a product. Customer success teams are change management agents. Helping guide a customer to an outcome through people, process and technology habits. Reframe the thinking for your CS teams. Join the conversation. ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week, Greg Daines, CEO of ChurnRX joins Jay and Jeff to talk about churn benchmarks. Some key highlights: no statistical alignment between whether satisfied customers stay (CSAT) inertia is real - make sure you aren't giving your customers a reason to leave story telling the history of your relationship is a good thing measurable results is one of the largest factors in longer retention make sure your customers are measuring results bridge the gap here, especially if results measuring is difficult focus on helping your customers utilize your product effectively Ask good questions as you set up measurement goals What benchmarks are you seeing as vital towards predicting potential churn? Connect with Greg ChurnRX ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
Are your churn benchmarks telling you what you think they are? Jay Nathan takes a look at the Churn benchmarks for SaaS leaders by Greg Daines, CEO of ChurnRX and some of the results might surprise you! Jay shares some key takeaways for 5 of the 10 benchmarks reviewed in the report. CSAT - no statistical correlation between customer reported satisfaction and customer lifespan. Customer Results - is your customer achieving measurable results and is your CS team including this in conversations? Negative Experiences - customer with high number of tickets are not the customers to worry about. Account Down Sell - These customers are not likely to churn. Annual Billing - an important area to move into to increase ARR. As you listen to this podcast to unpack each of these statements, did any of these surprise you, and are you tracking the right churn benchmarks? Connect with Greg ChurnRX ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
Are you using scaled CS as a universal engagement strategy? If not, you are missing out on giving your team the chance to build out their roles due to lack of bandwidth. In building relevant and actionable content, it is important that you: know the persona know the product know the market share best practices have a variety of content types webinars workshops 5-7 minute recordings in-product guies templates social media The result of a strategically planned content library that is easy to access is stronger customer engagement across all segments. It also allows your team to maximize the 1:1 activities that drive the outcomes you are looking to help your customer with. What ways are you using content to strengthen your customer engagement? ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
Are your CSMs operating with a single point of contact? Damien Howley, CCO of Whip Around shares how having a Strategic, Tactical, and Operational focus in your customer relationships not only prevents that single point of failure when a main contact leaves, it strengthens your customer knowledge in a way that cannot be done with a single relationship. Learn what this looks like in real life, and how to effectively ensure your CSMs are utilizing this process well. Connect with Damien here ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week, Karessa Parish, Growth Marketing Manager at ClassTag joins Jeff to talk about the connection between scaled CS and marketing. Here are some of the key takeaways: Look for ways to automate things that you do over and over Evaluate your content to align with customer self-service needs CSMs should be facilitators rather than information keepers Give a space for customers to talk to each other Examples of scaled ways to grab your customer's attention Connect with Karessa here ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
QBRs are a topic of conversation almost any place that CS professionals gather. That is because they are a vital tool in helping customers understand how your product aligns with their business goals. The problem is these meetings have become another task, and one that many customers are skipping. So how do you move from the old way to a new, more engaging way of talking to customers? Make it more about them instead of you Share metrics and slides ahead of time - bonus points for recording a video companion! Share info about what stakeholders will be interested in specific information Open actual call with a chance for the customer to get clarification, but spend the majority of the time asking open-ended questions Identify scheduled meetings that you can join and share Create a 1-page document with post-meeting action items What are some ways you are shifting into a new QBR framework? ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
Going above and beyond for your customers seems like a no-brainer, but is it really? Data shows that performing 'Hail Mary's' for your customer doesn't have any greater impact than simply meeting their needs. Matt Dixon shares some tips on what you should be focusing on, and the good news is it is relatively inexpensive in terms of money, time, and resources. We need to move our customers from signature to value as quickly and efficiently as possible. Allowing your CS team to focus on making the customer journey as painless as possible results in a bigger impact on customers and your bottom line. Connect with Matt here ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
It seems intuitive: you increase retention by delighting your customers. However, data exposes the fact that something that takes a lot of effort and often the increased expense doesn't bring the results you are looking for in terms of loyalty, retention, or even advocacy. Instead, strong value and ROI come when companies look for ways to reduce the effort our customer have to expend to be our customers. Jay takes a look at how teams can work to make reductions in efforts that equip our customers for success by making our companies easier to do business with. ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
Jay is joined by Christina Lock, Founder and CEO of Catch Talent. We talked about trends in the labor market and what she's seeing across the tech companies her team works with. Here are the questions we went over: What are the trends you see in both the job market and the labor market? How are employers responding to shifts in the labor market? What roles are most in demand right now from your perspective? How have the requirements changed over the past several quarters? There is a downward trend in candidate experience in tech, even when labor is in peak demand. Candidates being “ghosted,” lengthy and indeterminant processes, excessive assignments, etc. Why is this happening? How can hiring managers make the best decisions possible while streamlining these processes? If you've recently been let go, what are the top two or three things you can do to make yourself the most marketable? ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
We need our CSM's to become more "strategic". (What that really means, no one will ever know) BUT, here's an easy way to *start*... Coaching your CSMs to get better at asking open-ended questions AND listening. Open-ended questions often begin with words such as "Why" and "How." Or they can use phrases such as "Tell me about..."
Today we are joined by Michael Tuso of Callypso as he brings his experience from sales and account management to share practices that customer success leaders can use: Building account maps can help you identify the right people Sets the stage for consistent account practices Finding ways to build maps at scale and community-driven techniques ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
Make your champion the hero of the story when dealing with their finance partners. Here are 3 ways you can do that: 1) Help prepare them around how to defend the ROI of your product - remember to think about inputs and variables to the model. Think like a lawyer - you have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. 2) Beyond ROI, help them understand the downside of not using your tool. Think in terms of cost (particularly labor) and lost efficiency - the story/narrative is important here. 3) Make sure to highlight beyond your product, the other benefits that they would be missing - access to community/peers, industry expertise, integration/data that flows to other systems. Make it about the ecosystem, not your product. Numbers. Story. Ecosystem. You have to be solid on all three fronts. My guess is you have 1/3 today - if you can nail 3/3 it helps you going into your renewals this year. What else can you do to prepare your champion for the CFO conversation? ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week, Jon Johnson, Principle Customer Success Manager at UserTesting joined Gain Grow Retain to talk about how to scale in an enterprise environment. Building trust and showing value is a foundational part of the process but segmentation becomes the key to success. Create buckets to segment Get specific Simplify Scale can help you identify the right conversation with the right person at the right time. Connect with Jon ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
Jeff and Jay come together to talk about three possibilities for leveraging ChatGPT in scaling your Customer Success program: Customer Discovery Key Contact Insights Strengthen Content Learn how using ChatGPT can help speed up some of the processes your team is doing, increasing the value of the time they have to spend with the customers. ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
Data is the after-thought but it is the currency that will run your scaled customer success programs. Far too often we have our teams spending time in tools/data/systems when they should be spending time with customers. Jeff and Joel talk about why data is becoming important and how to use it to your advantage in 2023. You can find Joel here ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week, Ian Hurlock joined us to talk about how your techstack can impact the data your customer success team uses to understand customer behaviors. In order to build a personalized and effective customer journey, your team needs to be able to understand the behavior of your customers. This comes from data that is not just information focused on sales behaviors, but includes every interaction on all platforms. This is often something that will need strong cultural buy-in to achieve. Your techstack is critical in being able to gather this behavioral data. What do you currently have and what data is missing? Use testing to understand the impact of different initiatives and pathways on your customers to figure out where you will get the best results so you know what to prioritize. Without a strong data set from an aligned techstack, this is not possible. You can find Ian here ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week Jay Nathan is joined by Wayne McCulloch, CCO at WalkMe where they discuss specific ways that a CCO can have an impact on the CS team no matter how long you have led them. Hear the process Wayne used to lead the CS team and create organization-wide initiatives (with strong employee empowerment) and a 3-year implementation plan as the entire staff focuses on better serving their customers. You can find Wayne here ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week we are sharing a podcast that was published in January 2022. Jordan Silverman joins Jeff to talk about onboarding and implementation and how this timeframe is critical for customer retention. Making sure the customer journey is more customer-centric rather than company focused can help make sure your customers are seeing a very quick time-to-value, helping to increase the likelihood of retention for them. The first 30/60/90 days and having a plan to bring those activations and impact to the customer strengthens their usage. He shares how his team works to avoid the tunnel vision into what customers are doing as a whole, allowing a more holistic view of how you can support the work they are doing. Listen to some ideas that Jordan shared that can encourage customer investment in the process. You can find Jordan here ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week, Kristi and Jay talked about a variety of topics that give you some insights into who they are, how their early work experience helped shape them as CS leaders, and things they do to help themselves take some time to reflect deeper into their own lives. You can find Kristi here ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.
This week, Michael Cooksey, Head of Qualtrics XM Community walks us through how community has moved into the intersection of a variety of departments to bring a customer experience that has had a large impact in retention and growth. Michael shares the ways that community can be successfully used as a digital first touchpoint while still building and maintaining relationships. He also shares some tips for those considering the addition of a community as scaling becomes more of a necessity for so many organizations. You can find Michael here ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.