CS School: Recent Episodes
Product Marketing Alliance
Tired of overly niche customer success conversations that might as well be in a different language? CS School is the podcast that strips customer success back to basics. Tune in so you don’t zone out. Ever wanted to have a full overview of how segmentation works in customer success? Check out CS School. Always wondered what the psychology behind CS is? Head to CS School. Wanna know the best way to tackle renewals? Find out at CS School.
In this episode of CS School, we're joined by Raymond Otero, the Director of Global Customer Experience (Strategic Programs) at Microsoft, about the intersection of customer experience (CX) and customer success (CS).
Raymond discusses the evolution of CX and CS, the cultural shift towards customer centricity, the use of technology in CX, and the measurement of CX success.
Raymond shares a case study of how Microsoft integrated CX and CS with Adobe, resulting in cost savings, improved app performance, and increased customer satisfaction. He also addresses common misconceptions about CX and CS and offers advice for implementing CX initiatives in small to medium-sized businesses.
Key takeaways* CX and CS have evolved significantly in recent years due to technological advancements and changing customer expectations. * CX and CS are not limited to customer service or support; they encompass the entire customer journey and focus on proactive engagement and value realization. * Cultural shifts towards customer centricity have improved customer satisfaction, retention, and loyalty. * CX and CS initiatives should involve collaboration across departments, including marketing, product development, and sales. * Metrics such as net promoter score (NPS), customer satisfaction (CSAT), and customer effort score (CES) can be used to track and measure CX success. * Implementing CX initiatives in small to medium-sized businesses requires starting with one metric, collecting data, and demonstrating the return on investment to gain buy-in from leadership.
Resources* Attend Ray's keynote session "Anticipating customer needs: Proactive services and analytics strategies for support teams" at Customer Support Summit on October 9, 2024. * Connect with Ray on LinkedIn * Join the CSC Slack community
Think empathy is the key to customer success? It's just the tip of the iceberg! Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the real game-changer, not just for your clients, but for YOU too.
We were lucky enough to chat with EQ champion Jenelle Friday, VP of Customer Success at Forecastable, about emotional intelligence (EQ) and its importance in customer success.
We discuss the four pillars of emotional intelligence: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.
Janelle emphasizes the need for self-awareness as the foundation of emotional intelligence and the importance of understanding oneself and one's emotional triggers.
Emotional intelligence is essential to customer success and involves self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.
Key takeaways from this episode:* Self-awareness is the foundation of emotional intelligence and involves understanding oneself, emotional triggers, and past experiences that shape behavior. * Building authentic relationships in the workplace requires empathy, curiosity, and active listening. * Difficult conversations can be navigated with emotional intelligence by understanding one's own fears and the motivations of the other person. * Embracing change and being open to new perspectives are key aspects of emotional intelligence in customer success. Leaders need to prioritize emotional intelligence (EQ) in their interactions with team members and customers. * A relationship-driven approach is more effective than a sales-focused approach in business. * Training and development in EQ are essential for leaders and customer success teams. * EQ is crucial in the evolving digital and automated world. * EQ can lead to personal and professional transformation.
Connect with Jenelle on LinkedIn to learn more about this fascinating topic and transform your approach to customer success, work-life and beyond!
In this episode, we're joined by Roger Mendez, Global Leader, Strategic Programs, Customer Success & Acceleration at Cisco, about the critical role of customer success operations, AKA "CS Ops."
We discuss the unique challenges and opportunities that CS Ops presents, as well as the specific skill sets and pathways that aspiring professionals in this domain should cultivate.
Join us as we unpack the intricacies of CS Ops, learn about Roger's day-to-day operations, and explore the future of this vital aspect of customer success within the tech industry. Whether you are a seasoned professional or just starting your journey, this episode promises to be an informative and engaging exploration of a field that is rapidly gaining prominence.
- How CS Ops differs from traditional customer success
- Transition into CS Ops
- Importance of personalization and proactivity
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Data-driven approach
- Scaling and operational excellence
- Overcoming challenges
- A typical CS Ops day
- Breakthrough moments
- Future of CS Ops
In this episode, we're joined by Akash Singh, Head of Customer Success (APJ) at Software AG, about the importance of customer success in go-to-market (GTM) strategy. We discuss driving adoption, navigating compliance and user privacy, evaluating customer success team performance, and aligning CS with GTM culture.
Akash shares innovative strategies his team has implemented, such as using capability adoption scores and telemetry data to measure adoption, automating risk tracking and mitigation, and aligning compensation targets with NRR.
Tune in if you're in the market for practical insights for building a successful customer success function within an organization.
Key takeawaysIf you listen to this episode, you'll learn how to:
- Implement innovative strategies to drive product adoption while navigating compliance challenges and diverse deployment scenarios.
- Leverage alternative data sources like capability adoption scores and telemetry insights to track usage without relying on sensitive user data.
- Evaluate and optimize your customer success team's performance through automated risk tracking, sentiment analysis, and aligned success plans.
- Align customer success compensation with your go-to-market strategy by focusing on unified metrics like net revenue retention.
- Build an effective customer success function by taking a customer-centric approach, continuously measuring results, and tightly aligning with broader commercial teams.
ResourcesWant to follow along with the slides Akash mentioned? Click here to download the presentation deck:
- Capability adoption scoring: 09:49
- Transaction metering: 14:24
- Catching and mitigating risks early: 19:34
- Sentiment update: 20:45
- Success plans: 22:01
- Success plans and how they can lead to CSQLs: 22:47
Carry on the conversation and connect with Akash on LinkedIn for more insightful conversations.
Plus, you can did you know Akash is one of our 24 CS leaders to watch in 2024? Check out his feature in CSC's 24 in 2024 report.
Shout out to Software AGNo one achieves greatness alone; Akash's achievements were made possible through the contributions and encouragement of the Software AG customer success leadership team!A very special shout-out to:
Sanah Ali, Customer Experience Operations Manager at Software AG
Bridget Cleary, Director of Customer Success at Software AG
Andrew Cutler, Senior VP of Customer Success at Software AG
Catalyst’s very own Scale Customer Success Manager, Wes Gibson, talks us through the significance of communities in relation to customer success scale programs. If you weren’t convinced about the value community brings to the table before this episode, rest assured you’ll be setting your own up in no time.
Key discussion points* Why community is the backbone of Catalyst’s organization * How to keep a human-touch approach when scaling with communities * Adding value to your community * Incorporating SLAs
Resources Connect with Wes on LinkedIn * Carry on the conversation in the CSC community Slack channel * Become a member and tap into a bank of expert-vetted resources * Unearth about the power of community-led growth * Learn more about Catalyst*
Want to discover the secrets to building and growing high-performing customer success teams?
Amy Oilman, RVP of Customer Success at RingCentral lets us into a secret: it's all about hiring strategies, supportive leadership, and the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Key discussion points* The process of building a customer success team. * The strategies for attracting and vetting high-performing customer success professionals. * Setting the "rules of the road" for CSMs to work independently and effectively. * The importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in building a high-performing customer success team.
Resources Attend Customer Success Festival in San Francisco on September 19-20, 2023.* * Connect with Amy on LinkedIn to continue the conversation. * Learn how to build your own customer success team, and get accredited with our specialist online course: Building a Customer Success Team Certified. * Chat with other CS leaders in the CSC Slack channel for more tips and tricks.
With the rise of the subscription model over the last 20 years, customer success has radically changed. But what will it look like in years to come? How will CSMs adapt to this brave new world?
Answering this question is Carlos Quezada, VP of Customer Experience Strategy, Automation & Enablement at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, who probes into the past, present, and future of customer success.
In this captivating episode of the CS School podcast, we're joined by Danielle Martin, Senior Customer Success Manager at TryHackMe.
Danielle believes that a genuine commitment to customer success requires a human-first approach. Join us as we delve into the essence of being human-first, and discover how you can incorporate this approach into your own customer success strategy. Don't miss out on this enlightening conversation!
Key talking points➡️ What it means to be “human-first”
➡️ How to advocate a human-first approach internally
➡️ Resolving conflict by being human-first
➡️ The effect of human-first on customers
➡️ Software solutions to aid a human-first approach
➡️ Challenges to human-first
➡️ The difference between sales and customer-led companies
Resources➡️ Attend Customer Success Festival in London on November 29-30, 2023
➡️ Connect with Danielle on LinkedIn to continue the conversation.
➡️ Become leadership certified by taking the Customer Success Leadership Accelerator Program
➡️ Chat with other CSMs in the CSC Slack channel for more tips and tricks.
➡️ Schedule a demo with Vitally
Aspiring toward customer-led growth doesn’t have to be a pipe dream, a concept punctuated with the addendum, “One day we’ll get there!” You can start applying customer-led strategies right now. But how? In this episode of the CS School podcast, customer success leader, Dutta Satadip, joins us on the podcast to discuss how Customer Success Managers (CSM) can be customer-centric. It doesn’t have to be a company-wide initiative; it can be small achievable steps to incorporate into your daily operations.
Key talking points➡️ Common daily challenges which can be solved with customer-led growth
➡️ How CSMs can shift their mindset to become more customer-centric
➡️ Handling negative feedback while being customer-led
➡️ Tools to boost customer-centricity
➡️ Dutta’s upcoming session at Customer Success Festival in San Francisco on September 19-20, 2023
Resources🫂 Connect with Dutta on LinkedIn.
📝 Access a bank of vetted, tried-and-tested customer success templates with a CSC Pro membership – allowing you to free up your time and focus on customer-centric strategies.
📣 Chat with other CSMs in the CSC Slack channel for more tips and tricks.
🎧 Schedule your demo with Vitally
Whether you're looking to break into the customer success field, or are looking to climb the CS career ladder, figuring out how to best position your experience in job applications and interviews can be tough. Seriously, where do you start when it's so competitive out there?
Discussing this, and more, is Romiel Noumbissi, who has much to share on the customer success hiring journey – from résumé-writing and interview prep, all the way to networking.
Don't miss out on this firecracker of an episode.
Key discussion points➡️ How to craft a stand-out résume to catch the attention of employers
➡️ The importance of storytelling during the interview process
➡️ Staying up-to-date with industry trends
➡️ Strategies to provide thoughtful and impactful interview responses
➡️ Tips for building and maintaining a solid network within the CS community
➡️ The role of LinkedIn in the recruitment game
Resources➡️ Connect with Romiel on LinkedIn to continue the conversation.
➡️ Give your job hunt the best possible start with a CSC Pro membership.
➡️ Chat with other CSMs in the CSC Slack channel for more tips and tricks.
In the vast sea of information swirling around (yes, we're talking about you, LinkedIn...👀), there's a persistent buzz about "leveling up" and "ascending the career ladder." But how does one truly achieve that? How can you genuinely make a meaningful impact and apply transformative skills to propel your career forward?
This is an immense subject, especially relevant in the current volatile economic landscape, and it's something that will remain pertinent for years to come: the art of excelling in customer success.
Join us on the CS School podcast as we welcome Shawna Partin, a seasoned Senior Customer Success Manager at Catalyst. Shawna's extensive experience at Catalyst and her diverse professional journey make her the ideal guest to delve into this crucial topic.
Whether you choose to tune in during your daily commute or while savoring your morning cup of coffee, don't miss our latest episode of the CS School podcast. Gain valuable insights on how to ascend the ever-important customer success career ladder.
Key points of discussion include:
- Daily activities that contribute to career progression
- Navigating the realm of enterprise accounts
- Awareness of emerging trends for CSMs
- Evolving landscape of customer success
- General advice and clever strategies to elevate your game.
This episode delves into a pivotal aspect of customer success – the renewal process.
Yes, we've previously talked about onboarding, customer health scores, success plans, and more. Now, it's time to uncover how to keep the relationship strong when a subscription comes to an end. 🔄
Key discussion points
- Automating timely renewal kick-offs
- Holding mutually-beneficial renewal discussions
- Making renewals outcomes-based
- Driving predictability in your renewal forecast
- Standardizing the renewals process
- Aligning your renewals with the overall business
In this podcast episode, we had the privilege of interviewing Achraf Maouloudi, an experienced CS professional who shares valuable insights on the power of technology in scaling CS operations.
Discover Achraf's journey into customer success, the importance of maturity assessments before tech investments, the role of technology in scaling CS, leveraging customer journey mapping with technology, personalizing customer success approaches, recommended tech stacks, and building a business case for tech investments.
Get ready to optimize your customer success strategy with cutting-edge technology. Let's dive in!
- Connect with Achraf on LinkedIn
- Be a part of the conversation in the CSC Slack channel
- Become a member and tap into a bank of expert-vetted resources
Key talking points* Understanding what “value” means * How to measure value realization. * The five pillars of customer success. * A real-life example where a value-led customer success framework significantly improved a customer's experience.
Resources* Follow Haig on LinkedIn * Join the conversation in the CSC Community Slack channel * Access a treasure trove of ready-made templates and frameworks
In this episode of the CS School podcast, we're doing what we do best: stripping standard customer success terms back to basics. That's right, we're debunking the pre-conceived ideas around "empathy" and "accessibility" with the help of Niina Majaniemi, Sr. Customer Success Account Manager at Microsoft.
Key discussion points* How empathy and accessibility are applicable to customer success * How these terms impact other key CS metrics * The common myths or misconceptions around empathy and accessibility * How to take the first actions in recognizing empathy and accessibility in your organization * Some metrics to measure the impact of empathy and accessibility initiatives led by CS teams
Resources* Connect with Niina Majaniemi on LinkedIn * Carry on the conversation in the Customer Success Collective community Slack channel * Find out more about our in-person events
Key discussion points* The benefits that outcome-based thinking provides to both the business and its customers * How to effectively communicate the benefits of an outcome-based approach to senior executives * Measuring the success of your outcomes * The importance of education and setting expectations with customers * The drawbacks of outcomes-based thinking
Resources* Connect with Shane on LinkedIn * Send Shane a message in the Customer Success Collective Slack channel * Attend his session on outcomes-based thinking at the Customer Success Festival in Las Vegas
Key discussion points* Why customer success plans are important * The value these plans bring to the client relationship * The expected outcomes of having a customer success plan in place? * The process of rolling out a customer success plan with your clients * How to involve clients in the creation process * How to set up a success plan if you’re new to CS * How to make the process accessible for your CS team and your client * How can CSMs collect the information needed to create an effective success plan * What types of questions to ask your client to gather the necessary information
Resources* Connect with Melanie on LinkedIn * Become a Customer Success Collective contributor like Melanie
We discuss the importance of having a customer-centric culture, empowering your team to make decisions, and measuring success beyond just revenue. Whether you are a seasoned leader or just starting out, this episode offers valuable insights into what it takes to be a successful leader in customer success.
Tune in to learn how to build a winning customer success team that drives long-term success for your business.
- Fostering a culture of open communication
- Why failure isn't a step backward
- Practical ways to motivate your team
- The importance of asking the right questions
- How to plan out your goals
- How to get buy-in from the sales team
- Richard's personal brand of leadership
Resources* Connect with Richard on Linkedin * Connect with Richard on Slack * See our Customer Success Festival 2023 events calendar
Jenna Chau was the third official hire at Invelo, so knows a thing or two about getting started from the ground running. In her time so far at Invelo she's built out a customer success function from scratch, expanded her team, and realized that CS is where her heart lies.
Listen to discover:* When do you know the right time to start a CS function? * Are startups more product-led than customer-led? * The qualities to look for when hiring your CS team members. * What CS tech stack a startup should choose. * The CS metrics you should start with. * How processes shift and develop over time. * How to balance the expectations of the C-suite/senior leadership with your own CS team. * The importance of conferences and networking when building a CS function from the ground up.
Resources* Connect with Jenna on Linkedin * Connect with Jenna on Slack * Product-Led Onboarding * Measure What Matters * Find a Customer Success Festival near you
For the most part, customer success tends to operate within tech companies that offer a subscription service, and for the most part, our audience will be familiar with B2B companies.
When people think of customer relationship management in regular businesses, our mind is drawn to customer support or customer service.
But customer success goes beyond the confines of a team or a department. It ought to be absorbed into the wider organization’s philosophy, and whether that’s in a company that sells subscriptions or one that provides education, customer success has a place.
Mimi is a CS wizard, having a varied and illustrious career with a background not only in customer success but account management, marketing & business development in the B2B SaaS world and non-SaaS alike.
Listen to discover:* The key differences between CS in SaaS companies with a rolling, subscribed customer, and a more traditional, non-subscription business model * How core SaaS metrics like retention, churn and health score can be applied to non-SaaS business models * The ways in which customer success functions in SaaS companies could learn from the way non-SaaS companies * Mimi's advice to a non-SaaS company looking to implement a customer success function
Resources and mentions from this episode* Connect with Mimi on LinkedIn * Sign up for our free Customer Success Collective Slack community * Subscribe to the CS Scoop newsletter
Customer success often seems split in two; half based on human behaviors like empathy, and half based on data.
In this episode of CS School, we were joined by Josh Horsman, Head of Customer Success at The Alliance, the umbrella company for community-led L&D businesses such as Product Marketing Alliance, Sales Enablement Collective and Product-Led Alliance.
Prior to his current role, Josh worked for startups in customer success and account management. Josh is now tasked with leading the customer success team at The Alliance and its fast-growing communities, marrying data-driven strategies with proactivity and empathy.
Listen to discover:
- What 'proactive' customer success really is
- The benefits of data-driven customer success
- The types of data critical for measuring overall customer health
- The data collection points along the customer journey
- Why cross-departmental collaboration is key
- Tools or software solutions Josh recommends for a newly-established CS function
Resources and mentions from this episode* Connect with Josh on LinkedIn * Sign up for our free Customer Success Collective Slack community * Subscribe to the CS Scoop newsletter
Transferrable skills have become a bit of a recruitment buzzword, but we promise it's for a good reason. Whether you're wanting to start your career in customer success, or perhaps want to re-address your current performance, you can draw on transferrable skills you've developed over the years. But what are they?
In this episode of CS School, we were joined by Ryan Noakes, Customer Success Manager at SAI360. SAI360 is an integrated risk management solution using a combination of software and learning content.
Ryan has had a varied career, from working in a fish and chip shop and working as a barista, to working in compliance and customer success. Currently managing SAI360's clients in EMEA, he's the perfect guest to chat with about customer success and transferrable skills.
Listen to discover* The key transferable skills can you bring to a CS role * The aspects of customer success came naturally to Ryan * Ryan's advice for people trying to break into their first CS role * Quick wins for job interviews * How to harness other departments' skillsets and apply them to your CS function
Resources & mentions from this episode* Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn * Sign up for our free Customer Success Collective Slack community * Subscribe to the CS Scoop newsletter
Customer onboarding is an essential step in customer success, and it's a process that needs to be addressed properly. In the first episode of CS School, we sat down with Brittany Yandura, Senior Customer Success Manager at Fieldguide.
Brittany's primary focus is creating and refining Fieldguide's customer onboarding program and onboarding new customers, as well as Fieldguide’s existing customers to increase adoption and focus on expansions and renewals.
Prior to her current role, Brittany worked for 10 years in product support, then in customer consulting and training, and then as a manager in professional services.
Brittany's a customer onboarding enthusiast and has a lot of tips and tricks to help others create a smooth onboarding process.
Listen to discover:* What customer onboarding is * The psychology behind onboarding * What successful customer onboarding looks like * How Fieldguide onboards its customers * How to measure product adoption and engagement during onboarding * How to onboard customers faster to drive product adoption * The best way to approach customers and create engagement plans tailored to their needs
Resources and mentions from this episode:* Connect with Brittany on LinkedIn * Sign up for our free Customer Success Collective Slack community * Subscribe to the CS Scoop newsletter