Gain Grow Retain

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, knowl...

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 o...

Mary Poppen (CCO at involve.ai) joins Jeff today to discuss how personalizing the customer journey positively impacts their experience. Most of the time, personalization is a strong component of the high-touch model, but Mary shares how data can be used to build the same experience at scale. She gives practical suggestions about how to use the information you gather to create these high-touch expe...

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....

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 r...

This episode from April 2021 has Ryanne Koch (Doumet) joining Jeff to talk about how metrics support the strategy conversations that help your CS team move from reactive to proactive. Using data well can help identify where and when to bring in your product within the customer process as well accurately identify customers in danger of churn, Learn how the team uses renewal surveys to identify tren...

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....

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...

Jan Young joins the team to talk about helping CS teams avoid the 'gap filler' moniker by bringing data from various sources together.   It is important to look at scaling from a 1:1 approach (foundational model) to a more digital and scaled approach to allow a focus on strategy and relationship building.   Joining with a comprehensive look at data, this helps you provide stronger customer enablem...

This week Kristi Faltorusso joins Jeff and Jay as they discuss the lessons they have learned in the course of parenting that apply to CS. Patience through preparation and awareness, guidance through transitions and experience, and learning true needs through good questions are just a few of the areas that they show how the skills they are using with their kids can be applied to the needs of the cu...

This episode from April 2021 brings Kevin Lau, Senior Director of Customer Advocacy & Experiential Marketing at F5 in to talk about how an advocacy group can help you scale the creation of emotional connections with and between customers. Developing a strategic plan to identify methods of engagement throughout the customer journey can lead to a natural and organic integration of a more formalized...

Diane Ratigan (Director of CS for Corporate Team, Shannon Creghan (CS Executive), and Kimmie Harrington (CS Executive), all of Higher Logic join Jay today to talk about launching Office Hours. Hosting an Office Hours for your customers focused on the core concepts around using your solution rather than feature functionality. They share the process, difficulties, and successes experienced during th...

Erica Akroyd (Sr. Manager, Scale CS and Programs), Ryan Philpott (CS Program Manager), Charles Helms (Scale CSM) join Jay Nathan today to talk about how Pendo turned lack of staffing into an opportunity to develop an effective scaled model. They discuss how their scaled approach isn't a one size fits all for their customers, but is more strategic based on needs. They also moved into a strategic th...

Jared Fuller, CEO at PartnerHacker talks with Jeff about the value of bringing partners into your team. Every team has it's strengths and weaknesses, and using your partners to fill any gaps in expertise can add exponential value to your customers. You can find Jared here The PL[X] Summit --- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success....

Mac Reddin, Founder and CEO of Commsor joins us in looking at how community can help companies adopt strategies that increase organic customer (and potential customer) relationships in a way that strengthens business goals. From looking at community as a potential first touchpoint to creating communities of practice that allow anyone to join in sharing knowledge and resources, organizations can mo...

Josh Levin, Manager of Customer Success at Honeycomb.io joins Jeff to talk about how his team built enterprise level customer success. Using a combination of Technical CSMs and Customer Architects allows for scaling CS work through well constructed gates and processes. They also use a strong triage process to ensure that this part of their role allows for the more proactive goals they have with an...

Brian Oblinger joins Jeff and Jay to talk about Community. What is the difference between Community and community? How does understanding the value of community help with resource growing? What does it mean to put value to customer as a top priority? Listen to hear Brian's thoughts on all of these questions and more. Connect with Brian --- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and...

Tom Barragry, Product Marketing Lead at GetResponse joins Jeff to discuss how effective customer marketing strengthens the work of the CS team. He shares how the marketing team at GetReponse develops strong relationships with internal teams to share knowledge, streamline messaging, and create an strong customer experience together by focusing on the broader story rather than just campaigns. You ca...

Joel Primack, Community Leader at Lattice walks us through community, taking a look at some of the types of communities and how to focus them to drive customer engagement and success. Using this info, you can select what is needed to best support your organization and then use that focus to develop your strategy. You can find Joel here You can email Joel here The Community-Led Growth Show Podcast...

Back in April of 2021, Holly Firestone joined Jeff to talk about the importance of community to an organizaton. Listening to your customers is something that applies to many areas within an org, including community. As community is becoming a more dynamic and strategic component of an organization, it is important to recognize that there is a big listening element within community. Learning who th...

Cris Sample (Head of Customer Success at Information Clearinghouse Inc) walks us through her career path where she navigated the work world and motherhood.  In this session she shares some of the behaviors and mindsets that prepared her for leadership, the biggest one being "Always focus on the customer". This thought process means that she is constantly working on how to make things better for cu...

Jay Nathan (CCO, Higher Logic) and Kristi Faltorusso (CCO, Client Success) pull a couple of books from their shelves to discuss and apply to Customer Success leadership. This week, they dive into two books: Think Again by Adam Grant - a book about reframing how you think about approaching debatable topics in a constructive and productive way. Setting the Table by Danny Meyer - focused on how to st...

Emilia D'Anzica (Founder, Growth Molecules) talks with Jeff Breunsbach about how CS leaders should spend their early days in the role. From helping senior leadership understand the role CS plays in the customer retention journey, to identifying gaps in the process, especially in the onboarding process, leading to impact through improvement in processes and execution. You can find more about Emilia...

Phil Weiss (VP Customer Success at CipherHealth) talks with Jeff Breunsbach about building (and keeping) a strong, healthy culture with your team especially with remote teams being the norm. They work through the 'why', and move into the 'how' with tips and examples of what works in their teams.  You can find more about Phil Weiss here --- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and...

This week we are joined by Dan Cmejla, Community & Social Media Marketing Leader at Chili Piper. Dan talks through how having a strong understanding of your customers can help drive a marketing strategy that is unique and personal, resulting in strong returns. "When you find what benefits your customers and what is good for you, you are in the sweet spot." You can find more about Dan Cmejla here -...