SaaS Therapy

In this SaaS Therapy short, Casey discusses the power of AI and shares a case study of a manufacturing organization that wanted to make their employees aware of AI. Casey emphasizes the importance of setting proper expectations about AI and communicating its benefits to users. Takeaways: AI is only going to get better, so it's important to let customers know that the current use cases are just...

How will AI impact customer success? Hear from Casey, Todd and guest Guy Galon, a seasoned customer success executive and strategic advisor about the role of AI in CS automation, onboarding, and support. Join the discussion on the importance of finding the right balance between human and AI capabilities. They also discuss the potential of AI in generating content and improving customer engagement....

Todd and Casey are joined by Vicky Kennedy, an expert in customer education. They discuss the shift in market and the needs of companies when it comes to customer education. They also explore the challenges faced by both customers and SaaS vendors in providing effective education. Vicky emphasizes the importance of developing an education strategy before choosing a learning management system (LMS)...

Let's talk about the challenge of reaching the end users of a SaaS application and ensuring they are using it effectively. Casey Trujillo shares a personal experience of running a challenging race as a metaphor for the difficulty of reaching the last mile. The main takeaways include the importance of understanding end users' needs and goals, simplifying the adoption process, and leveraging...

Value ownership in a SaaS relationship is a shared responsibility between the customer and the SaaS vendor. Listen to Todd Kirk and Casey Trujillo while they discuss the challenges of customer churn and explore the concept of value ownership, including how it shifts throughout the customer journey. They identify three main challenges that SaaS vendors face in empowering customers to achieve their...

Todd and Casey are joined by Mark, a customer success leader with over 20 years of experience. They discuss the importance of coaching in the workplace and how it translates to supporting customers and employees. Mark shares his approach to coaching, which includes game tape playback, team meetings, and peer-to-peer coaching. Takeaways: Leaders should focus on growing other leaders and nurturing i...

Welcome to Season 2 of SaaS Therapy! Today, Todd Kirk interviews Heather Wendt, a community strategist at HigherLogic, about the importance of building a customer community. They discuss how a community can expand the reach of customer success teams, foster organic and transparent communication, and provide a space for customers to collaborate and share insights. Heather emphasizes the difference...

Welcome to the last episode of Season 1! For today, Casey reviews the top five learnings from Season 1. The learnings include the importance of having meaningful conversations with customers, hiring the right people at the right time, addressing the last mile problem in customer engagement, understanding the impact of executive usage on renewal, and the difference between a coach and a champion in...

Today, Todd and Casey delve into the current challenges in the SaaS industry, focusing on the concept of the 'last mile' and its relevance to customer success and education. They tackle issues like customer churn and software underutilization, emphasizing the importance of innovative solutions in SaaS companies. Takeaways: The last mile accounts for a significant portion of the overall cos...

Enjoy this special episode from last week's live podcast recording event hosted at Silicon Slopes! In this episode, Todd Kirk talks with our guest, Greg Daines, who shares his research and industry knowledge on the importance of shifting from a reactive to a proactive mindset in customer success. Greg emphasizes that customer results, rather than customer satisfaction, drive retention. Their c...

Todd and Casey are joined by Kat Kennedy, a General Partner at Kickstart Fund to discuss growth, challenges, and opportunities in the SaaS industry. Kat reminds listeners of the importance of staying committed to a vision and surrounding yourself with the right people. Kat Kennedy discusses the different stages of a startup and the types of people needed at each stage. She emphasizes the importanc...

Join Todd Kirk as he recaps Tuesday's episode on the importance of data in building and maintaining customer relationships. He explores the different perspectives on bad data and how it can be used to inform decision-making and drive growth. There is power in saying 'no' and value in negative feedback in both personal and professional development. Takeaways Be intentional about deliver...

Have you heard the story of how negative feedback transformed Instagram from a gaming app to a photo-sharing platform? Todd and Casey discuss how bad data can sometimes be good. Negative feedback can be valuable in shaping successful products. They emphasize the need for honest feedback in building effective business relationships and the role of data in driving improvement. Takeaways Data, whethe...

Todd Kirk reviews a conversation with Dave Blake, CEO of ClientSuccess.com, about the importance of embracing vocal customers and the value of Net Promoter Score (NPS). Todd emphasizes that NPS can be a valuable tool when used correctly to understand customer sentiment and experience. He advises against using NPS for individual performance evaluation and suggests having the survey come from someon...

What role does the Net Promoter Score (NPS) play in customer success? Join Dave Blake, the founder and CEO of Client Success, as he shares how NPS can be used as a tool to understand the customer experience, rather than the sole predictor of customer retention or churn. Dave shares best practices for implementing NPS, including the frequency of surveys, the importance of genuine feedback, and the...

In this Friday's recap, Casey Trujillo reminds us of the importance of moving beyond monthly active usage (MAU) as the sole indicator of customer success in the SaaS industry. He shares the 'watermelon theory' concept and explains how you can use the ladder framework today to progressive from simple goals like education and adoption to better aligned software use with customer's go...

Is MAU really the best way to know if your customers are engaged? Join  Todd Kirk  and  Casey Trujillo  as they discuss the role of monthly active usage (MAU) in SaaS businesses. They explore how MAU, while important, is just one metric that tells the story of how well your customers are doing. The episode introduces the ‘ladder’ concept, linking adoption to behavior change and organizational impa...

Highlights of our conversation with Ashley DeKerlegand, Director of Customer Education @ Quickbase where we discuss the need for updated instructional design models and a focus on outcomes. Chapters 00:00 The Challenge of Educating Customers 01:06 Outdated Instructional Design Models 03:20 Customer Education and Adoption 04:13 Incorporating Feedback from Customers 05:11 Continuous Improvement and...

Summary Do you like your LMS? In this episode of SaaS Therapy, Ashley DeKerlegand from Quickbase discusses the limitations of traditional learning and development (L&D) approaches in the SaaS industry. She highlights the challenges of using the ADDIE model and SCORM in a rapidly changing SaaS environment. Ashley emphasizes the importance of customer feedback and collaboration between L&D a...

Sometimes what customers say they want is different than what they actually want. Today, we're re-capping how to use "the magic wand" question to uncover the real pains, challenges and goals you client has. The closer you can get to unearthing that information, the better shot you have at delivering the kind of value that really matters to your clients. Takeaways Maintaining open com...

Stop wasting the first 5-minutes of your client calls. There are better ways to personally connect with clients, show them that you see and understand them, and then get to work on defining their ideal future state. Today we're covering practical steps for asking better questions and using active listening with your clients. Takeaways Customer success managers should focus on helping customers...

Only 28% of clients report that their QBR is valuable to them. What else are we doing that just doesn't work? today, we're recapping the highights of our recent conversation about the levers in our control to re-shape the funnel, with Justin Edwards, the lead of the revenue practice with Mercato Partners. Takeaways SaaS companies are facing challenges due to changes in the economy and grow...

Today, we're joined by Justin Edwards, SVP of Revenue @ Mercato Partners (a venture capital fund supporting early-stage technology companies). In his role, Justin works closely with revenue teams in tech startups as an expert growth advisor. In this episode, Justin discusses the biggest challenge facing startups today - the decline in growth rate, and what Customer Success teams can do to take...

Our Friday re-cap of MEDDPICC, the framework for understanding and predicting the likelihood of a sale or renewal. Today, Casey reminds listeners of the key parts of MEDDPICC and how to start putting the framework into action. Takeaways MEDDPICC is a methodology to help customer success managers and sales reps understand the likelihood of customer renewal. Champions within customer organizations a...

The first year of a new customer's contract is key to how long they'll stay a customer. But account teams often find themselves in reactive mode as clients' priorities, key points of contact, and budgets shift. In this episode, Todd and Casey discuss MEDDPICC - a framework for account teams to use as they move a customer from purchase to renewal in a shifting landscape. Did your produc...