The Impact Show: AI, SaaS & Customer Success in 2026

Hosts: Johan Nilsson (Stockholm) & Lincoln Murphy (Brazil)

SaaS Under Pressure

A trillion dollars in SaaS market cap was recently wiped out — not because of poor earnings, but because Anthropic released a document showing AI could replace certain software tools outright. This spooked investors and raised a fundamental question: if you can replicate a SaaS product with a weekend of "vibe coding," what's it actually worth?

For private companies the ripple effect is real too — venture money is flooding toward AI-first startups while traditional SaaS is finding funding increasingly hard.

"I Could Just Build This"

Customers are using AI as leverage in renewal negotiations, threatening to replace software with something quickly coded in tools like Lovable or Claude. The hosts' take: partly real, partly bluster — but CSMs need to be prepared either way.

The answer is to articulate what the software actually delivers: domain expertise, best practices, strategic guidance, accumulated knowledge. The software is just the delivery mechanism. You can't vibe-code that.

Tools They're Actually Using

• Jecta AI — Agentic CS tool for customer success workflows
• Claude — writing, messaging, SOPs, long-context work
• ChatGPT — spreadsheet and data analysis
• Grok — real-time research via X
• Gamma — rapid presentation building
• VS Code + Claude Code — agentic backend workflows
• AI note-takers — for all customer calls

A standout workflow: record a voice memo, transcribe it, paste into Claude, export as markdown to Gamma — full presentation ready before the Zoom starts. The voice memo approach is intentional: people self-edit when typing, but speaking unlocks the real insights.

One caveat: always have a human review anything customer-facing. Swedish profanity in a client summary is an occupational hazard.

Do the Work For Your Customer

Lincoln challenges a core CS assumption — "we can't do the work for our customers" — and flips it: what if you could?

One company in his training cohort was giving customers a 15% discount just to complete a critical onboarding step. By using AI workflows to do that step for the customer, they got faster onboarding and eliminated the discount entirely. The broader point: AI lets CS teams do far more — cleaning data, building tools, filling product gaps — and companies that lean in will deepen their moat, not lose it.

Scaling Across the Team

A listener asks: if one CSM builds something useful, how do 30 others benefit?

Lincoln's approach: have an ops-focused person deploy workflows to shared cloud infrastructure. They run a #OpsDojo Slack channel where anyone drops ideas, the team upvotes them, and the best ones get built and deployed. The prerequisite is that everyone understands what's possible — run workshops, let people experiment, and the ideas will flow naturally.

The Bottom Line

Companies approaching AI with a scarcity mindset — cutting costs, reducing headcount — will likely lose. Those asking "what could we do now that we simply couldn't before?" will pull ahead. As Lincoln puts it: if AI appears to destroy a competitor, the real answer is you did, by doing it better.

Do you want more of this? Check out Impact Academy for interactive Customer Success training programs. https://www.impactdemy.com/

Do you have a question you want us to answer? Submit it here.

ON TODAY'S EPISODE:
Setting up a variable compensation plan for Customer Success Managers (CSMs) is fraught with challenges. In this week's episode of Impact Weekly, Johan and Lincoln dive deep into the intricacies of variable comp plans. They discuss the potential pitfalls, share effective strategies, and emphasize the irreplaceable role of leadership in motivating CSMs.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: "What's the best approach for a variable comp plan for a Customer Success Manager?"

TOPICS BEING ADDRESSED:

• The challenges and pitfalls of variable compensation plans in Customer Success.
• Effective ways to structure incentives for Customer Success Managers.
• The importance of leadership and management in motivating and guiding Customer Success teams.

QUOTES:

1. Johan Nilsson (00:01:22): "Anyone out there who's been trying to set this up knows it is and can be a challenge. And there's many ins and outs to this one."
2. Lincoln Murphy (00:05:35): "In Customer Success Management, variable comp often means, 'I'm going to pay you 70 percent of your salary, and you better do your job or you're not going to get the other 30 percent.'"
3. Lincoln Murphy (00:07:1`): "In Customer Success, variable comp is generally positioned as a threat. It only has downside potential."
4. Johan Nilsson (00:10:42): "I've seen variable comp plans that incentivize CSMs to only work and maybe even push upgrades on customers that aren't ready, while ignoring those who need more attention."
5. Lincoln Murphy (00:15:12): "You pay them their market rate salary and you can bonus them on other stuff. That's called being a manager. That's called being a leader."

Do you want more of this? Check out Impact Academy for interactive Customer Success training programs. https://www.impactdemy.com/

Do you have a question you want us to answer? Submit it here.

Retention training starts June 17, 2024. Learn more and sign-up here:
https://www.impactdemy.com/courses/copy-of-the-retention-program-us-oct-24

ON TODAY'S EPISODE:
Customer churn is a critical issue that can impact a company's growth and stability. In this week’s episode of Impact Weekly, Johan and Lincoln dive into the essential metrics for predicting churn and discuss effective strategies to mitigate it. They share insights on understanding customer behavior, proactive engagement, and how to communicate potential churn risks to management.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:

"Can you summarize the key indicators for predicting churn in advance?"

TOPICS BEING ADDRESSED:

• The importance of understanding key indicators for predicting churn
• Strategies for addressing and mitigating lagging churn
• Effective communication with management about potential churn issues

QUOTES:
Lincoln Murphy (02:50): "Meaningful usage is the main thing to look at when predicting churn." 

Johan Nilsson (04:32): "Stakeholder changes are a massive indicator that churn could be on the horizon." 

Lincoln Murphy (06:45): "Proactive engagement with customers can significantly reduce the risk of churn." 

Johan Nilsson (09:20): "The iceberg metaphor helps illustrate the hidden risks beneath the surface of current churn rates."
 
Lincoln Murphy (13:52): "Our daily work in Customer Success is crucial to ensuring long-term customer retention."

Do you want more of this? Check out Impact Academy for interactive Customer Success training programs. https://www.impactdemy.com/

Do you have a question you want us to answer? Submit it here.

Customer Advocacy training starts June 10, 2024. Learn more and sign-up here:
https://www.impactdemy.com/courses/the-advocacy-program-eujun24

ON TODAY'S EPISODE:
Unlock the power of real, enthusiastic customer advocacy. This week on Impact Weekly, Johan and Lincoln explore the strategies to turn your customers into your most potent marketing force. They lay down the importance of a systematic approach to advocacy, tracking, and making data-backed asks to cultivate authentic customer champions.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
“How can customers see the value in being advocates? What's in it for the customer?”

TOPICS BEING ADDRESSED:

• Setting the stage for advocacy through "orchestration"
• How tracking advocacy influences can be leveraged for future asks
• Graduated Advocacy Asks: Making increasingly impactful requests over time

QUOTES:
Lincoln Murphy (18:00): "When you get to that point, the ask goes over much better because it's expected."

Johan Nilsson (19:00): "We need to keep track of that referral process, not just for our sake but to better our advocacy ask later."

Lincoln Murphy (20:00): "By reminding them how important unbiased reviews were to them, you make them want to share their story."

Lincoln Murphy (21:00): "We're having larger, more intense asks over time, and that's invoking consistency and commitment."

Johan Nilsson (22:00): "You need to operationalize this to get advocacy going. It's not just about asking; it's about setting things up."

Do you want more of this? Check out Impact Academy for interactive Customer Success training programs. https://www.impactdemy.com/

Do you have a question you want us to answer? Submit it here.

Customer Advocacy training starts June 10, 2024. Learn more and sign-up here:
https://www.impactdemy.com/courses/the-advocacy-program-eujun24

ON TODAY'S EPISODE:
In this enlightening episode of Impact Weekly, Johan and Lincoln unpack the intricacies of customer advocacy, focusing on the subtle yet powerful differences between earned and incentivized advocacy. They explore why genuine, unsolicited customer testimonials are more effective and how to encourage them. Additionally, they discuss the pitfalls of offering incentives for customer reviews and share how to frame the 'ask' to create more compelling and authentic advocacy.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
“How can customers see the value in being advocates? What's in it for the customer?”

TOPICS BEING ADDRESSED:

• The psychology and implications of "earned" versus "incentivized" advocacy.
• Why putting a monetary value on a customer’s time can backfire when seeking reviews.
• Making the customer the 'hero' as a tactic for eliciting authentic, compelling stories.

QUOTES:

Lincoln Murphy (10:22): "We generally want earned advocacy rather than incentivized."

Johan Nilsson (11:07): "You put some sort of value on the time you request from the customer, and that can be really bad."

Lincoln Murphy (15:45): "The level of participation is going to be whatever the bare minimum is if it's incentivized."

Lincoln Murphy (17:33): "Whatever participation you do get, because it's earned, that participation is going to be so much more valuable."

Johan Nilsson (19:01): "When you make the customer the hero, you get really someone really engaged; it's a win-win."

Do you want more of this? Check out Impact Academy for interactive Customer Success training programs. https://www.impactdemy.com/

Do you have a question you want us to answer? Submit it here.

Impact Academy Expansion Program starts 27 May, 2024. Learn more and sign-up here:
https://www.impactdemy.com/courses/the-expansion-program-may-eu

ON TODAY'S EPISODE:
In this week’s episode of Impact Weekly, Johan and Lincoln tackle the challenging question of how to start finding expansion opportunities when there appear to be none. They delve into the importance of the right mindset, strategies for uncovering hidden growth potential, and practical approaches for driving expansion in customer success.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
"At the moment I have zero expansion opportunities. Where and how do I start?"

TOPICS BEING ADDRESSED:

1. The critical role of mindset in recognizing and creating expansion opportunities.
2. Strategies for operationalizing expansion as an integral part of the customer's journey.
3. The importance of pricing and planning in facilitating customer success and expansion.

QUOTES:
Lincoln Murphy (08:02): "We often see customers churn out... they just didn't know that, for this new goal they had, you were still the solution for it."

Johan Nilsson (14:37): "It's a lot about having, if you have a real expansion model working... you can trust that process."

Lincoln Murphy (19:59): "If you're tasked in Customer Success with expansion, and you don't have any input into pricing... That needs to change."

Johan Nilsson (22:03): "It's crucial for expansion... You have to be at the table when you talk about pricing and plans."

Lincoln Murphy (26:18): "We did that because we didn't trust the expansion process, or we just didn't have an expansion process in place."

Do you want more of this? Check out Impact Academy for interactive Customer Success training programs. https://www.impactdemy.com/

Do you have a question you want us to answer? Submit it here.

Our next Impact Academy training programs start on 27-May, 2024

Customer-centric Automations:
https://www.impactdemy.com/courses/customer-centric-automations-eumay24

The Expansion Program:
https://www.impactdemy.com/courses/the-expansion-program-may-eu

ON TODAY'S EPISODE:
In this week's episode, Johan and Lincoln explore the significance of tailoring customer success strategies based on unique customer characteristics, moving beyond traditional price plan segmentation. They delve into the practical steps customer success teams can take to create more personalized, efficient service models that drive better outcomes for both customers and businesses.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
“How can we start tailoring our customer success to match our customers' characteristics instead of just their price plans? Got any practical advice on how to pull this off?”

TOPICS BEING ADDRESSED:

• Importance of recognizing and adapting to diverse customer characteristics in Customer Success
• The pitfalls of traditional price plan segmentation and its impact on efficiency and service quality
• Practical strategies for implementing tailored customer success approaches

QUOTES:
Lincoln Murphy (06:03): “If we just group customers based on what they pay, we are not just over delivering, we are misdelivering. You're giving them something they don't need, which actually adds no value to them.”

Johan Nilsson (14:16): “As you scale and add more people to your team, how can you bring this tailored approach into every interaction? That’s where true operational efficiency and customer satisfaction kick in.”

Lincoln Murphy (18:37): “We're not just talking about different treatment for high-paying customers; we're talking about appropriate, targeted engagement based on what each customer actually needs.”

Johan Nilsson (19:33): “Using customer characteristics like tech savviness or industry specifics can transform how we deliver success. This is not about more touchpoints; it's about the right touchpoints.”

Lincoln Murphy (22:17): “What we're striving for is consistency across experiences, so no matter which CSM a customer works with, the level of engagement feels tailored and personal.”

Do you want more of this? Check out Impact Academy for interactive Customer Success training programs. https://www.impactdemy.com/

Do you have a question you want us to answer? Submit it here.

Check out our upcoming Customer Success courses at Impact Academy here:
https://www.impactdemy.com/collections

ON TODAY'S EPISODE:
In this week’s episode of Impact Weekly, Johan and Lincoln tackle a common yet under-discussed challenge in customer success: customers who, despite training, claim they "can't" perform tasks, thereby transferring their workload back to their CSMs. Discover insightful strategies for empowering customers and breaking this cycle of "weaponized incompetence".

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
"I have this customer, even though they've gone through training and I've shown them what to do, they just 'can't' do it and I end up doing it for them. How do I fix this?"

TOPICS BEING ADDRESSED:

• Recognizing and addressing 'weaponized incompetence' in customer behavior.
• The importance of assertive communication and setting clear boundaries.
• Strategic options to transition workload back to the customer, fostering independence.

QUOTES:
Johan Nilsson (00:07:12): "Sometimes when this happens, it could be that they're actually fearing to fail. So if they keep asking you, if they can't do it themselves, can't with quotations on there, you basically move it to the CSM to do the things."

Lincoln Murphy (00:19:28): "If you're doing the work for them, you're taking on that responsibility, what's their responsibility anymore? There's nothing. And now they can just fully blame us, which goes back to what you were saying earlier about fear of failure."

Johan Nilsson (00:21:44): "It's about giving them options to say, basically, I cannot do the work, but I can show you how to do it. So share your screen, I can walk you through it and then you're on your own."

Lincoln Murphy (00:26:18): "We have let them behave badly and get in their own way. And so now we have to fix that. How do we do that? This is where we have to have open communication."

Johan Nilsson (00:29:44): "It is a lot about positioning. You need to get the position right. So you're not just seen as a problem solver or the assistant here. We need to be seen as a strategic partner, and we need to get joint accountability working."

Do you want more of this? Check out Impact Academy for interactive Customer Success training programs. https://www.impactdemy.com/

Do you have a question you want us to answer? Submit it here.

Our Impact Academy Head of CS: How to Scale training starts May 6, 2024. Learn more and sign-up here:
https://www.impactdemy.com/courses/head-of-customer-success-how-to-scale-may-eu

ON TODAY'S EPISODE:
In this week’s episode of Impact Weekly, Johan and Lincoln tackle a critical challenge facing leaders today: How do you maintain morale and retain your top performers amid significant organizational changes? From navigating economic shifts to adjusting to new market realities, they provide insightful strategies for keeping your team engaged and committed.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
“How do you maintain morale and retain the A-players while managing major changes?”

TOPICS BEING ADDRESSED:

• Leadership strategies for maintaining morale during organizational changes
• Understanding and addressing the impact of economic downturns and market shifts on team dynamics
• Practical approaches for retaining top talent in uncertain times

QUOTES:
Johan Nilsson (08:00): “A players or top performers might be the first ones leaving when they see major changes because they are protecting themselves.”

Lincoln Murphy (15:37): “You need to carve out unavoidable churn from your team’s responsibilities to protect morale.”

Johan Nilsson (24:58): “Talk about next steps and career progressions frequently; it's crucial, especially when your company's going through major changes.”

Lincoln Murphy (31:00): “Don't retreat to the spreadsheet. This is the time to shine as a leader and be really close to your people.”

Johan Nilsson (16:45): “Actions create momentum and boost morale, focusing on short-term wins can rally your team.”

Do you want more of this? Check out Impact Academy for interactive Customer Success training programs. https://www.impactdemy.com/

Do you have a question you want us to answer? Submit it here.

Our Impact Academy Head of CS: How to Scale training starts May 6, 2024. Learn more and sign-up here:
https://www.impactdemy.com/courses/head-of-customer-success-how-to-scale-may-eu

ON TODAY'S EPISODE:
Dive deep into the multifaceted ways businesses can measure customer value beyond just annual recurring revenue. In this episode of Impact Weekly, Johan and Lincoln discuss various dimensions of customer value that encompass strategic importance, potential growth, and advocacy, enhancing how businesses can view and leverage their customer relationships for long-term success.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
"Apart from ARR, what other factors should we consider to gauge the value of our customers given our current focus is solely on ARR?"

TOPICS BEING ADDRESSED:

• Exploring the concept of 'Customer-level Value' — understanding success potential, ARR growth possibilities, and strategic customer roles.
• The importance of 'TAM Expansion' by entering new markets, discovering new use cases, and identifying profitable customer segments.
• How 'Company Strategy' aligns with customer input to drive product development and recognizes the importance of early adopters and domain experts.

QUOTES:
Lincoln Murphy (08:02): “Customer value extends beyond ARR—it’s about potential, advocacy, and strategic alignment.”

Johan Nilsson (15:37): “Identifying customers that can drive our product roadmap is crucial; these are often your early adopters or domain experts.”

Lincoln Murphy (22:45): “Success isn’t just about the revenue a customer brings, but also about their strategic importance and the social proof they provide.”

Johan Nilsson (25:59): “Expanding into new markets or verticals isn't just growth; it’s about understanding where our customers can lead us.”

Lincoln Murphy (29:23): “The best customer relationships are those where there’s a clear alignment between their success and the ARR they generate.”

Do you want more of this? Check out Impact Academy for interactive Customer Success training programs. https://www.impactdemy.com/

Do you have a question you want us to answer? Submit it here.