In this curated episode of the Revenue Builders Podcast, John McMahon and John Kaplan on the Revenue Builders podcast as they dive into the intricate world of churn with special guest Allison Pickens. Former COO of Gainsight, Allison shares her insights into scaling a company and understanding the nuanced reasons behind customer departures. From measuring churn metrics to the importance of responding to external factors, this episode provides valuable lessons for businesses aiming to enhance customer success and retention.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[00:00:54] Superficial Understanding of Churn Causes: Alison discusses how some companies may view churn too superficially, attributing it to external factors like a change in company leadership or losing to a competitor.

[00:01:44] Strategic Response to Churn: Emphasizing the importance of responding appropriately to churn events and considering them as opportunities rather than inevitable losses.

[00:02:48] Honest Evaluation: Encouraging companies to be honest about what aspects of their operations can be improved and aligning strategies with company goals.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

[00:00:54] "One way in which they might think about it too superficially is they might note things, root causes that are outside of their control."

[00:01:44] "When your customer gets acquired by another company, that is not an obvious churn or like an inevitable churn reason. It might be an opportunity to expand your deployment to the larger company."

[00:02:48] "What's important is just being honest with yourself about what you can improve and what you can based on the strategy of your company at the time."

Listen to the full episode with Allison Pickens through this link:
https://revenue-builders.simplecast.com/episodes/mastering-the-art-of-customer-success-with-allison-pickens

Check out John McMahon’s book here:
Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/1K7DDC4

Check out Force Management’s Ascender platform here: 
https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/

Measuring Churn with Allison Pickens

Welcome to  the Revenue Builders podcast,  a weekly show featuring B2B sales leaders and executives. Hosted by Five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management’s Co-Founder John Kaplan, the show goes in the barrel, behind the scenes with the people who have been there, done that and seen the results. Revenue Builders covers the best practices for scaling and growing your business, while sharing the pitfalls to avoid. Great conversation. Solid interviews. Tangible takeaways to help you succeed. If you enjoy our content, please subscribe, rate and review the show to help us reach more people.  
 
This show is brought to you by: Force Management where we help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale. Check out forcemanagement.com more information

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This episode of the Revenue Builders podcast, hosted by John McMahon and John Kaplan, is a special replay focusing on leadership and resilience insights from Navy SEAL veterans Mike Hayes and Brent Gleason. Hayes, a former commanding officer of SEAL Team 2 and current SVP and COO of VMware, discusses his book "Never Enough" and the importance of constantly striving for improvement, embracing difficult situations, and fostering a team-oriented mindset. 

Gleason shares his SEAL experiences and insights from his book "Embrace the Suck," underscoring the significance of persistence, purpose, and passion in overcoming adversity. Both interviews delve into how SEAL training philosophies on embracing challenges, dynamic subordination, and the mental aspect of enduring hardships can be applied to business leadership and personal growth, promoting a narrative of continuous learning and team cohesion.

Tune in and learn more about this episode of The Revenue Builders Podcast.

HERE ARE SOME KEY SECTIONS TO CHECK OUT
[00:00:47] Memorial Day Special: Lessons from Veterans
[00:01:07] Mike Hayes: Leadership Lessons from a Navy SEAL
[00:02:15] Embracing Challenges and the Concept of 'Never Enough'
[00:10:35] The SEAL Mindset: Team, Teammate, Self
[00:14:59] Dynamic Subordination and Leadership in SEALs and Business
[00:18:51] Brent Gleason: Embracing the Suck for Extraordinary Life
[00:20:44] The SEAL Training Experience and Building Resilience
[00:24:08] Channeling Pain and Persistence for Success

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Learn more about aligning customer-facing teams to improve execution: https://forc.mx/48o1jyP 

Learn more about Mike Hayes.
https://www.thisismikehayes.com

Learn more about Brent Gleeson.
http://www.brentgleesonspeaker.com/index.html

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES
You're only excellent if you know you're never excellent enough - Mike: [00:03:52] “Whatever ways we define 'better', I think it has nothing to do with seniority, age, or where we are in our careers. You can be ninety-something years old and still be trying to get better at different things.”
Brent on having a passion for what you're trying to accomplish: [00:28:24] “If you think about any lofty goal we've ever pursued in life whether it's sports, work, charitable organizations, or in relationships, no lofty goal is ever achieved without some stress, pain, and adversity.”

REPLAY: The Navy SEAL Approach to Leadership

In this curated episode of the Revenue Builders Podcast, John McMahon and John Kaplan are joined by Dan Barrett, Executive Vice President of Customers at MongoDB. Dan shares his journey of evolving MongoDB’s customer success strategy from a reactive to a proactive approach. He discusses the importance of hiring the right profiles, implementing disciplined processes, and understanding the nuanced root causes of customer churn. This conversation is a must-listen for anyone involved in customer success or looking to enhance their customer-centric strategies.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[00:00:36] Transition from Reactive to Proactive Customer Success
[00:01:01] Implementing a Disciplined Process to Identify and Address Risks
[00:02:30] Balancing Skill and Will in Hiring and Developing Customer Success Teams
[00:04:47] Key Attributes for Successful Customer Success Managers (CSMs)
[00:06:21] Common Pitfalls in Customer Success Leadership
[00:08:24] The Complexity of Understanding and Addressing Customer Churn
[00:09:46] The Importance of Truly Listening to the Voice of the Customer

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

[00:01:54] "The earlier you engage with the customer, the better chance you have of fixing their problems and getting them happy."
[00:02:54] "Part of it was a skill thing, but part of it was also a will thing. Do people actually want to be doing that kind of job?"
[00:05:34] "The biggest strength of a great CSM is that they just want to go above and beyond for their customers."
[00:07:31] "Customer success is not a silver bullet to a product that doesn’t work or doesn’t have product-market fit."
[00:08:43] "Most churn situations are much more complicated and nuanced than a single subcategory."
[00:10:33] "There is no substitute for actually talking to customers and understanding what really went wrong."

Listen to the full episode with Dan Barrett through this link: 
https://revenue-builders.simplecast.com/episodes/an-outcome-mentality-the-right-way-to-approach-customer-success

Check out John McMahon’s book here:
Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/1K7DDC4

Check out Force Management’s Ascender platform here: 
https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/

The Right Hire for Customer Success with Dan Barrett

Guilherme Stetelle Martins is an engineer turned software sales professional. He’s been in Software Sales his entire career from BDR to Enterprise AE. He’s also had a lot of failures that have taught him a lot about life and business, including his company he founded and shut down in early 2024. He also writes frequently about business, life and his projects on LinkedIn.

Guilherme joins John McMahon and John Kaplan to discuss his experience as a startup founder and the lessons he learned from shutting down his company. Guilherme shares his journey from being an engineer to entering the world of software sales. He explains why he decided to start his own company and the challenges he faced along the way. The conversation dives into the importance of timing, the energy required to be an entrepreneur, and the distinction between being a patriot and a mercenary. Guilherme emphasizes the need for self-reflection and understanding one's own motivations and limitations.

Tune in and learn more about this episode of The Revenue Builders Podcast.

HERE ARE SOME KEY SECTIONS TO CHECK OUT


[00:12:50] Slow success builds character, while fast success builds ego.

[00:18:42] The importance of understanding the challenges and risks involved in starting a company.

[00:30:07] The distinction between being a patriot and a mercenary and the impact it has on commitment and success.

[00:32:45] The value of being transparent and honest with oneself and others throughout the entrepreneurial journey.

[00:37:27] The significance of timing in entrepreneurship and personal life decisions.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Learn more about aligning customer-facing teams to improve execution: https://forc.mx/48o1jyP 

Connect and learn more about Guilherme Stetelle Martins.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/guilhermestetelle/

Here's the link to the Shutdown Article:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/i-shut-down-my-startup-here-journey-guilherme-stetelle-martins-zpfpf/

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

[01:00:10] "The credit belongs to the men and women who are actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who airs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming. But who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows? Great enthusiasm, great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause?"

[01:01:03] "It's not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the men and women who are actually in the arena."

Why I Shutdown My Startup

In this curated episode of the Revenue Builders Podcast, John McMahon and John Kaplan engage in a dynamic conversation with Leslie Venetz, an expert in outbound sales strategies. Leslie delves into the art of cold calling and objection handling, drawing from her extensive experience. She shares invaluable insights into common objections, the psychology behind them, and practical strategies for navigating them effectively. Discover how curiosity, conversation, and conclusion form the pillars of successful cold calls, and learn actionable techniques to empower your sales team.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

[00:00:30]Common Objections: Leslie identifies 13 common objections encountered in sales cycles, emphasizing that objections are inevitable and must be anticipated. 

[00:03:09] Rooted in Fear: Many objections stem from a lack of trust and fear of making the wrong decision, especially in uncertain economic climates.

[00:04:48] The 3 C's Framework: Leslie introduces the 3 C's approach—Curiosity, Conversation, and Conclusion—as a paradigm shift from simply overcoming objections to fostering genuine dialogue and understanding with prospects.

[00:06:38] Curiosity is Key: Rather than immediately trying to counter objections, sales professionals should prioritize curiosity and seek to understand the underlying reasons behind objections.

[00:07:54] Personal Detachment: Separating oneself from the product or solution helps salespeople handle objections objectively and maintain genuine curiosity about the prospect's perspective.

HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

[00:02:23] "If you're getting on a cold call with somebody, you're going to hear at least one objection. Full stop."

[00:06:15] "The number one most important thing that you can do when you hear an objection is just try to keep the conversation going."

[00:07:07] "Some of the best salespeople...are so curious as to why the customer has that opinion...they start to ask why and they don't understand, and it's very genuine because they really don't understand and they really are curious."

Listen to the full episode with Leslie Venetz through this link: 
https://revenue-builders.simplecast.com/episodes/the-art-of-cold-calling-with-leslie-venetz/

Check out John McMahon’s book here:
Amazon Link: https://a.co/d/1K7DDC4

Check out Force Management’s Ascender platform here: 
https://my.ascender.co/Ascender/

Cold Calling and Objections with Leslie Venetz

Today we bring you three segments that cover sales leadership transitions. We discuss making the jump from rep to first line manager with Tammy Sexton the Chief Revenue Officer at Skyflow, the jump to second line manager with Carl Cross - CRO at Alkami and then walking in as a new CRO with Terry Trip CRO at Tines.

Tune in and learn more about this episode of The Revenue Builders Podcast.

HERE ARE SOME KEY SECTIONS TO CHECK OUT


[00:00:46] Segment 1: Transitioning from Rep to First Line Manager
[00:06:19] Segment 2: The Leap to Second Line Leadership
[00:15:16] Segment 3: Stepping into the CRO Role at a Startup
[00:21:55] Conclusion and Final Thoughts

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Learn more about aligning customer-facing teams to improve execution: https://forc.mx/48o1jyP 

Connect and learn more about our guests.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/crosscarl/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tammy-sexton/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/terrytripp/


HIGHLIGHT QUOTES

[00:02:13 - 00:04:51] Tammy Sexton: "I think the biggest thing with that role is... And it's something that I tell my managers as I promote them. This is probably a mistake that you're going to make. So I need to print, I need to plant it in your brain right now. And then when I see that happening, I'm going to ask you to think about like how not to make that happen."

[00:07:02 - 00:08:29] Carl Cross: "What makes a great first line leader?... They represent the values of the company, better than anybody, they understand, the leading indicators of the business... And then they're great storytellers, right?"

[00:19:45 - 00:21:55] Terry Tripp: "Fundamental is you got to get everybody that's speaking the same language... I think as you get in the mode of trying to grow and scale, it becomes more important even because you've got to have that framework."

Measuring Churn with Allison Pickens

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