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SaaS Therapy
By BrainStormBusiness
SaaS Therapy episodes
- Check-in: Practicing golden questions & golden silence with customers
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 communication with customers is crucial for building successful relationships.
- Customer feedback plays a vital role in shaping product improvement and service delivery.
- Layering questions can help uncover deeper customer needs and desires.
- The 'magic wand' question is a powerful tool to prompt customers to envision their ideal outcomes.
- Understanding user behavior and actions is essential for designing effective software solutions.
- Revealing pain points and benefits helps align customer goals with product capabilities.
- Powerful questions can enhance customer engagement and collaboration.
Resources
Connect with Casey
Connect with Todd
Visit the show page
Get to know BrainStorm
Credits
Show direction: Debra Wilson
Show design: Kensie Smith
8 min - Golden questions & golden silence: Using questions to build more focused client relationships
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 take ownership of their own adoption and business value.
- Asking the right questions and actively listening are key skills for understanding what customers truly care about.
- CS professionals should paint a vision of future success and help customers identify their priorities and roadblocks.
- Transferring accountability to the customer and creating action plans together can drive success in SaaS relationships.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
01:00 Customer Ownership of Business Value
03:21 The Role of Challenger Selling in Customer Success
04:48 The Shift in Customer Success Focus
05:17 Asking the Right Questions for 2024 Planning
06:14 Prescriptive vs Collaborative Approach
09:01 Introductions with a Twist
10:27 Painting a Vision of Future Success
11:34 Capturing Insights and Addressing Roadblocks
13:53 Using Whiteboarding and Collaboration Tools
15:21 Asking Challenging Questions and Addressing Pain Points
18:17 Handling Questions with Unknown Answers
20:11 Preparing the Soil for Future Conversations
21:35 The Value of the Parking Lot
23:01 Identifying Opportunities for Upselling
25:23 Recap and Homework
28:43 Conclusion
Resources
Connect with Casey
Connect with Todd
Visit the show page
Get to know BrainStorm
Credits
Show direction: Debra Wilson
Show design: Kensie Smith
30 min - Check-in: Mapping the new funnel with Justin Edwards, SVP of Revenue @ Mercato Partners
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 growth rate decline.
- Expanding revenue within existing customers is crucial for efficient growth.
- Traditional methods of generating revenue are broken, and companies need to remove friction points and barriers to deal closure.
- Alignment with customers and a customer-centric approach are essential for successful engagements.
- Organizational design and incentives play a significant role in driving growth.
- Listening to customers and understanding their needs is key to driving growth and expansion.
11 min - Taking control of the broken funnel with Justin Edwards, SVP of Revenue @ Mercato Partners
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 control of their available levers.
Takeaways
- The decline in growth rate is the biggest challenge facing startups today.
- Focusing on delivering value to existing customers and expanding revenue opportunities within existing accounts is crucial.
- Alignment within the organization is essential for supporting customer success.
- Preventing discounting and focusing on value delivery are key strategies for success. Mastering the fundamentals is crucial for success in any field.
- Selective customer acquisition is essential for recurring businesses.
- Building strong relationships requires avoiding unnecessary barriers.
- Revisiting the fundamentals of communication and value delivery is important for customer success.
- Organizational design and efficiency are key factors in supporting customer success efforts.
- Listening to customers and gathering feedback is crucial for understanding their needs and improving the customer experience.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction
05:15 The Biggest Challenge Facing Startups Today
12:09 The Impact of Growth Rate Decline
20:39 Preventing Discounting and Focusing on Value Delivery
27:59 Aligning the Organization for Customer Success
35:59 The Pillars of Customer Success
41:02 Delivering Business Value and Remediating Discounting
43:28 The Importance of Fundamentals
44:22 Selective Customer Acquisition
45:03 Building Strong Relationships
46:23 Revisiting the Fundamentals
49:03 Organizational Design and Efficiency
50:55 Listening to Customers and Gathering Feedback
53:04 Summary and Closing Thoughts
Resources
Connect with Casey
Connect with Todd
Visit the show page
Get to know BrainStorm
Credits
Show direction: Debra Wilson
Show design: Kensie Smith
55 min - Check-in: Using MEDDPICC to keep a pulse on retention health
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 are crucial for fighting for renewal or purchase.
- Criteria for identifying a champion include access to the economic buyer, respect and influence within the organization, active selling on your behalf, and a personal interest in your software.
- Listeners are encouraged to evaluate their customer relationships and improve them.
Resources
Connect with Casey
Connect with Todd
Visit the show page
Get to know BrainStorm
Credits
Show direction: Debra Wilson
Show design: Kensie Smith
9 min - Why clients buy vs. why they renew - using MEDDPICC to keep up with clients' evolving needs
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 product make your clients more money? Did it save them money? Or did it protect them from risk? Always start by making sure your customer can clearly define their metrics. Learn the rest of the framework today on episode 7.
Takeaways
- The MEDDPICC framework helps SaaS professionals build and maintain strong customer relationships.
- Taking an objective and fact-based approach is crucial for understanding customer needs.
- Metrics, economic buyer, decision-making process, decision-making criteria, paper process, identifying pain, champions, and competition are the key elements of the MEDDPICC framework.
- Effective implementation of the MEDPICC framework requires active listening, asking the right questions, and building trust with the customer.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Overview
01:13 The Need for a Framework
03:37 Understanding MEDDPICC
07:03 Metrics and Economic Buyer
09:47 Decision-Making Process and Criteria
13:37 Paper Process and Identifying Pain
19:27 Champion and Competition
25:10 Summary and Takeaways
Resources
Connect with Casey
Connect with Todd
Visit the show page
Get to know BrainStorm
Credits
Show direction: Debra Wilson
Show design: Kensie Smith
34 min - Check-in: Highlights from our conversation with Tim Hill, Director of CS @ Gong
Our regular Friday re-cap of our Tuesday interview with Tim Hill, Director of Customer Success at Gong, a rapid-growth revenue intelligence company on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 list.
Takeaways
- Investing in customers is crucial for their success.
- Sales and customer success have different focuses and timelines.
- Measuring the outcomes of investments is essential.
- Engaging key personas and delivering value builds trust and retention.
- Understanding customers and providing incremental value is key.
Resources
Connect with Casey
Connect with Todd
Visit the show page
Get to know BrainStorm
Credits
Show direction: Debra Wilson
Show design: Kensie Smith
10 min - How key personas are helping Gong increase GRR by 25% with Tim Hill, Director of CS @ Gong
Do your key customer contacts experience real value in your product? Tune into to our conversation with Tim Hill, Director of Client Success at Gong, a rapid-growth revenue intelligence company on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 list.
Tim shares insights into driving customer retention and growth, emphasizing the importance of engaging key personas and earning their trust and attention. We also discuss the alignment between sales and customer success, and the need for incentives that support both new revenue and retention.
Takeaways
- Engage key personas and earn their trust and attention.
- Align incentives between sales and customer success to drive collaboration.
- Understand the leading indicators of retention and focus on delivering value.
- Build strong relationships with multiple stakeholders to mitigate risk.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
05:25 Driving Retention and Growth
10:09 Identifying Leading Indicators
16:16 Engaging Key Personas
27:37 Earning Credibility and Building Relationships
29:55 Aligning Sales and Customer Success
38:24 Incentives and Alignment
46:18 Taking Action: Understanding Personas
Resources
Connect with Casey
Connect with Todd
Visit the show page
Get to know BrainStorm
Credits
Show direction: Debra Wilson
Show design: Kensie Smith
48 min - Check-in: Highlights of our conversation with Maranda Dziekonski, SVP of CS @ Datasembly
Each Friday, we'll unpack the key points, or dig further into one specific topic, from our Tuesday episode. Repetition is key to learning, and we're here for it.
Summary
In this check-in, Todd revisits four incredible gems from our conversation with Maranda Dziekonski (SVP of Customer Success and Ops @Datasembly), including:
- How customer success must evolve in response to current economic conditions
- Insight into how Client Success should tie themselves to revenue outcomes and learn how to craft "the minimum necessary experience"
- Suggestions for CS can do more than generate revenue through expansion, but also through monetization of their services
- Efficiency killers and bringing clarity to your team with clear processes that ensure you stay on the right strategic roadmap
Homework
Get comfortable with process, understand what the right level of process is for your organization. Don't overdo it and don't underdo it.
Resources
Connect with Casey
Connect with Todd
Visit the show page
Get to know BrainStorm
Credits
Show direction: Debra Wilson
Show design: Kensie Smith
11 min - "Is CS thriving or dying?" with Maranda Dziekonski, SVP of CS @ Datasembly
Maranda Dziekonski, SVP of Customer Success and Ops at Datasembly, is a ground-up builder with over 20 years of experience in crafting world-class operations, specializing in Customer Success, Support, Tech Support, and Sales across B2B, B2C, and B2B2C sectors. Maranda's leadership has earned accolades as a Top 100 Customer Success Strategist, amongst many other recognitions. You can follow Maranda on Twitter @marandasays.
Resources
Connect with Casey
Connect with Todd
Visit the show page
Get to know BrainStorm
Takeaways
• Customer success is evolving in response to changes in the economic climate and investor expectations.• CS teams should focus on revenue outcomes and provide the minimum experience necessary for customer success.• Monetizing CS services can help fund CS teams and support customer growth.• Soft skills, curiosity, and communication are key attributes for success in customer success roles.• CS teams should balance services revenue with the goal of transitioning from a cost center to a revenue generator.• CS professionals should prioritize self-care and seek support from their teams and leaders when feeling overwhelmed. Leaders should have realistic expectations and not overload their customer success teams.• Automation and AI can help free up time for critical thinking tasks in customer success.• CSMs should analyze their workload and have data-driven conversations with their leaders to advocate for themselves.• Process and clarity are essential in driving efficiency in customer success teams.Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background11:19 Is Customer Success Thriving or Dying?17:28 Evolution of Customer Success24:54 Specialization vs Generalization in CS Teams28:50 Monetizing Customer Success33:15 Top Skills for Success in Customer Success36:57 Monetizing CS Services40:17 Balancing Services Revenue and Cost Center41:43 Managing Increased Responsibilities in CS42:08 Leadership Expectations and Customer Success43:05 Automation and AI in Customer Success44:03 Advocating for Yourself as a CSM45:03 Takeaways and HomeworkCredits
Show direction: Debra WilsonShow design: Kensie Smith48 min
About SaaS Therapy
From the publisher's feed
Get comfy. It's time for "SaaS Therapy," with industry veterans Todd Kirk and Casey Trujillo – the podcast for customer-facing teams in SaaS. Casey and Todd leverage their experience working between…
software vendors and their clients to help you master your SaaS customer relationships. They dig into the complexities of client relationships, offer expert insights, and share proven strategies for overcoming common challenges. It's not just a podcast—it's a masterclass in nurturing and enhancing your SaaS customer connections.