To implement a great strategy, you need to continuously optimize, and data can make optimization much more effective and straightforward. 

Tom Lawler, Sr. Director of RevOps at Elastic, joins the show to discuss how leveraging data can enhance CS strategies. He offers insights on using data to streamline C-Suite discussions, boost influence, foster cross-departmental collaboration, and more.

About Tom:

Internationally experienced Customer Success Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry. Strong consulting professional skilled in Contract renewals, Customer Service, Data Analysis, Business Development, and Marketing Strategy.

Guest Quote:

“If CS professionals want to increase their influence within the business, it’s problem-solving. It’s doing what you do for the customer, but internally…If you’ve identified an issue or problem, have a solution, communicate that to the right people, and that’s the way you start to build influence, is to start to engage not just with your customers but with internal issues as well.”

Timestamps:

*(01:00) - Tom’s journey from CS to RevOps

*(03:10) - Managing Complexity in Customer Success

*(06:00) - Strategies for enhancing pre-sales and post-sales synergy

*(09:00) - Effective Sales Enablement and Strategy Alignment

*(15:10) - Advice for measuring success and impact

*(20:20) - Cross-functional collaboration

We’re always looking for ways to improve the Success/ful podcast. By completing a short survey, you will help us bring you more of what you like and less of what you don’t. 

Click here to get started - it only takes two minutes!

Links:

• Connect with Taylor Johnston on LinkedIn
• Connect with Tom Lawler on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Vitally
• Complete our season 1 survey

Exceptional Customer Success begins with a vibrant culture. 

Cynthia Taylor, SVP of Customer Success, Support Experience, and People Science Teams at CultureAmp, joins the show to unveil powerful strategies for building a thriving culture through deliberate and consistent efforts. Her insights include the importance of internal branding, how to create and enact effective and consistent rituals, tips for improving cross-departmental collaboration, and more.

About Cynthia:
Cynthia Taylor is a high-impact leader energized by seeing people accomplish work that’s never been done before. She has built and scaled world-class B2B2C Sales and Customer Success organizations five times, growing alongside the field of Customer Success itself. Cynthia has extensive experience as an advisor in crafting best-in-class customer experience processes and teams, and leading technology companies. Her sweet spot is rapid-growth organizations seeking an innovative, SaaS-savvy Customer Success leader who solves problems to drive results from an outcomes-focused customer perspective, ensuring both the customer and her organization prosper.

Guest Quote:
“I was having a conversation with someone that ‘professional’ does not have to mean ‘formal’. Like, those two things are really important to think about, right? Consistency can mean fun. Professional can also mean informal and what those things can bring together can be a really high caliber engaging experience for teams.”

Timestamps:
*(03:40) - The importance of internal branding

*(05:15) - How to create and enact effective and consistent rituals 

*(09:55) - Tips for improving cross-departmental collaboration

*(22:25) - Quick hits

We’re always looking for ways to improve the Success/ful podcast. By completing a short survey, you will help us bring you more of what you like and less of what you don’t. 

Click here to get started - it only takes two minutes!

Links:

• Connect with Taylor Johnston on LinkedIn
• Connect with Cynthia Taylor on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Vitally
• Complete our season 1 survey

Navigating the startup landscape requires more than just a great product—it's about mastering Customer Success at every stage. 

Sunil Joseph, an Advisor and Fractional Chief Customer Officer, shares his expertise in creating a cohesive customer experience from the seed stage onward. This episode covers essential strategies for different business stages, from understanding funding phases to preparing for funding rounds, all aimed at maintaining consistency across the customer experience.

About Sunil:

Sunil is currently an advisor and fractional Chief Customer Officer to several venture-backed SaaS and AI startups. He was formerly the Global Vice President, Customer Success at Stack Overflow, where he successfully built and scaled the post-sale motion for Stack Overflow's B2B Teams business leading to the successful acquisition of Prosus for $1.8B. Before Stack Overflow, Sunil spent the last decade working at high-growth venture-backed companies (Series A through Series E), with successful exits through IPO, Private Company, and PE acquisitions. He spent the decade before that in Management Consulting, Investment Banking and started his career in Engineering and Product, as a Full-Stack Software Engineer. He still considers himself to be a builder - from building software to building companies.

Sunil is passionate about company building, building scalable revenue and Customer experience teams, and sustainable value creation. Sunil currently lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and two bichon rescue dogs. He is a proactive health advocate, loves traveling, and enjoys spending time in nature.

Guest Quote:

“The best [thing] a founder can do early in a seed stage, I would say, is being focused on, ‘how do I create a unified customer experience, to the best of my ability.’ And you're still working through ICP, right? But you might get some large customers. You might get some smaller customers. It doesn't matter. I want to make sure my customers go through a unified journey.”

Timestamps:

*(03:25) - Understanding business funding stages

*(05:15) - Customer Success strategies for different stages

*(13:25) - Preparing for funding rounds

*(31:15) - Quick hits

We’re always looking for ways to improve the Success/ful podcast. By completing a short survey, you will help us bring you more of what you like and less of what you don’t. 

Click here to get started - it only takes two minutes!

Links:

• Connect with Taylor Johnston on LinkedIn
• Connect with Sunil Joseph on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Vitally
• Take our season 1 survey 

Customer Success is evolving, and so should the communication strategies CS Leaders use to share their vision and build influence within their organizations.

Neil Wu Becker, CEO and Co-Founder of NextBound, joins the show to offer marketing insights on how CS teams can evolve. He discusses communication challenges between CS and marketing, the importance of proactive and declarative leadership, and the benefits of integrated marketing models for CS efforts. 

About Neil:

Neil Wu Becker is the CEO and Co-founder of a marketing firm that offers CMO, brand/creative/content, growth marketing, and PR/Corporate Communications services. He leverages a proven global management background as a CMO, leading B2B enterprise marketing for pre-IPO, unicorn, SaaS, AI, and public companies seeking to grow at scale. Neil is an award-winning, high-energy leader with a talent for establishing mature operations and building major-league marketing teams that companies can grow into for years. He has a track record of devising creative, industry-recognized integrated marketing plans that accelerate brand awareness and demand/pipeline for fast-growing tech companies. Neil is a Forbes Council member and an adviser for startups and accelerators, helping them establish brands and go-to-market plans for exponential growth and maximum valuation.

Guest Quote:

“CS teams need to be declarative, not inquisitive, but declarative. People who are public speakers will get this. You have to walk on the stage and command the stage… So you have to be declarative and set the agenda and say, ‘Hey! Here are 2 or 3 things that we're seeing as a priority in the CS organization that we need help from the other organizations to help us with because we are the predicate, not the subject of that statement.’ Like, we are the caboose, not the engine of the train.”

Timestamps:

*(02:45) - Evolution of Customer Success 

*(05:45) - Bridging Customer Success and Marketing

*(17:45) - Benefits of the Integrated Marketing Model

*(29:25) - Quick Hits

We’re always looking for ways to improve the Success/ful podcast. By completing a short survey, you will help us bring you more of what you like and less of what you don’t. 

Click here to get started - it only takes two minutes!

Links:

• Connect with Taylor Johnston on LinkedIn
• Connect with Neil Wu Becker on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Vitally
• Learn more about NextBound
• Take our season 1 survey

The first 90 days in a new Customer Success leadership role set the foundation for your entire tenure and lay the groundwork for future wins. Lizzy Rosen, the VP of Customer Success at Vendr, believes building trust should be your top priority right off the bat.

Drawing from her own experiences, Lizzy breaks down the first 30 to 90 days and gets into the nitty-gritty of building quick trust throughout the organization. Lizzy also shares her insights on strategy creation, utilizing new data streams, and setting up KPIs and compensation structures so that you can effectively maximize your time.

About Lizzy:

Lizzy is the VP of Customer Success at Vendr, overseeing the Customer Success and Implementation teams. Lizzy joined Vendr in 2023 to help establish a world-class customer success program, revolutionizing the way that companies buy and manage SaaS. Lizzy is passionate about customer experience, building and scaling teams, and customer value realization. Lizzy lives in Marblehead, Massachusetts with her husband and daughter. She is an avid golfer, traveler, and lover of the ocean.

Guest Quote:

“The biggest quick win, no matter what company you're at or role, is quick trust. Coming into a new role, I don't want to go into a role and maintain the status quo. I want to change things. I want to build things. I want to create things. You can't do that unless you have trust behind you, team members trust you, and the organization trusts you and is willing to go on that path with you. And so, I think the first thing that you have to do is build that trust.”

Timestamps:

*(03:35) - First 30 days as a CS Leader

*(10:45) - Setting strategy and building trust

*(20:05) - KPIs and compensation plans

*(26:45) - The first 90 days as a CS Leader

*(28:45) - Quick hits

We’re always looking for ways to improve the Success/ful podcast. By completing a short survey, you will help us bring you more of what you like and less of what you don’t. 

Click here to get started - it only takes two minutes!

Links:

• Connect with Taylor Johnston on LinkedIn
• Connect with Lizzy Rosen on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Vitally
• Take our season 1 survey

No one understands customer needs and product value better than Customer Success teams. Involving them in pricing discussions is a fast-track solution to more impactful pricing models that increase customer satisfaction, retention, and success.

In this episode, Andrew Michael, entrepreneur and host of the Churn.FM podcast, highlights the importance of giving Customer Success teams a voice in these critical decisions. He shares advice for adopting a mindset that treats pricing and packaging as a dynamic part of the product, and his strategies for a smooth transition when rolling out new pricing models.

About Andrew:

Andrew is an entrepreneur with 12 years of experience in digital growth companies as a founder or senior manager with a focus on customer retention, product development, strategic planning, and marketing. He is also the host of Churn.FM, the podcast for subscription economy pros to learn how the world's fastest-growing companies are tackling churn and using retention to fuel their growth.

Guest Quote:
“The best way to think about pricing and packaging is that it’s just another part of your product—it’s a feature of your product. As you would experiment and feel comfortable with changing your onboarding experience or updating a feature, you should be comfortable with making changes to pricing and packaging. The first thing is getting your mindset changed and realizing, ‘Okay, this is a part of what we do as a product, our product evolves, our value evolves, and so should our pricing and packaging with it.’”

Timestamps:

*(02:30) - Deep Dive into Pricing and Packaging Strategies

*(11:00) - The Importance of Customer Success in Pricing Decisions

*(16:05) - Rolling Out New Pricing Models: Strategies and Challenges

*(20:05) - Quick Hits

We’re always looking for ways to improve the Success/ful podcast. By completing a short survey, you will help us bring you more of what you like and less of what you don’t. 

Click here to get started - it only takes two minutes!

Links & Resources:

• Connect with Taylor Johnston on LinkedIn
• Connect with Andrew Michael on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Vitally
• Listen to Andrew’s podcast, Churn.FM
• Take our season 1 survey

When Customer Success aligns with their Product team, it’s near-perfect harmony. The product improves, customer satisfaction is enhanced, and ultimately, revenue increases.

Christine Itwaru, Head of Product at Vitally, understands the importance of creating this seamless feedback loop with Customer Success. In this episode, Christine shares the blueprint for building strong partnerships. She teaches CS Leaders how to speak the language of Product and ask the right questions, and reveals her top 3 insights that every CS leader should know. 

About Christine:

Christine has been in product management for 13+ years, starting her career as an IC Product Manager and has held various leadership roles in product during her time in finance, fintech, and SaaS. She’s focused on not only delivering product experiences and outcomes to customers, but also strengthening product teams while doing so. Christine believes that great relationships with customers start with a frictionless product experience that helps them build trust with the company, ultimately creating a partnership vs. a transactional relationship. 

Her passion for connecting product people to their partners and customers helped guide her throughout her career, and has been foundational to her role as a pioneer in Product Operations, and a thought leader in the broader product space. Focusing on data-driven product management, she’s led and coached hundreds of teams through product-led transformation and building product strategy. 

Guest Quote:

“There's the saying, ‘Only the fool tries to please everyone.’ Product people, especially earlier in their career, want to please every customer and it ends up hurting everyone. We have to be intentional about what we're going after so that we can solve the pain for a massive amount of customers, not just one or two, but we truly do want to solve pain for everybody.”

Timestamps:

*(00:34) - Bridging Customer and Product Teams

*(03:03) - Three Insights Every CS Leader Should Know

*(06:06) - How To Build A Strong Customer Voice Program Together

*(16:44) - Navigating Challenges And Aligning On Customer Needs

*(26:09) - Quick Hits

We’re always looking for ways to improve the Success/ful podcast. By completing a short survey, you will help us bring you more of what you like and less of what you don’t. 

Click here to get started - it only takes two minutes!

Links:

• Connect with Taylor Johnston on LinkedIn
• Connect with Christine Itwaru on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Vitally
• Take our season 1 survey

Building client impact is better as a team sport. 

In this episode, Greg Collins, VP of Revenue at Boldr, discusses how to rally different departments around the customer experience, turbocharging client impact even in the realm of remote work, and much more.

About Greg:

Greg Collins is the VP of Revenue at Boldr Impact, with decades serving as a revenue executive focused on improving both the Client and Employee experience. A seasoned leader of Sales, Success, and Support, Greg helps clients capture, grow and retain recurring revenues. He's a change agent with a passion for defining, organizing and driving strategic enterprise transformation, who loves to develop teams and help people grow. An empty nester of four children, Greg resides in Atlanta, Georgia where he enjoys a great cup of coffee, walking the dog, and sharing a bottle of wine with his wife, Laurie, at their boutique wine shoppe.

Guest Quote:

“It is revenue that follows client impact. If we were on the acquisition side, we would talk about finding out what the senior leadership team's five-by-five is, or what their strategic objectives are, or defined objectives. Sometimes, that gets lost in the Customer Success world. We get caught up in, ‘Is the product doing what it's supposed to be doing?’ Which is not how we won the deal in the first place. We won the deal in the first place by finding out what their business objective is, the challenge that was in the way, and solving that.”

Timestamps:

*(00:59) - Greg’s strategic shift from sales to revenue impact

*(02:10) - Building a culture of customer impact across departments

*(10:45) - Engaging with Marketing and Finance for customer success

*(15:29) - Navigating remote team dynamics for customer engagement

*(19:52) - Quick hits

We’re always looking for ways to improve the Success/ful podcast. By completing a short survey, you will help us bring you more of what you like and less of what you don’t. 

Click here to get started - it only takes two minutes!

Links:

• Connect with Taylor Johnston on LinkedIn
• Connect with Greg Collins on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Vitally
• Take our season 1 survey

Are you ready to transform your Customer Success team into revenue champions? 

In this episode, Monique McDonough, COO at WorkTango, shares strategies on CSMs handling commercial duties and offers guidance on transitioning teams to a customer-centric revenue focus. Learn why enabling your team to lean into their customers’ business is a net positive for CS teams and customers alike.

About Monique:

Monique McDonough is Chief Operating Officer at WorkTango where she leads customer success, sales, people & culture, and the business operations teams. Prior to joining Worktango, Monique served as managing vice president at Gartner (formerly CEB), leading the North America Assurance and Innovation account executive team. She has more than 20 years of experience in operations, sales, client management, and marketing for high-growth technology companies and Fortune 500 organizations. She serves on the Board of Trustees at E.L. Haynes Public Charter School in Washington, DC. She is a 9-time Ironman triathlon finisher and, along with her husband, co-authored a book on North American Ironman races. Monique holds a BBA and BSJ from Ohio University and an MBA from Duke University. Monique lives in the suburbs of Washington, DC with her husband Greg and two daughters (ages 12 and 9), and her 4-year-old German Shepherd rescue, Jack Jack.

Guest Quote:

“We should always have a purpose for every conversation and ‘check-in’ is not one of them. So we’re either solving a problem or we’re strategizing on an opportunity. But check-ins can be emails, let’s give everybody time back.”

Timestamps:

*(00:53) - Monique’s role at WorkTango

*(03:30) - Advantages of CSMs assuming commercial duties

*(06:35) - Empowering CSMs to focus on revenue

*(10:35) - Supporting new CSMs or account reps for success

*(14:12) - Benefits of transitioning from individual accounts to a holistic growth path

*(16:41) - How data can help CSMs be more strategic

*(22:20) - Quick hits

We’re always looking for ways to improve the Success/ful podcast. By completing a short survey, you will help us bring you more of what you like and less of what you don’t. 

Click here to get started - it only takes two minutes!

Links:

• Connect with Taylor Johnston on LinkedIn
• Connect with Monique McDonough on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Vitally
• Take our season 1 survey

A remarkable story sets the stage for incredible impact. 

In this episode, Ryan Seams, Head of Customer Success at AssemblyAI, offers practical tips for crafting the perfect narrative. Learn how to create a story that resonates with leadership, utilizes data effectively, integrates storytelling into team culture for lasting influence, and much more.

Guest Quote:
"I think CS teams compared to Sales are a little more bashful sometimes, and they're not going to be the ones to say, 'I did this crazy thing to close this deal.' And I would encourage you to think a little differently about that. The goal is not to sit here and brag and say, 'Here's what I did' and show off. Your goal should be, 'How can I get this information to the rest of my organization so that everyone can do a better job at understanding and helping our customers'.”

Timestamps:

*(02:34) - Storytelling techniques for C-suite conversations

*(07:09) - Qualitative vs. quantitative approaches

*(16:01) - Tailoring your story for different departments

*(18:24) - Integrating storytelling into your team’s culture

*(21:24) - Taking the first step

*(23:09) - Quick hits

We’re always looking for ways to improve the Success/ful podcast. By completing a short survey, you will help us bring you more of what you like and less of what you don’t. 

Click here to get started - it only takes two minutes!

Links:

• Connect with Taylor Johnston on LinkedIn
• Connect with Ryan Seams on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Vitally
• Take our season 1 survey