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In this episode of the Customer Success Pro Podcast, host Anika Zubair sits down with Emma Lambert, VP of Customer Success at Ably, to discuss the critical role of customer success in driving revenue. They explore how to turn renewals into predictable revenue forecasts, the importance of understanding customer engagement, and the strategies for effective upselling. Emma shares her insights on building a revenue-focused customer success team, the significance of financial literacy, and the necessity of asking direct questions during customer interactions. The conversation emphasizes the need for a structured approach to renewals and upsells, integrating them into a cohesive NRR strategy, and the value of continuous discovery throughout the customer journey.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

03:00 The Role of Customer Success in Revenue Generation

05:55 Understanding Customer Engagement and Value Delivery

09:06 The Importance of Forecasting in Customer Success

12:10 Navigating the Commercial Landscape of Customer Success

15:02 Building a Revenue-Focused Customer Success Team

18:10 The Six-Month Renewal Framework

21:10 Asking the Right Questions for Renewals

24:09 Upselling Strategies in Customer Success

26:55 Integrating Renewals and Upsells into NRR Strategy

30:02 Best Practices for Revenue-Focused Customer Success

32:56 Quick Fire Questions with Emma Lambert

Connect with Anika Zubair:

Website: ⁠https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/⁠

LinkedIn:  ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikazubair/⁠

RevUP Academy: ⁠https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/revup⁠

Connect with Emma Lampert: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmalampert/

Grab our FREE resources here: ⁠https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/resources⁠

Want to be our next podcast guest? Apply here: ⁠https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/podcast-guest⁠

Book Anika as a speaker at your next team event: ⁠https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/team-event

Join the FREE RevUP Masterclass: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/masterclass

In this episode of the Customer Success Pro podcast, Anika Zubair discusses the critical revenue levers that customer success professionals must master to drive growth and protect their book of business. She emphasizes the importance of moving from a reactive role to a proactive one, focusing on adoption momentum, executive alignment, and expansion strategies. Anika provides actionable insights and a challenge for listeners to apply these concepts in their work, ultimately aiming to enhance their effectiveness and success in customer success roles.

Chapters:

00:00 Unlocking Customer Success: The Revenue Levers

04:48 The Reactive Trap: Moving Beyond Task Doing

09:43 Mastering the Revenue Levers for Growth

14:25 From Task Doer to Revenue Driver: A Personal Journey

17:36 Your Weekly Challenge: Focus on Revenue Levers

Connect with Anika Zubair:

Website: ⁠https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/⁠

LinkedIn:  ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikazubair/⁠

RevUP Academy: ⁠https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/revup⁠

Grab our FREE resources here: ⁠https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/resources⁠

Want to be our next podcast guest? Apply here: ⁠https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/podcast-guest⁠

Book Anika as a speaker at your next team event: ⁠https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/team-event

Join the FREE RevUP Masterclass: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/masterclass

In this episode of the Customer Success Pro Podcast, Anika Zubair discusses the importance of shifting from a task-driven mindset to a revenue-focused approach in customer success. She highlights common mistakes professionals make, such as treating their day like a support queue and waiting for sales to dictate upsell opportunities. Anika emphasizes the need for commercial ownership and provides actionable strategies for customer success professionals to become strategic advisors, including conducting value conversations and understanding customer insights. The episode concludes with a challenge for listeners to engage with their top accounts and deepen their business relationships.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Customer Success Transformation

03:01 The Shift from Task-Driven to Revenue-Focused

05:52 Common Mistakes in Customer Success

08:55 Understanding Commercial Ownership

11:53 Implementing a Revenue-Focused Weekly Rhythm

14:28 Value Conversations and Insights

17:43 Becoming a Strategic Business Advisor

20:34 Challenge: Elevate Your Customer Conversations

23:18 Conclusion and Call to Action

Connect with Anika Zubair:

Website: ⁠https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/⁠

LinkedIn:  ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikazubair/

⁠RevUP Academy: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/revup⁠

Grab our FREE resources here: ⁠https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/resources⁠

Want to be our next podcast guest? Apply here: ⁠https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/podcast-guest⁠

Book Anika as a speaker at your next team event: ⁠https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/team-event

Signup for the FREE Masterclass: https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/masterclass

In this episode of the Customer Success Pro Podcast, host Anika Zubair and guest AsAshley Stamps-Lafont discuss the evolving role of customer success within go-to-market strategies. They explore the importance of building relationships, establishing trust, and the necessity of aligning customer success with revenue goals. Ashley shares her experiences as the first VP of Customer Success at Quotapath, emphasizing the need for customer success leaders to understand financial metrics and the shift towards revenue ownership. The conversation also touches on the future of customer success, the importance of communication, and actionable advice for aspiring leaders in the field.

Chapters:

00:00 The Role of Customer Success in Go-To-Market Strategy

14:39 Building Relationships and Trust in Customer Success

24:44 Metrics and Revenue Ownership in Customer Success

39:29 Future Directions for Customer Success

46:51 Advice for Aspiring Customer Success Leaders

Connect with Anika Zubair:

Website: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikazubair/

RevUP Academy: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/revup

Connect with Ashley Stamps-Lafont:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleystampslafont/

Book Anika as a speaker at your next team event: https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/team-event

Want to be my next podcast guest apply here: https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/podcast-guest

Download my freebies:https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/resources

Download the CS Promotion Tracker: https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/offers/wh6BFvEc/checkout
In this episode of the Customer Success Pro Podcast, Anika Zubair discusses the rapidly changing landscape of customer success and the importance of future-proofing one's career in this field. She outlines key trends, common mistakes professionals make in career planning, and provides a playbook for success that includes leveraging AI, connecting work to revenue, and building a personal operating system. Anika emphasizes the need for customer success professionals to take ownership of their career paths and to continuously adapt to the evolving demands of the industry.
Chapters:
00:00 Navigating Change in Customer Success
02:41 The Impact of AI on Customer Success
05:50 Common Mistakes in Career Planning
08:38 Future-Proofing Your Career
11:23 Building Your Personal Operating System
14:35 Leveraging AI as a Co-Pilot
17:20 Tracking Your Achievements
20:28 Acting Like the Next Level Version of You

Connect with Anika Zubair:
Website: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/
LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikazubair/
RevUP Academy: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/revup

Grab our FREE resources here:
https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/resources

Want to be our next podcast guest? Apply here:
https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/podcast-guest

Book Anika as a speaker at your next team event: https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/team-event

Download The Value Storytelling Handbook: https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/offers/bwVCZUYL/checkout

Download The Objection Handling Guidebook for Customer Success: https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/offers/Z6Ng26vg/checkout

In this episode of the Customer Success Pro Podcast, Anika Zubair discusses the evolving role of customer success professionals in driving revenue without resorting to traditional sales tactics. She emphasizes the importance of recognizing opportunities, creating value, and leading with impact. Anika outlines common mistakes made by CS professionals, reframes the concept of revenue generation, and provides a three-part framework for effectively engaging with customers to uncover growth opportunities. The episode concludes with a challenge for listeners to practice proactive revenue thinking in their customer interactions.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Commercial Customer Success
02:43 The Shift in Customer Success Expectations
05:34 Common Mistakes
08:43 Reframing Revenue Conversations
11:22 The Importance of Discovery
14:32 Connecting Value to Business Outcomes
17:18 Identifying Expansion Opportunities
20:23 Weekly Challenge
23:05 Conclusion


Connect with Anika Zubair:
Website: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/
LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikazubair/
RevUP Academy: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/revup

Grab our FREE resources here:
https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/resources

Want to be our next podcast guest? Apply here:
https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/podcast-guest

Book Anika as a speaker at your next team event: https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/team-event

Want to win a free pair of airpod pros, sign up for a demo with Vitally: https://www.vitally.io/cspro

The Objection Handling Guidebook for CS:
https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/offers/Z6Ng26vg/checkout

In this episode of the Customer Success Pro Podcast, host Anika Zubair speaks with Courtney Balban, VP of Customer Success at Leadr, a manager enablement platform. They unpack how Courtney went from therapist to CS leader, why curiosity is a true superpower in customer conversations, and how her team runs a full cycle CS model without relying on rigid playbooks. Courtney shares how she teaches CSMs to sit in discomfort, separate noise from impact, and use deeper discovery to uncover real business problems instead of reacting to surface requests. They also dig into psychological safety, call coaching, leading managers through the teddy bear plus bulldozer balance, and the shift from retention first thinking to treating CS as a growth engine that speaks in outcomes and revenue language.


Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
06:55 Inside Leadr, full cycle CSMs and structuring the post-sale team
14:16 Cutting through the noise, activity versus impact and root cause thinking
23:10 Redefining customer value and building a team without rigid playbooks
30:32 Curiosity as a superpower
36:54 Why CSMs stop one question too early and how to go deeper without feeling salesy
42:19 Psychological safety, call coaching and how the team transformed
47:31 Leading leaders, big lessons learned

Connect with Anika Zubair:
Website: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/
LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikazubair/
RevUP Academy: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/revup

Connect with Courtney Balban:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtneybalban/

Grab our FREE resources here:
https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/resources

Want to be our next podcast guest? Apply here:
https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/podcast-guest

Book Anika as a speaker at your next team event: https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/team-event

Download the CS Promotion Tracker: https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/offers/wh6BFvEc/checkout

In this episode of The Customer Success Pro Podcast, Anika Zubair reveals why so many talented CSMs get overlooked for promotions and how to fix it with a clear promotion-focused goal-setting strategy. She explains the difference between performance goals and promotion goals, why revenue alignment matters even in support-heavy roles, and the three career-limiting mistakes most CS pros make during review season. You will learn her three-step Promotion Plan Framework, how to speak in business impact language, and how to track, package, and pitch your work so you can move from overlooked to the obvious next choice for senior roles. If you want to accelerate your career growth, rewrite promotable goals, and position yourself for your next title, this episode gives you the roadmap.

Chapters:
00:00 Why you keep getting overlooked for promotions
00:42 Performance goals vs promotion goals
03:37 Why talented CSMs get passed up
05:59 Why business impact language matters
08:18 Mistake 1: Goals that are too generic
10:38 Mistake 2: Waiting for your manager to set your goals
12:49 Mistake 3: Not tracking wins all year
15:06 The Promotion Plan Framework
17:32 How to create a promotion-focused North Star goal
23:48 Weekly challenge and next steps

Connect with Anika Zubair:
Website: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/
LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikazubair/
CSM RevUP Academy: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/revup

Grab our FREE resources here:
https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/resources

Want to be our next podcast guest? Apply here:
https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/podcast-guest

Book Anika as a speaker at your next team event: https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/team-event

Grab your copy of the 2025 Customer Experience Benchmarks Report: everafter.ai/benchmark

In this episode of the Customer Success Pro podcast, host Anika Zubair speaks with Alana Stoltzfus, a leader in digital customer success at Okta. They discuss the evolution of customer success, the importance of digital growth, and how Okta's Success Hub enhances customer experience through personalized recommendations. Alana shares insights on the tools and systems that power their digital success plans, the challenges faced in data management, and the lessons learned from building a scalable customer success program. The conversation emphasizes the need for continuous improvement and the importance of delivering value to customers.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction 
02:52 Alana Stoltzfuss: Journey into Digital Customer Success
05:46 The Evolution of Digital Customer Success at Okta
08:43 Understanding Digital Growth and Customer Segmentation
11:50 The Success Hub: Enhancing Customer Experience
15:04 Personalization and Business Goals in Customer Success
17:59 The Role of Digital Customer Success in Business Growth
27:58 Tailored Customer Experiences for Gold and Silver Clients
30:06 Personalized Communication and Value Realization
32:29 Differentiated Messaging for Admins and Executives
34:38 The Importance of Personalization in Customer Success
36:36 Tools and Systems Powering Digital Success
42:41 Lessons Learned and Future Directions in Customer Success

Connect with Anika Zubair:
Website: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/
LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikazubair/
RevUP Academy: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/revup

Connect with Alana Stoltzfus:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanastoltzfus/

Alana leads the Automation & Scaled Insights team at Okta, where she drives efforts to increase customer adoption, retention, and growth at scale as part of the Digital Success motion. Through the delivery of data and insights to customers and customer-facing teams, as well as AI-powered experiences, she has enabled Okta to serve all customers from SMBs (via self-service) to its largest enterprise customers, not just to scale but also to more effectively drive better customer outcomes through deeply personalized experiences. Prior to Okta, Alana worked in roles across customer success, voice of customer, and digital success, most recently at LinkedIn and Atlassian. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband and 2 sons.

Grab our FREE resources here:
https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/resources

Want to be our next podcast guest? Apply here:
https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/podcast-guest

Book Anika as a speaker at your next team event: https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/team-event

Download The Objection Handling Guidebook for Customer Success: https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/offers/Z6Ng26vg/checkout

In this episode of The Customer Success Pro Podcast, Anika Zubair takes a deep dive into one of the most misunderstood tools in Customer Success: the Quarterly Business Review (QBR). Too often, QBRs turn into reporting sessions that fail to create impact or executive alignment. 

She shares her 5-step framework to elevate your QBRs from tactical updates to strategic, revenue-focused discussions that executives actually care about. You’ll learn how to connect product outcomes to business value, align with executive priorities, and close each review with a clear call to action that opens commercial doors. The episode wraps up with a practical challenge for listeners to apply the framework and transform their next QBR into a partnership-driven session that drives growth.

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to The Customer Success Pro Podcast
03:14 Why Most Business Reviews Fall Flat
07:57 The Missed Opportunity in Every Business Review
10:15 Mistake #1 – Treating QBRs Like Usage Reports
12:36 Speaking the Executive Language: Revenue, Risk, and Efficiency
14:52 Mistake #2 – Talking At the Customer Instead of With Them
17:13 Mistake #3 – Ending Without a Clear Next Step
19:28 Turning Objections into Opportunities
21:41 The 5-Step Framework for Value-Led Business Reviews
35:42 Listener Challenge: Reframe Your Next QBR
37:41 Final Thoughts

Connect with Anika Zubair:
Website: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/
LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikazubair/
CSM RevUP Academy: https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/revup

Grab our FREE resources here:
https://thecustomersuccesspro.com/resources

Want to be our next podcast guest? Apply here:
https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/podcast-guest

Book Anika as a speaker at your next team event: https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/team-event