AX-Based Coverage Segments: Customer Success Evolved

The only universal truth in Customer Success is that it’s always evolving. 

If you’re using the strategies and tactics popular even 3 years ago, you’re being left behind.

The more contact our ideas, frameworks, and methodologies have with customers,  the more we learn, and the more things need to evolve.

And over the past few years, that evolution has happened far more rapidly than anyone could have foreseen.

The world of Customer Success is Ripe for Disruption

Traditional approaches to Customer Success Management – often held tightly by those that have implemented them –  have left companies still grappling with high churn, higher contraction, low expansion, their limited resources stretched thin, and burnout and turnover among Customer Success Managers (CSMs).

But what if there was a fundamentally different way to think about your customers, a method so innovative that it could revolutionize how we approach Customer Success and capacity planning?

Enter Appropriate Experience (AX)-based Coverage Segments, the future of Customer Success.

[Continue reading]

Build a Social Proof Machine: Consistently Generate Real Advocates at Scale

As a Head of Customer Success, you’ve heard the benefits of advocacy.

You get that it’s somehow the golden ticket—a game-changer that’s supposed to turn the business flywheel faster than ever.

But somehow, the magic hasn’t happened for you.

Your advocacy program is more of a flicker than a flame, and you’re wondering if the whole thing is just hype.

Sound familiar?

What if I told you that you’re just scratching the surface and that there are strategies you’ve probably never considered, strategies that could radically shift how you view advocacy?

Before you write off advocacy as another failed experiment, let’s take this as an opportunity to dissect what you might be missing.

Yes, customer advocacy is critical to growth; you’re not wrong about that.

But let’s dive into three paradigm-shifting ideas that will not just validate your gut instincts about the power of advocacy but also give you a fresh playbook to run with.

Get ready, because you’re about to have a “light bulb” moment—or three.

[Continue reading]

The Untapped Potential of Social Proof through Earned Advocacy

Hold on a second. You're smart; you've got your finger on the pulse of Customer Success, and you're up to your ears in metrics, strategies, and buzzwords. But let's cut through the noise for a moment. If you’re not focusing on genuine, earned … [Continue reading]

From KPIs to Connection: Transforming Metrics Into Meaningful Relationships

Customer Success isn't a monolith; it's a symphony of moving parts. Think of it as a well-oiled machine with gears both large and small. The larger gears—your customer-level KPIs—offer those broad-stroke indicators that often make you nod in … [Continue reading]

5 Outdated Email Tactics You Need to Abandon in 2024

Whether you’re a Customer Success Manager (CSM), Sales Development Rep (SDR), or anyone tasked with engaging prospects or customers via email, you know all too well that sinking feeling. You craft an email, inject it with what you think are … [Continue reading]

Every Department Must Recognize the Value of Customer Success

Customer Success teams continually strive to advocate for their significance, often finding themselves undervalued by other departments. Heads of Customer Success are no strangers to this feeling, and while the importance of their roles is … [Continue reading]

Retention: Shifting from Reactive to Proactive to Stop Chasing and Start Leading

Let's get real. You're swamped, your team is overwhelmed, and you're juggling the constant demands of retaining customers while chasing that elusive long-term success. You're in firefighting mode—again. You know you need to shift from a … [Continue reading]

Why High Usage Doesn’t Guarantee Customer Success

You're feeling pretty good about your customer engagement metrics. The data shows that users are logging in daily, clicking around, and seemingly making the most of your platform. But hold on. Your churn numbers are still concerning. … [Continue reading]

Scaling Your Customer Success Team Without Losing Control

You've built your Customer Success team from the ground up, and you're rightfully proud of it. You've always had your hands on the steering wheel, ensuring smooth rides for your clients. But now your team is growing. The very thought of … [Continue reading]

The Art and Science of Continuous Goal Alignment in Customer Success

Every Customer Success Manager (CSM) and Head of Customer Success has felt it at some point: the nagging sense that although Goal Discovery is essential, something is missing in the process of keeping those goals continually aligned. You know … [Continue reading]

Goal Discovery: The Essential Task You Never Had Time for (Until Now!)

You get it; Goal Discovery is essential. It's not just another buzzword or a fleeting trend in Customer Success. It's the foundation of everything we aim to accomplish with our clients. But here's where the frustration mounts: you have … [Continue reading]

Aligning Customer Success and Sales: Bridging the Great Divide

You know the feeling – it’s a shared frustration among many in Customer Success. Another seemingly 'bad fit' customer is passed to us, and we're left questioning the Sales team's understanding of what a good fit really is. It's easy to think: … [Continue reading]

Motivating Action: The Hard Truth of Driving Customer Engagement

Every Customer Success Manager (CSM) knows the struggle: you have an incredible product that can truly enhance the work of your customers, but they resist. They feel overwhelmed, underprepared, or simply unwilling to take on the new … [Continue reading]

Customer Retention: Proactive, Reactive, and At-Risk Analysis

How often have you found yourself scrambling at the last minute to save an at-risk account, pouring time and resources into what could often be a losing battle? You’re not alone. Many Customer Success Managers (CSMs) fall into the trap of … [Continue reading]

Navigating Partner Success in a Multi-Channel World

Customer Success Management (CSM) is challenging enough when you're dealing with direct customer relationships. But when partners are brought into the picture, it adds a whole new layer of complexity to the process. As CSMs, how can we navigate … [Continue reading]

Unlocking Potential: How to Allocate Customers to CSMs

Any seasoned leader in Customer Success knows that balancing the right resources and setting the proper groundwork is crucial to effective customer management. As a newly appointed head of Customer Success, you might be asking yourself, "What … [Continue reading]

RevOps Evolved: The Key to Rapid, Exponential Revenue Growth (2024)

The essence of successful business lies in the ability to unlock consistent, efficient growth. But amidst the pressures of targets, competition, and shifting market dynamics, the struggle to optimize revenue operations and foster seamless … [Continue reading]

Redefining Email Engagement: New Metrics for a New Era (2024)

Are you tired of sending emails that are lost in the void, never to be seen or acted upon? Emails meant to drive essential action from your customers or prospects – only to receive nothing but silence in return. You're not alone. For Customer … [Continue reading]

Understand, Classify, and Effectively Analyze Churn

Understanding customer churn can be one of the most challenging, yet essential elements for the success of any SaaS business. Knowing why customers leave, how to anticipate these departures, and ultimately, how to prevent them, can make the … [Continue reading]

Customer Negotiation: Discounts, Retention, and Value

Are your customers frequently requesting discounts? Are you left wondering if reducing your prices is the only way to retain their business? If you're a Customer Success Manager (CSM) or a Head of Customer Success, you've undoubtedly … [Continue reading]

The Art of Objection Handling in Customer Success

Imagine this: You're all set for a critical meeting with a customer, the agenda is clear, and you're brimming with solutions. But the customer postpones. Or worse, they decline the meeting altogether. It's not an uncommon scenario in the … [Continue reading]

Driving Exponential Growth: The Art of Selling to Existing Customers

In the rapidly evolving business world, the focus is often skewed towards acquiring new customers. However, the real magic happens when we tap into the potential of our existing customer base. Welcome to the realm of 'Selling to Existing … [Continue reading]

NRR Panic: The Rollercoaster Ride You Never Saw Coming

NRR is tanking. The "North Star" is falling! Time to panic? Yes. Unless you understand what's really going on. NRR Defined Net Revenue Retention - NRR - is the percentage of revenue retained from existing customers in a defined time … [Continue reading]

Motivation vs. Discipline: How Knowing the Difference Skyrockets Customer Engagement

When you’re working with customers, whatever your role (CSM, Sales, Account Management, Consultant, etc.), you may find yourself acting as a coach. To be an effective coach, you need to strike the right balance between motivation and … [Continue reading]

Why CSM Positioning is so Important (and How to Fix it)

The customer’s perception of why the Customer Success Manager (CSM) exists in their world, and how the CSM is distinguished from other Individual Contributors (ICs) and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) the customer will work with, is called … [Continue reading]

Customer Status: The Hidden Motivator You Can’t Ignore

In Customer Success we're always concerned with the status of our customers. We keep track of their health score, their adoption velocity, usage, satisfaction, and other metrics that tell us whether or not they're successful. And while all of that is … [Continue reading]

The Power of Curiosity in Customer Success

As a Customer Success Manager (CSM), it's easy to fall into the trap of just going through the motions with your customers. You have a list of tasks to complete, metrics to track, and goals to achieve. But what if I told you that being curious could … [Continue reading]

Creating Customer Success Playbooks with ChatGPT

Customer Success is always under pressure to optimize (and reduce the expense of) everything. Many people see ChatGPT as a way to streamline Customer Success processes like preparing for customer meetings or  literally creating those processes … [Continue reading]

ChatGPT or Bing: Which AI Tool is Best for Customer Success

Generative Artificial intelligence (AI) like ChatGPT - and now Bing Chat - is transforming the way we communicate and work, especially in Customer Success. These AI-powered tools offer unique benefits to Customer Success Managers (CSMs) and … [Continue reading]

Customer Success Pros: Stay Ahead of the Game with ChatGPT

As a Customer Success professional looking to stay relevant in your field and be the best at what you do, one emerging tool that you need to be aware of - and start using - is ChatGPT. ChatGTP is a powerful AI program that has the potential to … [Continue reading]

ChatGPT in Customer Success: Generative Output to Desired Outcome

Generative AI, like ChatGPT, is a powerful technology that has revolutionized the way we approach various fields, including writing, coding, music composition, and even Customer Success. ChatGPT uses artificial intelligence to generate high-quality … [Continue reading]

Stop Teaching Your Customers to Ignore You! A Guide to Effective Customer Engagement

Customer Engagement still relies on email as the primary channel for most businesses. But what happens when the emails you send are ineffective, causing decreased opens and interactions, increased unsubscribes, and a tarnished sender … [Continue reading]

ChatGPT is a Customer Success Game-Changer

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are super-powerful, but how is it actually useful to you in Customer Success on a daily basis? When it comes to AI like ChatGPT, everything starts with understanding Prompt Engineering. I like to remind people that AI … [Continue reading]

Growth Unlocked: The Key to Exponential Account Expansion

Expansion - not simple renewal - is the ultimate indicator of a successful customer. There’s a way to handle expansion (upselling, cross-selling, land-and-expand, etc.) that results in limited, incremental growth in customer account value. And … [Continue reading]

Customer Success: Defined (2024)

Customer Success is one of the most valuable concepts in business and is constantly evolving. The more contact the ideas and concepts underlying Customer Success have with customers, the more learning occurs and the more those things evolve. This … [Continue reading]

Stop Confusing Free Trials and Onboarding (It’s Costing You Customers)

Prospective customers use Free Trials as an opportunity to see if your product is right for them before they buy. Customer Onboarding is the process a new customer goes through to get up and running with your product after they buy. If you … [Continue reading]

The Importance of Consistency in Customer Success Management

World-class Customer Success leaders understand the value of predictable results for their organization, so they evangelize, prioritize, and even incentivize Consistency with their team. They coach their CSMs and Managers to be consistent. They … [Continue reading]

The Real Reason Your Company Invests in Customer Success

Customer Success is there to make your customers happy, right? No. It’s actually not even to make customers successful. Let me explain. The people in charge of your company - the Executives, Board, and Investors - want to improve a metric called NRR … [Continue reading]

Customers Hate These 3 Things (and How to Avoid Them)

Disclaimer: The following assumes your customers are humans. Don’t get me wrong, customers dislike A LOT of things. But there are three things that elicit such a deep, visceral response that the only applicable word is hate. Strong word, but strong … [Continue reading]

The 5 Secrets of World-class Customer Success Managers

Having worked with hundreds of companies of different sizes, funding stages, and Customer Success maturity, around the world, I've boiled down what I believe are the five “secrets” of World-class CSMs. This is specifically about CSMs that are … [Continue reading]