Gain, Grow, Retain Podcast

This week, Jeff takes a quick look at the idea that every customer gets a CSM. This belief has resulted in high costs, lower impact, and a mistaken idea that the CSM is the solver of all problems. Instead, focus on your top revenue generators for 1:1, and look at scaling the rest in an effective and valuable way. Strong self-service is much more valuable than a CSM with a 500-customer book of business with little to no interactions and no additional programs to support their needs. -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.   This weeks' podcast is brought to you by Totango, a GGR Supporter

Scaled CS is a hot topic due to the constraints most organizations are facing, but what does that really mean and how do you do it well? Chris Dishman, SVP of Customer Success at Totango spends some time with Jeff sharing his insights. Scaling CS doesn't change the focus of CS, it simply looks at ways to make the process of helping customers realize value more efficient, usually with the support of technology. During the podcast, Chris takes a look at making sure your tech stack is set up well, how to removing the friction your customers face, and using composable customer success to ensure processes are bringing value to the customer. Connect with Chris ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow fo

This week, Jeff takes a quick look at how to help your CSM team manage the increasing pressure they are under: 1:many programs. Jeff walks you through 5 steps to move quickly into some effective and simple ways to to allow your CSMs to scale where they can so they can focus on what they need to. -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content. Today's episode is sponsored by Totango

This week we are bringing back a 2021 podcast with Wayne McCulloch on the 7 pillars of Customer Success. Focusing on the fact that it is moments with the customer rather than the customer relationship that is owned, Wayne shares how focusing on those key moments will provide a stronger customer experience. With some practical examples, Wayne shares how companies who build for success through optimizing processes internally while still focusing on the customer's definition of success create the most impactful experiences. Connect with Wayne -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.

In this 10-minute trumpet, Jeff Breunsbach shares his views on how CSMs should be preparing for career growth. Instead of the Enterprise-level CSM being the goal, focusing on building scaled CS skills is going to give you the biggest bang for your buck. How? Leveraging a 1:many focus in areas that increase your reach Focus on writing skills Identifying self-service opportunities Large-scale impact on customers instead of a 1:1 focus with limited reach --- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.

In this Vault episode from October, 2020, Joe Huber, formerly the Customer Community Strategist at Sprout Social joins Jeff to talk about the impact of community as a part of your organization. Not only can community provide space for customers to share best practices, create sub-groups based on focus, needs, and company type, share processes and templates, but it brings value to your brand just by providing this space. Learn the steps necessary to prepare your community launch (or relaunch) for success, all the way through engagement, and finally identifying important metrics in a way that helps move to a 1:many program that supports the work of Customer Success teams. Connect with Joe -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay

First aired on Leadership Masterclass on June 4, 2023, Jay Nathan joins Subha Shriniivasan to discuss multiple aspects of Customer Success. From the start of Gain Grow Retain to Jay's thoughts on Customer Success's role in a variety of organizational goals, this episode dives into some of the common questions being asked. Why do we need CS? How is CS different from other go-to-market functions? How can companies drive customer experience to build credibility for new customers? How do you structure your organization? Should CSMs become Account Managers? How should you measure the success of a CS team? What role does digital CS play? How should the CS team engage with other teams to tie to value and goals? Should CS own up-sells and cross-sells? Will AI replace CS? Hear Jay's take on each of these topics as he shares practical reasons for his beliefs and steps to move into more effecient and strategic processes. Original Episode Link -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge,

Events are no longer a 'nice to have' for companies. Instead, they are opening the doors to stronger relationships and engaging with customers to become a massive opportunity in a people-first Go-to-Market' plan. This week, Mark Kilens, CMO at Airmeet joins Jay to talk about how they are using events as a catalyst for understanding and ultimately supporting customers through thoughtful, scalable events that are creating two-way experiences in a fast-moving and dynamic way. Connect with Mark -- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.

This week GGR dusts off another gem from the past, this one from December 4, 2019.  A strong CS Ops team can make a huge difference within an organization and be a force multiplier for the entire CS team. Jennifer Kirkland (formerly VP of CS Ops and Professional Services at Conversica, currently Executive VP of Client Success at Axero) joins Jeff and Jay to talk about how Jennifer used her account and product management experience to create a process that made a difference and helped the CS team build effective 1:many processes. How are you using your CS Ops team to increase your team's efficiency and effectiveness? ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.

Where should renewals live, and why it doesn't really matter... That's the focus of a conversation between Julie Fox, Senior Manager of CS at FloQast and Jeff Breunsbach this week. Regardless of which department owns the renewal process, it really has to be a team sport, where success is based on the involvement of everyone.  Customers do not renew (or not) based on single experiences or relationships, so making sure a strong customer experience exists across all departments is going to be important. Connect with Julie here ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.

Are your customer meetings focusing on your product or your customer? If you are spending time talking about your product, you are leaving a lot of value on the table (and probably finding it difficult to get your customers to keep coming back for more). This week, Bob London and Jeff Breunsbach spend some time talking about how a shift from a product focus to a more strategic role that supports the high level goals and needs of your customer can increase the impact and alignment you have. Move into authentic conversations rather than presentations Show how other companies are using your product successfully Include both tactical and strategic components in your interactions Learn the industry needs by finding resources and conversations that allow you to understand where issues and interests are focused Connect with Bob here Free UBR Training ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success

Your customer won't wake up tomorrow thinking "I cannot wait to use XX product more today!" Jeff Breunsbach takes some time to look at the role change management plays in product adoption. Look for ways to reduce customer effort Identify business problems to solve Update processes where necessary Identify customer stakeholders who will be impacted Integrate into their existing tech stack Moving into helping customers through change management with a new product adoption can help you be seen as a business process and minimize the gaps or risks that exist before they impact adoption. ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.

Are you making sure your meetings are 'Can't Miss'? In this week's 10-minute trumpet, Jeff talks through some simple ideas for not only using meetings strategically, but adding simple before and after processes that can hep you make a lasting impression and stand out. 'Do the simple things really well' ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.

Rod Cherkas, CEO and founder of HelloCCO, joins Jeff Bruensbach this week to talk about creating predictability and stability through consistence processes, which come from building consistent skills. In order to make this happen, CCOs (or those who aspire to become one) should focus on: Building cross-functional relationships Communicating effectively Segmenting customers and building plans for each segment Use 1:many processes for repetive CSM work Help stakeholders learn customer experience Connect with Rod here ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.

CSMs are really in the business of helping our customer champions become really great change management experts. Let's prepare our customers for the people, process, and technology updates necessary to adopt our product Connect with Garrett here Connect with Michael here ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.

Customer success teams aren’t here to simply train the customer on using a product. Customer success teams are change management agents. Helping guide a customer to an outcome through people, process and technology habits. Reframe the thinking for your CS teams.   Join the conversation.   ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.

This week, Greg Daines, CEO of ChurnRX joins Jay and Jeff to talk about churn benchmarks. Some key highlights: no statistical alignment between whether satisfied customers stay (CSAT) inertia is real - make sure you aren't giving your customers a reason to leave story telling the history of your relationship is a good thing measurable results is one of the largest factors in longer retention make sure your customers are measuring results bridge the gap here, especially if results measuring is difficult focus on helping your customers utilize your product effectively Ask good questions as you set up measurement goals What benchmarks are you seeing as vital towards predicting potential churn? Connect with Greg ChurnRX ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-

Are your churn benchmarks telling you what you think they are? Jay Nathan takes a look at the Churn benchmarks for SaaS leaders by Greg Daines, CEO of ChurnRX and some of the results might surprise you! Jay shares some key takeaways for 5 of the 10 benchmarks reviewed in the report. CSAT - no statistical correlation between customer reported satisfaction and customer lifespan. Customer Results - is your customer achieving measurable results and is your CS team including this in conversations? Negative Experiences - customer with high number of tickets are not the customers to worry about. Account Down Sell - These customers are not likely to churn. Annual Billing - an important area to move into to increase ARR. As you listen to this podcast to unpack each of these statements, did any of these surprise you, and are you tracking the right churn benchmarks? Connect with Greg ChurnRX ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission

Are you using scaled CS as a universal engagement strategy? If not, you are missing out on giving your team the chance to build out their roles due to lack of bandwidth. In building relevant and actionable content, it is important that you: know the persona know the product know the market share best practices have a variety of content types webinars workshops 5-7 minute recordings in-product guies templates social media The result of a strategically planned content library that is easy to access is stronger customer engagement across all segments. It also allows your team to maximize the 1:1 activities that drive the outcomes you are looking to help your customer with. What ways are you using content to strengthen your customer engagement? ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR

Are your CSMs operating with a single point of contact? Damien Howley, CCO of Whip Around shares how having a Strategic, Tactical, and Operational focus in your customer relationships not only prevents that single point of failure when a main contact leaves, it strengthens your customer knowledge in a way that cannot be done with a single relationship. Learn what this looks like in real life, and how to effectively ensure your CSMs are utilizing this process well. Connect with Damien here ----- Gain Grow Retain exists to connect people, knowledge, and ideas to advance the state of customer success. We're on a mission to connect B2B SaaS customer success leaders so that we can learn from one another. Check out more at GainGrowRetain.com! Or follow our GGR LinkedIn page. GGR was co-founded by Jeff Breunsbach and Jay Nathan - be sure to follow for customer success content.