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What do category creation and Customer Success have in common? They both require a massive change in how your audience thinks about a problem.
On this week’s episode of the [Un]Churned podcast, Udi Ledergor, Chief Evangelist and former CMO of Gong, and Lauren Olerich, Sr. Director of Corporate Marketing at Gainsight, shared what it really took to establish Revenue Intelligence and Customer Success as real, defensible categories.
At its core, category creation is about teaching customers. You need everyone to agree on the problem before presenting a solution. In marketing, this builds brand recognition. In Customer Success, it leads to better results and higher retention.
Here are some lessons CS leaders can take from Udi and Lauren’s experiences.
Lesson 1: Agree on the Problem, Then Present the Solution
Right off the bat, Udi hits listeners with this insight: “It’s easier to get a large audience to agree on a common problem and on a common solution category than it is to create preference for a brand.”
Gong first had to show revenue teams that call data was more than just a coaching tool before they could sell Revenue Intelligence. Similarly, Lauren shared that Gainsight needed the market to see that Customer Success was more than just a new name for account management before selling their platform.
The same idea applies to retention. If customers don’t fully understand the problems you solve, they may not use your product consistently or see its value. When it’s time to renew, the emphasis moves from impact to price.
Most churn stems from misalignment, not unhappiness. Customers think they bought one thing, while you believe you delivered something broader or more strategic.
When customers and teams agree on the problem, customers measure success differently, spot risks sooner, and see how your solution helps. Over time, this alignment itself improves Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) and Net Revenue Retention (NRR).
To improve retention, keep educating customers about the problem they hired you to solve.
Lesson 2: Define Yourself Before You Get Defined
At first, Gong positioned itself around conversation intelligence, which was accurate but limiting. This led people to see the company as just a call-recording tool, shaping how buyers and executives viewed the product.
Switching to Revenue Intelligence changed the conversation. It increased the perceived value and attracted a larger audience.
Customer Success teams face a similar challenge. If CS is seen only as the renewals team or the relationship layer, its impact on the business seems smaller. As AI becomes more common, there’s also a risk that CS is seen mainly as managing automation and chatbots.
These descriptions affect funding, ownership, and expectations.
If you want Customer Success to be seen as a driver of GRR and expansion, you need to clearly state that responsibility. How your executive team talks about CS sends a message. If they focus on activity or service, the category is already defined.
To control how CS is seen, be precise. Clearly state the outcomes you are responsible for and the system you use to deliver them. This clarity shapes how others in the organization measure your team.
Lesson 3: Prove Value Through Understanding
Category creators know that getting agreement on the solution category and getting people to prefer your company are two separate challenges. Most CS teams blur those lines. They move quickly to performance reporting, QBR decks, and activity metrics to demonstrate value.
These materials are important, but they assume your audience already believes in your approach.
If your leadership team doesn’t fully understand how your team drives retention, performance updates won’t change their thinking. They might see a green dashboard but miss the risks underneath. This is where education helps.
Gong invested in content from former sales professionals because credibility is important when you’re changing how people think. People trust those with real experience.
CS leaders can use the same idea inside their companies. Take time to explain how churn happens, why accounts that look healthy still leave, and how to prioritize based on signals. Show the organization how retention works as a system.
When leaders understand how things work, performance metrics make more sense and are easier to defend.
Lesson 4: Clarity Beats Coverage in the AI Era
In fast-changing markets, it’s tempting to chase every new feature. AI has made this pressure even stronger. Every tool promises efficiency and insight, and every competitor claims to be intelligent. Category leaders don’t try to do everything at once. They set a clear philosophy and build around it.
Customer Success teams need the same focus. Decide how you’ll work across different segments. Make it clear where human engagement matters most, where digital programs help, and how AI supports detection and follow-up.
Without clear direction, teams add tools to an unclear model. With clarity, AI can support your approach rather than distract from its capabilities.
The goal is to build a coherent system that supports predictable retention and expansion.
You’re Defining the Category of CS
People often think of category creation as just external positioning. In reality, it’s about guiding how people understand a problem and measure success.
Customer Success is in the middle of that shift today. Boards expect predictability. CROs want expansion to be structured. Finance demands defensible forecasts. Meeting those expectations requires more than process updates. It requires a common understanding that post-sale revenue must be managed with the same rigor as pipeline.
If you lead CS, you’re not just handling renewals. You help shape how your company defines retention, growth, and accountability after the deal is done. That’s what category work is all about.
Keep Rethinking Retention
This conversation with Udi and Lauren is just one example of the insights we’re sharing on [Un]Churned, your resource for all things customer retention.
Subscribe to the [Un]Churned Substack to get practical lessons on retention, AI, and post-sale growth delivered straight to your inbox. And tune in to the next episode of the [Un]Churned podcast as we continue exploring what it means to build predictable, scalable Customer Success in today’s market.
