The natural tendency of customers and vendors is to drift apart, not closer together. Let’s say it another way: The natural tendency of all your customers is to churn. But is that true? Let’s play it out. You make the sale, close the deal. Then you do nothing. What happens? I think we can all

When I think about health scores, it’s hard not to picture the analogy that’s built into the name: health. In the health analogy, customers are like patients and Customer Success Managers (CSMs) are like doctors. CSMs do tests and measure signals to diagnose any “diseases” and prescribe the right treatment to reduce risk and improve

Imagine a world where your computer didn’t have any folders, only files crowding your desktop. That’s the feeling of analyzing usage of your product’s features without any hierarchy to organize them. As the former CS Ops Director for a business intelligence software company, I invested a lot of time making the most of our usage

Do you know where your users are? And the last time they were in your product? And what they did? And if they saw your newest feature? And if they used it? And for how long? Understanding how your customers are using your product is essential to helping them maximize the value they get out

You may think your product is healthy, but there’s a scary secret hiding in your data that you may not be equipped to defeat. Why is it that when discussing the health of a product, it’s more common to ask how many active users you have instead of total users? This doesn’t give you a

Just how accurate are online review aggregators, anyway? If you pull up Google or Yelp for a restaurant, say, you’ll get an aggregate of stars from one to five, the number of reviews counted, and any number of written reviews and qualitative feedback. Dig deeper, and you may find responses from the restaurant, a policy

The most terrible response can be silence. In 2016, the Swedish Academy announced that it was awarding the year’s Nobel Prize in literature to Bob Dylan. The world turned expectantly (and reasonably) to the musician for a statement, and for that satisfying feeling you get from hearing a person warmly express their gratitude. Instead, he

There’s a best practice that sets apart the most successful products from the rest and it’s simpler than you think. Back in February, I attended SaaStr 2019 in San Jose. If you stopped by the Expo Hall, you might have seen me with the rest of the Gainsight crew at our booth. This year was especially

Are the right people driving product experience in your company? The Age of the Customer has increased the importance of delivering exceptional customer experiences and outcomes. With the onus falling upon the entire company to produce a great customer experience, more and more functional departments are claiming ownership. Marketing, customer success, support, product—each team plays

We all know how it works…a fledgling SaaS company releases a minimally viable product and starts bringing on customers. Early customers help shape the direction of the product and before you know it, a Customer Success team is created. The CSMs start doing Executive Business Reviews (EBRs) and the product road map is the crutch used