Although the title says “aligning”, the most important thing in this particular subject might be “defining”. Because so many Customer Success organizations grow up in the Services part of the enterprise, this means they sit right alongside the Customer Support function. Nothing wrong with that in theory, but in practice the differences can often be
Alignment with Sales is a critical component of the long-term success of your Customer Success team. If you assume that Customer Success owns the company retention number, then the combination of Sales and Customer Success drives the total subscription bookings number for the company. That’s interesting to understand because, in many ways, the two organizations
This should be a pretty easy blog post to write, right? However, I’ve only ever been one and have never hired one, so writing this is forcing me to think about it in a new light. A very interesting exercise. Credit here to my right-hand man, Paul Piazza, for great input on what he appreciates
It’s typical to think of churn as a leaky bucket. How many customers are you retaining? How many are you losing? How much money are you keeping and how much are you leaking? Instead of a leaky bucket, let’s think of customer churn as something that results in a doctor’s visit, like recurring migraines or
Preparing for a board meeting can be a hassle. But it’s a necessary and beneficial hassle. As recurring revenue companies grow and the renewal and upsell part of the business becomes a larger part of the overall company bookings, the Customer Success update is becoming even more important to the board. So let’s do it
Board meetings can be scary and stressful. And your company’s relationship with your board may be very different from mine. In other words, take any, or all, of the suggestions in this post with a grain of salt or at least filter them through what you know about your board. First off, if you are
Technology is truly amazing, isn’t it? Saving lives, saving time, saving the world.… or so we would believe if we listened to every claim. Choosing the right solution is hard enough, but measuring the efficacy of a solution before you buy is equally challenging. In the world of Customer Success Management, understanding the need to
The most common question I get from fellow CEOs, beyond why I own so much Pittsburgh Steelers-related paraphernalia, is how to structure Customer Success organizationally. Should it report to Sales? Should it report to Services? Can’t everyone just hold hands and drive Customer Success together? Dan Steinman, Chief Customer Officer at Gainsight, spoke about the
I’ve learned over the years that there are two ways to make an impact with a presentation (or a blog). One is to teach your audience something they did not already know. The other is to reinforce truths that they are already aware of but perhaps haven’t articulated quite the way you do. This post
It’s no secret that incentives or compensation plans can be a powerful tool for driving desired behavior. This concept is not new – it dates as far back as the Roman Empire, where Julius Caesar developed an incentive plan for his centurions. Dan’s latest post on Executive Compensation in a Customer-Driven Enterprise leaves little to contest, so