Our 2-week Retention training and certificate program starts on Monday, June 17, 2024. Our first live session is on Tuesday. This program is so unique because we take a different approach to Customer and Revenue retention. We focus on the differences between Proactive and Reactive Retention, how to move from the latter to the former through better prioritization, orchestration, and directing limited resources to higher-percentage activities. This program is practical in every sense of the...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
This week's Impact Weekly podcast episode is up (Listen here or on Spotify or Apple) and in it, Johan and I answer a variety of questions about Churn, including: What are the key indicators for predicting churn in advance? How to prevent churn when you have no control over price rises (set by head office) Is there a particular NRR %, or threshold below 100% NRR that would be a particular alarm bell for you? Is there a tolerance that you'd expect to see in B2B SaaS? And more! We give some VERY...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
In this context, "busy" is a feeling, one that leads CSMs to feel overwhelmed and eventually burnout. Busy isn't about the performance of activities, per se. You can have two CSMs, both spending 75% of their time on customer-facing activities, but the one performing efficiently won't just NOT feel "busy" but will feel productive and satisfied with their job, while the CSM operating inefficiently is suffering and looking for a way out. Here are a few ideas for you to make your CSMs feel less...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Our 2-week Retention training and certificate program starts this Monday, June 17, 2024. This program is so unique because we take a different approach to Customer and Revenue retention. We focus on the differences between Proactive and Reactive Retention, how to move from the latter to the former through better prioritization, orchestration, and directing limited resources to higher-percentage activities. This program is practical in every sense of the word. Our Impact Academy programs are a...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
“My CSMs are too busy to do Advocacy, Lincoln.” “So pile even more onto my overworked CSMs? Umm, No.” I’ve heard the same for Expansion, Renewal, etc. Weird how their CSMs are too busy to do things like Advocacy or Expansion but not too busy to: Do the work for the customer Work escalated support tickets Train individual users Answer the same questions over and over Have meetings when they’re not necessary Have super-inefficient meetings And so much more nonsense Saying their CSMs are "too...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
In companies where Advocacy contributes significantly to CAC, LTV, and NRR and is operationalized, orchestrated, and measured as such, Customer Success (CS) owns it. To ensure your Advocacy efforts are strategic, coordinated, and impactful, the CS org should own the advocacy strategy. Here’s why: Holistic Customer Understanding: CS has the most comprehensive view of the customer journey, understanding their milestones, successes, and challenges. Effective Orchestration: CS is best positioned...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
This time of year Europe goes on summer vacation. So we put Impact Academy Premium Live trainings on hiatus starting in July for a couple of months and my clients in Sweden, Denmark, and Portugal pause our engagements. But, this means I have availability to help you this summer. While I can help with all things Customer Success, my areas of specialization (and particular interest) are: Onboarding (and Trial Engagement - Sales Assist motion) Customer Engagement (Automation, Lifecycle...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Someone. Anyone. The truth is, even where a company says Marketing or CS "owns" Advocacy, they don't really OWN Advocacy. They own a project. Or a campaign. Some one-off push to get reviews or case studies or references. This isn't what I mean when I say "owns" in the context of Advocacy. Someone - some department leader - needs to own the Advocacy strategy for the company and oversee the execution of that strategy. I'm not saying it doesn't matter which department (more on that on...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Impact Academy Advocacy training starts June 10! The other day I did an informal poll on LinkedIn, Instagram, and even asked you to just reply to my email to tell me who owns Advocacy in your company. The result: a relatively even split between CS and Marketing (slight edge to Marketing on LinkedIn). But the comments and replies add much needed context. Again, this is informal but tracks with what I've seen in the wild: while one of those departments may "own" Advocacy, the reality is most...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read