Today on the show we have Cactus Raazi, author of Price. In this episode, we talked about what drove Cactus to write Price , his theory on; should pricing be personalized to individual customers, and the different building blocks to create a more personalized pricing approach. We also discussed the starting point of the pricing conversation within a company, why pricing is often a guesstimation, and why that’s a problem, and lastly Cactus shares different ways to drive expansion revenue from exi...
May 19, 2021•39 min•Ep. 114
Today on the show we have Harini Karthik, Head of data at Loom. In this episode, we talked about the ideal data setup at a company, where to start and how to build a data team that influences strategy and drives growth for the company. We also discussed why you should prioritize understanding the LTV of your customers as one of your first big data challenges and broke down a step by step guide on how to do it. We dove into how to identify where your users are coming from, the tech stack you’ll n...
May 12, 2021•43 min•Ep. 113
Today on the show we have Louis Grenier, podcast host of Everyone Hates Marketers and the creator of the 8 week course called Stand the fuck out. In this episode, we talked about how the course can help you and your business STFO and why you need to. We also chatted about the motivations that led him to create it in the beginning. We also discussed why Louis hates the idea of category creation and what he believes you should aim for instead, and then dove straight into the different steps you ne...
May 05, 2021•41 min•Ep. 112
Today on the show we have Nick Fogle, co-founder of Churnkey. In this episode we talked about what Nick hated about being a lawyer so much that he decided to take a job as a shuttle driver, and learn how to code between rides. We also discussed the moment he realized his first startup was about to hit it’s growth ceiling due to extreme high churn, how they optimized their offboarding flow for retention and finally how this experience motivated him to launch Churnkey and help other companies with...
Apr 28, 2021•31 min•Ep. 111
Today on the show we have Tadas Labudis, co-founder and CEO of Prodsight. In this episode, we talked about how multiple channels and siloed feedback can be a company’s biggest customer feedback analysis challenge, and how good data hygiene is the foundation of data collaboration across teams. We also dove into why you should rethink your churn exit survey and what you can do instead. Lastly we discussed the different ways you can analyze churn against support tickets and feature requests. As usu...
Apr 21, 2021•35 min•Ep. 110
Today on the show we have Julien Codorniou, VP of Workplace from Facebook. In this episode we talked about Facebook’s obsession with user satisfaction, adoption and retention, how Workplace first started as an internal tool for facebook employees and why they decided to turn it into a business. We also discussed Workplace’s superpower and how they differentiate from their competition, we also dove into their top-down and wall to wall growth and go-to market strategy, and finally discussed their ...
Apr 14, 2021•42 min•Ep. 109
Today on the show we have Chris Hicken, CEO at 'nuffsaid. In this episode, we talked about what drove Chris to build 'nuffsaid, and how it helps Customer Success teams. How userstesting.com conducts user testing to mitigate churn, and he also shares the 3 most common user testing mistakes that companies make. We also discussed the fundamentals of building an effective low-touch customer success model, how to level up it’s maturity and the skill sets needed to do so at each level. As usual, I'm e...
Apr 07, 2021•51 min•Ep. 108
Today on the show we have Ashvin Vaidyanathan, author and CCO at Gainsight. In this episode, we talked about the power and impact that Customer Success and Product teams have when joining forces, why Ashvin created a Customer Experience position to act as a liaison between the two teams and how they have a common north star metric they focus on. We also discussed how the CS team determines which pain points are important to act upon, what that process looks like, how they measure the impact of m...
Mar 31, 2021•41 min•Ep. 107
Today on the show we have Rav Dhaliwa, Investor and Venture Partner at Crane Venture Partners. In this episode, we talked about Rav’s impressive career heading up CS at some of the top hyper-growth SaaS companies, how he’s seen the industry evolve over the past 15 years, and why CS leaders have two customers: the ones they serve externally and the teams they need to sell their value to internally. Rav also shared tips on how to get started when setting up customer success and the one thing CS te...
Mar 24, 2021•47 min•Ep. 106
Today on the show we have Francis Suarez, Mayor of Miami. In this episode, we talked about the mass migration of startups and talent from places like San Francisco and New York to Miami. How Mayor Suarez retains his citizens by treating them as his customers, and what his citizen success team looks like. We also discussed how the Mayor attracts VC’s to the city, how he onboards new citizens for success, Miami’s development roadmap, and how Miami is incentivising tech companies to make the move. ...
Mar 17, 2021•20 min•Ep. 105
Today on the show we have Erica Ayotte, VP of Customer Success at Privy. In this episode, we talked about the importance of having deep expertise in a Customer Success team and how every CS manager at Privy has their very own unique superpower. Erica also explains how Privy successfully manages to provide a high-touch model feel to their customers at scale. Erica also shares the tactics she uses to grab her customer’s attention when sharing helpful advice, how Customer Success, Product, and Mark...
Mar 10, 2021•34 min•Ep. 104
Today on the show we have Brian LaFaille, Global Head, Customer Success Strategic Programs at Google. In this episode, we talked about how Brian is navigating customer retention post the Google acquisition, how both Google and Looker benefited from joining forces, and how they managed and prepared their existing customers for the transition. We also discussed Looker’s explosive growth since joining Google, and why Brian threw out the notion of customer journey maps and replaced it with a behavio...
Mar 03, 2021•33 min•Ep. 103
Today on the show we have Harrison Rose, co-founder and Chief Customer Officer at Paddle. In this episode, we talked about what it was like for Harrison to just finish school and dive straight into building a hyper growth company. We then chatted about category creation and how Paddle is defining their Revenue Delivery Platform that they are taking ownership of and working towards creating and becoming the category leader. We also discussed the million dollar SaaS metric, how Paddle helps its cu...
Feb 24, 2021•35 min•Ep. 102
Today on the show we have Mike Sakaki VP of Customer Success & Support, and Tyler Ramsey, Senior Customer Success Manager at Mitek. In this episode, we talked about what Mitek is and what they do, why Mike and Tyler made the decision to shift their onboarding flow, and the steps they took to implement their new onboarding program in order to mitigate churn. We also discussed the single metric Mitek uses to measure the ROI CSM’s deliver to the business and how they decided on that specific me...
Feb 17, 2021•38 min•Ep. 101
Today is a BIG day as Churn FM turns 100 episodes old! It’s been an amazing learning curve and I’ve been super lucky to speak to and learn from some of the brightest minds in the business. For this special episode I wanted to give back to you, and all the other listeners of the show, who have helped shape and make it what it is today. So to do that I turned to our amazing guests and asked for a big favour which they were super cool about and agreed to. This week you can stand a chance to win a f...
Feb 10, 2021•43 min•Ep. 100
Today on the show we have Emily González-Cebrián, co-founder and CEO of Froged. In this episode, we talked about why Emily decided to make the jump and start a SaaS business, how Froged was born, who their main customers are and how they help them with churn and retention. We also discussed the importance of onboarding and activation, their unique personalized and human onboarding experience, and how Froged uses Froged to retain their customers. As usual, I'm excited to hear what you think of th...
Feb 03, 2021•29 min•Ep. 99
Today on the show we have David Sakamoto, VP of Customer Success at GitLab. In this episode, we talked about how David remembers names leading a team of over 200 people, the biggest differences between company giants like Cisco and hyper-growth startups like GitLab, and what David’s vision is for Customer Success at GitLab. We also discussed why a CS team should be orchestrating the customer experience across the board, the hiring process at GitLab, and how to maintain your company culture and v...
Jan 27, 2021•42 min•Ep. 98
Today on the show we have Mariah Hay, VP of Product at Help Scout In this episode, Mariah shares the product principles she lives by, and the importance of having a cross-functional group of teams working towards outcomes with an aligned goal to avoid building a Frankenstein product. We also discussed how Help Scout’s product team uses OKR’s, what Support Driven Growth is and how you can implement it, and we dove deep into Product Specialists at Help Scout, who they are, what they do, and the ro...
Jan 20, 2021•38 min•Ep. 97
Today on the show we have Derek Steer, Co-founder, and CEO of Mode. In this episode, we talked about what drove Derek as an analyst to start Mode, what they do, and who their typical customers are. We also discussed how Mode nudged competitors out of their customer’s workflow by having a hyper-focus on technical analysts and what differentiates them in the data analysis market. Derek also shares how analysts at Mode analyze churn and retention and why you should also investigate churn even if it...
Jan 13, 2021•45 min•Ep. 96
Today on the show we have Shanta Bodhan, Director of Customer Success at SupplyShift. In this episode, we talked about what drove Shanta to make the switch from HR to customer success, the different parallels between employee retention and customer retention, and how SupplyShift adapts and aligns their product roadmap to their customer’s current needs. We also discussed the relationship between Customer Success and Sales at SupplyShift and how they work together towards common goals and we also ...
Jan 06, 2021•44 min•Ep. 95
Today on the show we have Dan Burcaw, co-founder and CEO of Nami ML. In this episode, we talked about what drove Dan to build Nami ML, the unique involuntary churn scenarios with mobile apps on iTunes and Google Play stores. We also discussed the different risks and concerns that companies like Spotify and Netflix might face by charging their customers outside the mobile app ecosystem, and what role churn and retention played during the acquisition of Dan’s previous company. As usual, I'm excite...
Dec 30, 2020•39 min•Ep. 94
Today on the show we have Sydney Strader, Head of Customer Success at Catalyst. In this episode, we talked about what motivated Sydney to make the switch from a career in marketing to customer success, how you can align compensation between sales and customer success. We also discussed her time at Invision and how they maximized value for their customers by taking renewals off the CS team’s plate and how their hyper-growth masked churn and retention. Sydney also shared her number one challenge w...
Dec 23, 2020•46 min•Ep. 93
Today on the show we have Javier Suarez, co-founder of Oliva. In this episode, we talked about what it feels like to start over again after building TravelPerk, a hyper-growth startup. Javier also shared how the anxiety that came with being a founder of a hyper-growth company motivated him to start Oliva just a few years later. We also discussed how TravelPerk viewed churn and retention and what they did to solve it in the early days, we then dove into the evolution of their product team as thei...
Dec 16, 2020•36 min•Ep. 92
Today on the show we have Kristi Faltorusso, VP of Customer Success at IntelliShift. In this episode, we talked about how Kristi moved from a career in marketing to customer success and why it was the best decision she ever made. Kristi also shared what she focused on to get up to speed with the industry 12 years ago, and how previously being a power user of the product she worked for helped in launching her career in customer success. We also discussed the common churn and retention challenges ...
Dec 09, 2020•49 min•Ep. 91
Today on the show we have Dave Blake, founder, and CEO of ClientSuccess In this episode, we talked about what motivated Dave to start ClientSuccess and how their service helps their customers drive expansion and reduce churn, he also shares what it was like being at Adobe when they made the big switch from selling compact discs to a cloud-based subscription service business. We also discussed how Adobe became an extension of their customer’s team by physically working at their offices’ building ...
Dec 02, 2020•38 min•Ep. 90
Today on the show we have Luke Diaz, VP of Customer Success at Clearbit. In this episode, we talked about why Luke made a career switch from working at a Hedge Fund to diving into Customer Success, and how Optimizely shifted their go-to-market strategy to fix churn and retention. We also discussed how AppsFlyer identifies strategic opportunities to drive expansion revenue, how you can show the impact of a team that doesn't own revenue, and how Clearbit approaches their churn and retention challe...
Nov 25, 2020•37 min•Ep. 89
Today on the show we have Megan Murphy, VP of Product at Hotjar. In this episode, we talked about the importance of delighting customers in small ways no matter the stage or size of a company, how Megan took the “Jobs To Be Done” framework to the next level, and how she’s trying to build a more human product strategy at Hotjar. We also discussed why growth at all costs can set you up for failure, how today’s product managers can keep up with change, and make sure they’re building for their custo...
Nov 18, 2020•38 min•Ep. 88
Today on the show we have Ryan Robinson, founder, and blogger of ryrob.com In this episode, we talked about how Ryan conducts revenue-generating keyword research, why revenue is his number one content metric to track, and how he helps companies with their overall content strategy. We also discussed how Ryan tracks and measures results for his customers, how he uses content marketing as an educational tool to fuel long-term growth, his content generation process, and easy content production hacks...
Nov 11, 2020•33 min•Ep. 87
Today on the show we have Megan Bowen, Chief Customer Officer at RefineLabs In this episode, we talked about what a revenue engine optimization agency does and how they help their customers grow with their demand generation framework. We also discussed how to measure churn and retention for technology software products that have a service delivery component and how Grubhub successfully retains customers during the mergers and acquisitions they undertake. As usual, I'm excited to hear what you th...
Nov 04, 2020•42 min•Ep. 86
Today on the show we have Derek Skaletsky, Founder and CEO of Sherlock. In this episode, we talked about how Derek came up with the idea to build Sherlock and why now, how Sherlock determines an engagement score, and how CS, Sales, and Marketing teams can use it. We also discussed how Derek’s Head of Customer Success self was arguing with his Head of Product self back at Kissmetrics whilst leading these two teams, and we dove into Kissmetric’s #1 reason for churn and how Derek and his team halve...
Oct 28, 2020•38 min•Ep. 85
