Emma Brudner

🎃 A CSM's Halloween Horror Story - be prepared Things that keep Customer Success Managers up at night: 👻 Ghost customers who vanish after onboarding 🧟‍♂️ Zombie accounts with zero product usage 🦇 The dreaded "can we have a quick chat" email from a champion 🕷️ Multiple stakeholders mysteriously leaving at once 🎃 Surprise scope creep crawling into projects 💀 The silence of death after sending "Hope you're doing well" emails 🧙‍♀️ The magic trick of turning red accounts green before QBR season But the scariest thing of all? That moment when your customer says "Actually, we found another solution..." Happy Halloween from your slightly paranoid but always dedicated Director of CS! 👻 #CustomerSuccess #CSM #Halloween #CustomerExperience #TechLife

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Let’s nerd out and talk about the metrics in your comp plan for #CustomerSuccess managers. I’ve been thinking about this as we work together with our new Chief Customer Officer Brent Krempges and new Chief Revenue Officer Marilee Bear at Gainsight on our 2025 strategy. If a CSM is paid with 80% base and 20% bonus, the question is - what are the measures to calculate the bonus? Here are a few options we’ve considered: 💰 CSMs Incentivized Purely On Renewals: This one is attractive, in that it ties CSMs clearly to financial performance. Indeed, the reason many companies have cut CSMs is a belief that they don’t tie to the bottom line. The downside is that in companies with multi-year contracts, a comp plan tied 100% to renewals could lead CSMs to focus 100% on the near-term and miss out on long-term risk. Of course, this can be counteracted with actively weekly management of the team. In addition, if a CSM inherits accounts (e.g., from a departing teammate) that are already going to churn, it can feel punitive to the individual. Some companies manage this issue through exceptions. 🤝 CSMs Incentivized Purely On a Shared Renewal Target: In this approach, CSMs share a collective target - perhaps across a segment or region. The upside here is to reduce the short-term focus and mitigate the issue of a CSM inheriting un-saveable clients. The downside is each CSM has a minimal impact on the overall number. 🚦 CSMs Incentivized Purely On Leading Indicators: Here, CSM bonuses are calculated based upon metrics like adoption, NetPromoter Score, ROI delivered and executive alignment. This approach focuses CSMs on the future. But skeptical CFOs might consider the CSMs in this model to be a cost center. 📈 CSMs Incentivized On Renewals AND Leading Indicators: This is a good blend. However, if the plan has too many “levers,” it can become dilutive. For example, if there are 5 metrics and the bonus is 20%, each metric only represents 4%. ❤️ CSMs Are On 100% Base: While this might sound crazy, some companies have chosen to believe CSMs are “intrinsically motivated,” versus driven purely by compensation. That being said, the goal for CSMs can be confusing for teammates. 💲 CSMs Are On the Company Bonus Plan: Here, the goal is to align CSMs with corporate goals. But this model can suffer from the same dilution as #2 above - but worse. There are many more considerations too: 🙋🏾‍♂️ Do CSMs get incentives for upsell and cross-sell - e.g., a SPIFF for leads? 🙋🏾‍♂️ Do CSMs get compensated for customer advocacy? 🙋🏾‍♂️ Do CSMs receive “accelerators” for overperformance? How do you measure the bonus calculation for your team?

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Top H1 takeaway from QBR's about our Rev Org: "We're an ecosystem, not a hierarchy." (h/t Alexandra B.) We collaborate, everyone's voice matters, and we strive to put people in roles they love so they can be madly successful. Hearing this statement was validation that what we are building in the Revenue Org at LibraryPass is unique, and scalable, and contagious. And we have roles coming soon! So if you're interested in being part of an ecosystem, let's chat. Here's to an even better H2!

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Hot take: most SaaS companies should not have a separate CSM and AM for each customer. We are already seeing the full sales cycle AE on the rise. I think we'll see the same with a merged CSM/AM role. Full-stack GTM roles are the future (yes, AI-assisted).

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Gong's GTM teams love DealHub! We're geeking out over how Gong, the Revenue Intelligence leaders, are using DealHub.io to, well, rock their sales world! Their Deal Desk, RevOps, and Sales teams are all raving about the platform. Here's why DealHub is a hit at Gong: * Less Busywork, More High Fives: DealHub slashed manual work by 50%, freeing up time for what matters – closing those deals. * Crystal Clear Visibility: Say goodbye to pipeline mysteries! Everyone at Gong has a bird's eye view of the sales process. * Faster Sales Cycles: DealHub helped Gong accelerate their deal cycles, meaning quicker wins and happier customers. * Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Collaboration is key! DealHub fosters seamless communication between all of Gong's awesome teams. Curious how DealHub can boost your RevOps magic? Check out the full story! https://okt.to/S0b1WB #RevOpsLife #SalesTeamWins #DealHubLove #CustomerSpotlight

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"You don't need to jump on a call for every client issue." Controversial? Maybe. Smart? Absolutely. I've watched countless CS teams burn out trying to be everything to everyone. There's a better way to scale. Here's how to support 3x more clients without sacrificing quality: The Scaling Framework: Tech-Touch for simple wins → Automated onboarding sequences → Knowledge base for common questions → Regular health-check surveys Light-Touch for the middle ground → Group training sessions → Community-led support → Templated check-ins High-Touch for strategic moments → Quarterly business reviews → Strategic planning → Crisis management The secret sauce? Let clients choose their path: Self-service warriors get their independence Community lovers get their network High-touch seekers get their dedicated time But here's what most miss: Scaling isn't about doing less. It's about doing right. Your CSMs should focus on: →Strategic conversations →Complex problem-solving →Relationship building →Revenue expansion →Not password resets. The result? → Happier clients → Energized CSMs → Better retention → Higher profits Stop drowning your CSMs in low-impact tasks. Start scaling smart.

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#RevenueOperations and #SalesLeaders you should register for this webinar. It's gonna be a good one! I've worked at companies with great RevOps and great Sales Leaders; but sometimes (not always!) they haven't been super well aligned on goals and solving pain points. But when they were, it was magic! 🧙‍♂️ Terminus has it locked in right now and this webinar will share their tips, tricks, stories, examples, etc. Come and listen to what's working for them!

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Efficient growth isn't just cutting costs — It's a literal mindset shift 🧠 ⚙️ In talking with early stage teams, I've been noticing the word "efficiency" is often mistaken for "reducing headcount". But here's the truth: trimming your team might reveal inefficiencies that were quietly lurking beneath the surface. True efficient growth doesn’t begin with who you let go; it begins with how you operate. How you use your finite time and resources in a reimagined manner. Achieving efficient growth isn’t about doing more with less — it’s about unlocking the full potential of your people, processes, and strategy. It requires a mindset shift at every level of your company. 💡 Here are 5 steps an exec team can take to drive REAL efficiency and sustainable growth: 1 - Redefine Goals with Precision: Shift from broad objectives to laser-focused goals that align with your company’s mission. When the team knows exactly what success looks like, they channel their efforts more effectively. Efficiency thrives on FOCUS. 2 - Data-Driven Decision Making: Empower every department to make decisions rooted in data, not just gut feelings. Establish clear metrics to measure progress and use them to guide your next moves. You can't change what you can't measure, so start determining the metrics which make the most sense for each team. 3 - Streamline Processes: Identify bottlenecks and redundancies in your workflows. Say no to projects/experiments. Press delete/pause on that next idea for a moment, as saying No means you have capacity to say Yes to what matters. 4 - Invest in Team Development: Efficient growth thrives on a culture of continuous learning, 0 to 1 and 1% better each day. So equip your team with the skills and tools they need to adapt and excel as your company scales. 5 - Foster a Collaborative Culture: Break down silos between teams and build bridges. Encourage cross-functional collaboration to ensure everyone is working toward the same outcomes, leveraging diverse perspectives for innovative solutions. Efficient growth isn't a one-time project — it's a disciplined approach to how you operate as a business. When you reframe your focus from cutting costs to optimizing value, you don’t just survive — you scale with purpose. 💪 #Leadership #EfficientGrowth #EarlyStageCEO #StartupMindset #SaaS #Scalability #GrowthStrategy

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Prospecting just got a whole lot easier. ✨ ZoomInfo Copilot connects you to the right buyers at the right time, so you don't have to spend hours searching for your next lead. Request a demo to see Copilot in action: bit.ly/3Vj9RCS #ZoomInfoCopilot

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Last week Operatus co-hosted a Pavilion executive dinner in Boston. This group of revenue leaders were passionate and clearly highly experienced and effective in their careers. The energy was electric. I added what I could to the mix - a few RevOps tips of course: 1. Standardize - everyone needs to follow the same process and it has to be understood and clear at the rep level, not just exec on a page - sales process, financial process, contract governance 2. Customer Journey Focus - Detailed measurements across the customer journey from lead to cash - include targets in the system so all data shows performance against target not just raw numbers If you want to join the next event - the CRO Summit is June 6! #operatus #pavilion

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Day -5, Customers - 4, ARR - $0 If you aren’t a force multiplier as an IC, you won’t be as a manager In some cases I have seen people make bigger impacts on culture as an IC peer vs team lead. IC’s can - set the standard - educate their peers - sympathize and empathize - problem solve by truly understanding the problem Impacting a culture can seem daunting, if you are struggling to get started, show up with relentless positivity and you will figure it out from there

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Learn from my mistakes advent calendar... Day 3 / 12: Expecting sales to jump on inbound leads without first building trust. XDRs have the hardest job at your company and your AEs who close are a special kind of person. Despite joking about wanting the comp and flexibility, I couldn't do that job, it comes with huge OTE potential because it's so risky and subject to volatility. So I've had a couple conversations like this that went nowhere... Marketing: Hey guys, I see lots of open leads in queue. Can you follow up with them asap? They're from an event and they'll go cold otherwise. Sales: Yeah we saw a few good ones in there, we'll get to them today, promise! What my sales companions were really saying is: - We have an outbound activity quota to hit and I'll get destroyed if I don't - We're not sure these leads will help us hit our overall number - I see some crap leads in there and now I think they're all crap Lessons learned: 1️⃣ Your sales reps need to be informed to be hyped about the leads coming to them. Take the time to lay the hype groundwork. Tell them about the event you're going to and send the speaker list ahead of time. If you can help them find a couple attendees to set in advance, the quality barometer will be hit by the time they get the full list. Same for any other campaign - show them the new ad creative, tell them who you are targeting (show those juicy ICP titles and companies). Sell your salespeople, get their buy in. Show them YOU believe in the leads, explain why and show them how it lines up to help them hit their goals. 2️⃣ Make sure your reps (XDR + AE) agree on what a qualified lead looks like If you are serving hot leads, make sure the hot is quantifiable. MQLs are nice for marketers to talk about, but if your reps are spending time and credits enriching and calling leads that don't remember your brand or the eBook they downloaded, that's going to erode any trust you have built immediately. If your reps will only be pumped about your core buyer (ex: VP of Engineering) and will ignore everything else, start there and nurture your other leads first. Then expand into the next ring of your ICP (ex: Director of DevOps) once you have delivered. Then you can ask for their time and effort, it's a partnership. 3️⃣ Clean the list before they get it, one bad apple can sour the bunch We heard about a garbage lead that slipped through the cracks from a BBQ restaurant for literally 1.5 years. I'M SORRY THAT HAPPENED, OBVIOUSLY IT WASN'T A REAL LEAD. But this is where hyping the leads and aligning on the quality bar meets reality. Clean the list, AI can help, don't send them leads you know are meh. Just get rid of them, do a pass manually too. It might take an hour but it's worth the hour to make sure they all get followed up on after spending 40 organizing the stupid event in the first place. I love you sales friends, sorry for any crappy leads I sent you in the past. More to come!

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Biggest churn reason im hearing from talking to every single CS Leader within the Enterprise SaaS space right now… “Our customers are losing their budgets” Reality check.. Budgets may get smaller, but they aren't "lost"…they just decided that you weren’t important enough to be kept within their smaller budget. The real question.. Why aren’t you renewed within their decreased budget? #customersuccess #churn #saas

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🚀 Driving Customer Success Excellence: The Power of One 🎯 At Pulse 2024, I had the privilege of joining Dan Maimone from Harri and Mark Deegan to share how we’re redefining customer success by weaving the "red thread" through the post-sales lifecycle with Gainsight. Here’s the journey we shared: 💡 Harri’s Challenge: Balancing hyper-growth with operational efficiency, maintaining exceptional GDR (95%) and NDR (112%), all while scaling a high-touch customer success model. 🔎 Our Approach: - Through Project Lando, Wigmore IT partnered with Harri to: - Optimize Harri’s Gainsight tech stack (CS, PCX, CC and CE). - Define multi-product customer journey stages. - Prioritize customer outcomes with personalized success plans. - Foster cross-functional collaboration and implement change management. 📈 The Results Speak for Themselves: - Gross Dollar Retention: +4% - Net Dollar Retention: +9% - CSM Efficiency: +30% - Customer Health Score: 8.5 - eNPS (CS Team): +27 points 🔥 Key Takeaways: 1️⃣ Start small, think big—pilot programs drive scalable success. 2️⃣ Use data to guide strategy—CSQLs and financial insights were game-changers. 3️⃣ A unified approach integrating people, processes, and technology creates lasting impact. As we look to the future, Harri is investing in AI for predictive analytics and global scalability—setting new benchmarks for CS excellence. 🌎✨ Grateful to share this story and to help organizations turn customer success into a true growth engine. Let’s keep the conversation going! #CustomerSuccess #Gainsight #ThePowerOfOne #CSLeadership #GrowthStrategies

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A Pipeline Council can be one of the best ways to get alignment between sales and marketing and drive real pipeline growth and closed won revenue. But when Mallory, our SVP of RevOps Strategy, first introduced the concept to me, I didn’t understand how this was different from any normal sales and marketing meeting. Then she explained how to run one and how much deeper it goes. Here’s an outline: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗞𝗲𝘆𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗣𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝟭. 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗢𝗽𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮. It is shared the day before and attendees must review it before the meeting 𝟮. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝗽. The meeting has to be a priority. 𝟯. 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲) 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀. You might have to remind each other about that frequently. 𝟰. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘃𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀. People have to open up and admit where they need help. There’s no room for ego – it slows down progress. 𝟱. 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱. Keep action items and review them at the start and end of each call. The group will be FUN when people are executing and seeing an impact. 𝟲. 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰. Regularly revisit the agenda to incorporate fresh data/insights and tackle strategic topics to ensure the council stays relevant and impactful (and not boring). 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀? Look for results! A thriving council will see pipeline gaps closing, deals progressing smoothly, and most importantly, revenue targets being achieved. Everyone involved will have a clear understanding of the data and feel invested in the collective success of the revenue engine. For anyone doing these today, anything you’d add? 🤔 More on this in yesterday’s 📰 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙊𝙥𝙨 𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙡𝙮 📰 Get it here: https://bit.ly/4cxQn4V ✌️

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Revops Leaders: I'm asking because I'm genuinely curious if you've done this work for your org. I want to learn from you. This is not a call for "what tech do you love" but instead a financial question about your team dynamic. What is your tech stack marginal cost to carry an AE, BDR? - Prospect enrichment - CRM - Call recording - Contact sequencing - Contract management - Quoting / proposal management - Learning management solution - etc. etc. Do you know how much, as a percentage you are spending to carry an AE with technology? Curious to know this by ASP... e.g. 10K, 100K, 1M average spend...

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CSM, here are 28 reasons to be thankful for in 2024: 1- AI tools are reducing administrative grunt work 🤖 2- CEOs understanding the importance of retention 💡 3- Predictive analytics are getting much more robust 🔮 4- Remote work expanding global CS opportunities 🌐 5- Retention metrics at board-level conversations 📉 6- The flywheel is overtaking the funnel as a GTM engine 🤲 7- Measuring Customer Outcomes is a top priority for CS 📊 8- Automation is handling repetitive customer interactions 🤖 9- Salary ranges for CSMs are becoming more competitive 💰 10- Customer health scoring is more sophisticated than ever ❤️ 11- There are so many learning programs for CS professionals 🎓 12- More companies budget for professional CS development 🏆 13- Customer feedback loops are faster and more transparent 🔄 14- More start-ups are tackling CS challenges and opportunities 🚀 15- Diversity and inclusion are improving in CS leadership roles 🌈 16- Tech stacks are becoming more integrated and user-friendly 💻 17- Executive leadership values emotional intelligence more now 🤝 18- CSM burnout prevention is getting more leadership attention 🧘‍♀️ 19- Technology is making personalization easier and more effective 🎯 20- The first CRM that supports the CSM work launched (HubSpot) 🧡 21- The skills learned in CS are highly transferable across industries 🌍 22- We're finally unifying the data to tailor the customer experience 🏅 23- The job market for CS professionals is showing genuine recovery 📈 24- The CS community is more supportive and collaborative than ever 🤙 25- Customer success is recognized as a revenue-generating function 💸 26- Networking opportunities have expanded through digital platforms 💻 27- Learning resources for CS professionals are abundant and accessible 📚 28- The stigma around customer success as a "nice to have" is disappearing 🔥 Customer Success is growing and it's becoming better. Despite the hurdles, there’s nowhere else I'd rather be. Who's ready for another revolution around the sun, making a real impact? Let’s go! - 📧 Join thousands of others learning to ace their CS roles by subscribing to my newsletter. (link below) #CustomerSuccess #SaaS #CustomerExperience #CSM #revops

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Good chance that if you're seeing me in your LI feed, right now there’s a committee somewhere working on designs for your life next year. Sales & BDR quota, marketing budgets, partner targets- your livelihood and your ability to do your best work are being negotiated over a series of strategy sessions, furious deck & data swapping, and ultimately, your model of next year’s plan. Your post-SKO job is being drawn up in a spreadsheet right now. *** I’ve been in the room for annual planning at a ~20k, ~2k, and now a 200 person company, and the complexity/maturity of the process varies but the feeling is the same. Done wrong, planning can devolve into departmental leaders squabbling to duck stretchy commitments and seize resources- headcount, budget, territory, etc. Leaders should advocate for their teams, but viewing planning through a departmental lens is guaranteed to poison the overall plan. Done right- everyone shows up to listen more than talk, to work together on a common plan, and to commit to winning or losing as a team. Everyone's got their role to play, but there’s no such thing as departmental success. The business either succeeds or it doesn’t. The naked culture of the company comes out in the planning process and gets baked into next year’s plan. *** Planning isn’t leadership. But good GTM leaders understand their relationship and are deeply invested in planning. If you’re in the room, take that spreadsheet seriously.

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GTM Ops or Revops. The answer? Nobody cares. This absurd debate reinforces some of the worst habits found in revops professionals. Nothing says “I’m going to bog down your org in pedantic nonsense” more than wasting effort on developing a strong opinions on something so meaningless and unproductive. This message is for people evaluating and sourcing revops talent: Ask this question. If the person answering the question thinks this is important, don’t hire them.

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