Emma Brudner

Some days, customer success looks like leading professional developments, calling partners, and crafting back-to-school materials for '24-'25. Some days, it's explaining to the content team that why, yes - you *can* use that an angle-side-side relationship, but we prefer to use side-angle-side relationships in our Geometry content for high schoolers because the abbreviation is more... G-rated. 😅 Just one of those #transitionedteacher skills that only an educator can bring to your team! #STEMeducator #trianglesaretorture #geometry #contentupdatescomingsoon

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I've managed 100s of #CSMs over the years. Here are 10 things I would do if I was a CSM today: 1️⃣ Make sure I work somewhere where I have revenue responsibility (GRR, NRR). CS is becoming the revenue engine, work somewhere that views it that way and where you can be part of the journey and impact. 2️⃣ Have a portfolio plan for the year, quota plan for the quarter, pacing plan for the month, and execution plan for the week. A good CSM is strategic, which does not only mean in how they communicate customer-value, but also how they run their own work. Analyze, plan, execute. 3️⃣ Segment my portfolio so I can allocate my time, resources and focus accordingly and with intention. Don't get lost in running to the fires or after the loudest (internal or external) voice. Understand your business (portfolio) and work on the right customers, the right way and at the right time. 4️⃣ Have a clear idea of my career plan so I can communicate that to and with my manager, and have a mutual plan to achieve it. Crystalize your career plan and potential steps so you both have something to work towards and know what skills to develop to be ready when it is your time. 5️⃣ Map out my internal stakeholders and build deeper relationships so I can maximize the impact I can have for my customers & myself. You will not be at your best in a silo. Create relationship outside your CS team, vid #RevOps, #Sales, #Product, #leadership etc. It will serve you well. 6️⃣ Listen to a lot of podcasts and read a lot of books about business and the spaces I and my customers operate in. Educate yourself. Not just about your role or CS, but also about business in general, your industry and the main ones of your top customers. 7️⃣ Join communities like CxXchange, Customer Success Collective, Gain Grow Retain to surround myself with other perspectives. Learn from others outside of your own organization. More and broader perspectives will only help you accelerate your learnings & skills. 8️⃣ Proactively help my fellow CSMs to be viewed as an internal resource and value-add. This will help you create trust and buy-in from your colleagues, which will serve you and the team well in both the short and long run. 9️⃣ Be proactive and intentional about finding ways to be a positive culture impact on my team. Whenever you take that next step, maybe into management, being a great teammate and a cultural pillar will only help you succeed. 🔟 Learn and understand how everything in CS is connected and impacts each other. Everything in CS is connected, and when you figure out that Rubik's Cube, you are well on your way to mastering CS. What else would you CSM and CS exports add? *** 🛎️ If you enjoy my content, follow me for more ♻️ Repost to share with your network #CSM #customersuccess #accountmanagement #b2b #saas #revsetter

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Really interesting perspective on how a GTM systems team can drive business success.

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Yo SDR Leaders. Here’s how to ramp fast and win early: 1. Set Clear Targets. Most companies fail here. No targets = no direction. 2. Focus on Discos & Pipe. If disco quality sucks, don’t expect pipeline to magically appear. 3. Discount Targets During Ramp. For quarter 1, I set targets at 70% of capacity, but I laser-focus on discos. 4. Meetings = Momentum. Push SDRs to book meetings. Building killer account lists AND hit the right personas with volume. 5. Messaging = Their Compass. You need to enable them with a messaging playbook. Give them the guardrails to build their own outreach. 6. 20-Step Cadence, Minimum. Calls, emails, InMails, voicenotes—make it multi-channel. Volume and frequency for the win. 7. Feedback is Fuel. Get them to pitch their cadences/emails to the team. It’s uncomfortable, but rejection early = success later. 8. Rust is OK. When they start reaching out, they won’t be perfect. They just need to start. 9. Volume First. Assign them 100 accounts, each with at least 6 personas. That’s 600 contacts ready for outreach. 10. Do the Math. 600 contacts x 20 touchpoints = 12,000 opportunities to get on the radar. 11. Refine with Data. Analyze responses. Who’s engaging? Adjust and improve. 12. Personalize Later. New SDRs need volume to build their network and brand first. Personalization comes when they’ve got traction. You can get early wins through the door. But you’ll need to roll up the sleeves. Go get em.

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🎃 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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Change time! I’m psyched to soon be joining DataSnipper to help them further accelerate their Demand Generation efforts! After securing a $100M funding round only 2 months ago, DS is gearing up for the next part of their growth journey. This inevitably means I’m also leaving Gainsight. Gainsight has been a pretty wild ride. From building out inSided’s success in B2B SaaS and Customer Success and a potential Series B, to eventually being acquired by Gainsight and delving into the demand side of all of their products, buying other companies—I would say I have been pretty fortunate and my journey has been one of many highs and successes. For this I’m grateful. I’m also grateful for the astonishingly good & fun people I’ve met along the way. Robin van Lieshout for putting up with me through times of crazy growth, an acquisition and many future dinners to come. Nick Mehta and Monika Saha for giving me the chance to uplevel my skills, and hopefully also some of the organization. Jordan Sher, Lauren Olerich, Silvina El Baba, Matthew Wasley, Robin Merritt, Kellie Capote, Rea Stambuk, Silvia Atanasova, Trisha Mistry, and many others for making every day that bit more fun and a learning moment. I’ll continue to follow GS closely. This will also be the first time in 7 years that I don’t work directly with some of my (now) best friends like Udit Lakhotia, Pascal Debets, Bas Klomp, Joris Dieben, Becky May, Anne Willems and many more. This will be weird, but there’s eternal love here! ❤️ Finally, this will also be the first time in 7 years that I don’t work directly ‘in’ Customer Success. Now, I love this industry and won’t forget it. I’ll look for ways to keep contributing to the community as I have in the past (more on that later) as I’m bad at letting go and invested so much already ;-) I’ve met so many amazing people that are a part of this community, that it has become a pretty intricate part of my professional career and network. That’s something to nurture for sure and I know it. As for Datasnipper. Founded by this company has seen CRAZY growth, has incredible PMF, and a Marketing team that’s ready to take all that to the next level. Plus, being in Marketing means I’ve been close friends with Finance & financials for years :D It only makes sense! lol. I’ve been blown away by the results, culture, and mission—making it a no-brainer to sign up. Thank you Vidya Peters, Bas Willems, Sam Brown and many others in the leadership team for the opportunity. LFG, I can’t wait.

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📣 Big news for social marketers AND customer service teams! 📣 Hootsuite just dropped Social Customer Care — a Salesforce integration that can streamline, simplify, and even automate social messaging across your entire org. ✨DMs get automatically routed to the right team and person. 💡 Support peeps can see message history in context and reply right from Salesforce. 🤖 There’s even chatbot integration to automate replies to FAQs across your social channels. You’ve gotta see it: https://ow.ly/pi6Q50TqCIg

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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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Case studies are a pain in the ass. They're filled with blockers like: - convincing your CSMs to let you talk to their customer - getting a customer to spend time talking to you - booking time and then your POC has to reschedule - getting a transcript of the recording - listening back to your own voice (ugh) to find the good stuff - writing something meaningful with just enough detail but not too much and finally... - publishing that case study - showing your case study to the sales team so they'll use it Some of these blockers are bigger than others but if you've ever gone through the process of creating a case study, you were with me from "pain in the ass". But they're a necessary element for B2B SaaS. Prospects *do* want to know what others have accomplished with your help. Publishing wins from a variety of customers is important for your SEO. And people just... expect them at this point. I gotta tell you, I used to dread case studies but I've been testing out Laudable for my case study production and it's gonna be a game changer, and I don't use that term lightly. In less time then it takes Zoom to process the call recording I can produce an entire case study and a wins slide for my team! Is it perfect? No. Does it get me 90% of the way there? Absolutely. And I dunno about you but if I can do 90% less work in one of the many areas I cover, I'm taking it. Anywho, Ryan Quindlen 🦇 or Angela Ferrante can hook you up with your own demo/trial account to see for yourself. Oh and I'll probably get in trouble for this with Blake Imperl since it's Not On Brand™ but if you want to read about what Ellyn Stastny shared with me about Pvolve's success with Digioh, I'll link it in the comments.

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It’s great to see another CEO that is so intune with CSMs and the impact their role has. I think 1️⃣ is so important. Too many companies I talk with overlook this and it’s detrimental to their end of year numbers. Setting up a retention comp. plan can not only be extremely motivating but also provide tangible deliverable expectations for everyone. #csm #saas #b2b #customersuccess

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After speaking with 100’s of Rev Ops Leaders over the past few weeks, a few key issue stuck out. Here are 3 of the areas I heard over and over: 1.   Aligning Sales and Marketing 2. Data Silos and Visibility 3. Resistance to Change What are you hearing? Comment Below Here is an article that address other issues Rev Ops Leaders are experiencing.  https://lnkd.in/ewhKQGJA.

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🌟 Sunday Spotlight: Sales Leadership with Emily Parker! 🌟 Revisit our chat with Emily Parker, Director of Inside #Sales at Insider! Emily shares her top strategies for building high-performing #SDRteams, leveraging curiosity in sales, and crafting resilient #leadership. Key Highlights: Building SDR Career Paths: Transform your team with clear growth trajectories. Curiosity in #Sales: Engage prospects more effectively with curiosity-driven #conversations. Resilient Leadership: Foster adaptability and continuous learning in your #salesteam. Read now & gain insights on effective #salesdevelopment and leadership: https://lnkd.in/dWEa7Q7C #SalesLeadership #B2BSales #SDRSuccess #WomenInTech #iTechSeries #GTMLibrary

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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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Today, instead of powering through, I asked for help. I am usually OK with a lot going on. A former boss of mine said I thrive on the border of chaos—enough to keep things interesting (and not boring) but not so much I feel overwhelmed. As you can imagine, that is a fine fine line. And today it hit me. In June alone: - I'm hosting Intellum's first-ever summit series next week. - I'm kicking off a big event (another first) internally. - I opened up a role on my team. - I'm on the interview panel for another role on our marketing team. - I'm traveling to a client onsite at the end of the month. - I'm attending my first CEdMA board meeting. And that's not including my personal life: - Herbalism classes (1 weekend a month commitment through fall) - Ran a 10K - Teaching tonight - Attending a wedding - College student graduation - Kicking off my accommodating learning disabilities in the classroom 6-week study Each year, there's a period of time like this where it's like, STRAP IN FOR A WILD RIDE. And because I've been trained this way, I usually just put my head down and plow through. Because I've learned that it always works out. This too shall pass. Mind over matter. All that good stuff. But today I tried something different. Instead of trying to shoulder it all (or proving to myself that I could), I phoned a friend. And we talked about the heart things, like how I've gotten so used to my workload that I don't even know what I'll do with someone else on the team. Like how I've set this crazy expectation for proactive communication in the candidate experience because I don't want to disappoint people. Like how finding the right teammates is valuable work—probably more important than the execution work in front of me this month. Like how it's OK to say I'm not available for something right now, and I wish I could, but maybe later? And I needed that phone call more than I thought I did when I picked up the phone. Why am I sharing this on LinkedIn? Because life and work are like this—sometimes there are seasons that seem huge. Sometimes our minds run amok. And we so often try to shoulder this alone. It's OK to phone a friend. It's OK to ask for help. It's OK to let some things go. It doesn't change your value. And you're worth the support of your network. ❤️

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🔥 Hot take: buying is hard too.🔥 As GTM professionals, we lament (a lot) about how hard it is to sell to today's buyers. Rather than convincing one decision maker of the wisdom of investing in and implementing your solution, you're often juggling the impressions and opinions of 6-10 different people who have different goals, different backgrounds, and different success criteria. Oy. It's a wonder anything ever gets bought. Or sold. Add to that, 60% of the buyer's journey happens before anyone ever talks to your sales team, AND the journey is not linear. Just take a look at the attached illustrative look at a typical software buyer's journey and the stops and starts along the way. I've heard the non-linear path referred to as a playground and while I love the imagery that evokes, the stops, starts, and restarts seem a little less joyful than a day spent on the swings. So, how, as professionals with a product that we know will help solve the problem, do we make it easier for buyers to actually buy? 📱 Make sure your website is qualified to be your first salesperson. Be transparent about product tiers and pricing. 🎯 Be crystal clear about the problem you solve and for whom. Buyers don't have time to figure it out on their own and will move on if it's not evident you'd be a reasonable contender. 📘 Create content for every stage of the buyer's journey but understand that those just starting to recognize that they MIGHT have a problem individually still likely need to get buy-in from other members of the proposed buying team. In some sectors this could mean 2 years or more before they'll be ready to implement technology to solve that problem. 🧠 Understand very well the different personas and their role in the buying process (hint, if you've not spoken with procurement, you're probably not close to a sale). 🙋‍♀️ Recognize the value of hand raisers. These are the people who WANT to talk to you about what you do. They're also likely the one feeling the actual pain. Get an understanding from them what the rest of the buying team looks like and what particular success criteria you'd need to meet. ✅ Qualify in fast. Qualify out faster. No need to waste your time or theirs if your solution isn't a fit for their problem. #marketingstrategy #buyersjourney #positioning

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Do you give a $%@#!? Pardon the language, but this week's Revenue Makers with Jen Allen-Knuth tackled just that, from a sales lens... Great outreach is ultimately about understanding what matters to your prospect. One of the best insights Jen shared is how she approaches busy executives. Instead of leading with a generic introduction or a templated pitch, she digs into their priorities and potential challenges, crafting a message that speaks directly to their world. When you can highlight a challenge they might face and offer a thoughtful perspective, you’re not just another email in their inbox—you’re someone worth their time. Do the research, anticipate their challenges, and position yourself as a problem-solver, not just another vendor. Don’t miss this episode of Revenue Makers for practical strategies to stand out, connect with buyers, and close meaningful deals: https://lnkd.in/esjk5jTh

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Rev Ops / Sales Ops - I believe the toughest part of your job has more in common with parenting than it does with anything else. Follow my metaphor for a moment. The sales operations job is: - making sure the CRM is in order and connected to other sales tools - sales compensation - territory - ensuring sales process adherence - data hygiene - forecasting - sales analytics and many other things. As you look at that list it definitely lines up with somebody who is analytical and a systems thinker. Where it breaks down is once you have everything set up. Once you have the right processes and systems, the weak link is the people. And when the people are sales reps, that's a very weak link. Yes I know some of you hate that statement, but it's true. And that's coming from someone who prides himself on being a salesperson. I don't always do the stuff I'm supposed to do in the systems that revenue operations set up either. My colleague James Hemberg does a great job with tactful reminders. Here's one from last week: Hey team - If you are receiving this email, you are the owner of a non-flat renewal opportunity set to close this fiscal quarter. At this point, if it's not on the cusp of closing it should get pushed out to next quarter or moved to closed/lost. ------ I like the wording of his note. Way better than, "Update your opps you morons." That inspired me to ask the question: Got any bulletpoints on lessons learned from revops on how to get surly sales reps to actually do stuff? His reply: It’s like parenting and what I do to stop having to constantly remind my boys to do stuff: - create routines: be consistent with your expectations on when you ask them to do things and how you want it done. - keep the asks small: makes it manageable and shows you respect their time - lead with empathy and understanding: I know they don’t see personal value in every ask so I explain why the first time. - provide a means to avoid the ask: give them a dashboard or report they have access to at all times so they can proactively avoid having to do the asks. Gives them the ability to do it on their time. ___________ Great advice from someone who is technically and analytically competent, while at the same time understands the human element as a father of two boys. Sales operations people how do you handle sales reps when it's difficult to get them to do stuff? #revenueoperations #salesoperations #salesteam #routine #habit

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Enablement just got personal. Generic doesn’t cut it anymore when it comes to winning your buyers’ attention (or their trust). If you want to leave a lasting impression with content, meetings, and training that gets you up close and personal with your buyers’ most pressing concerns – let’s talk. Just stop by booth #417 at the Forrester B2B Summit in Austin today through this Wednesday or set your preferred time to talk with Bigtincan team members using the scheduler in the link. #ForrB2BSummit #enablement #buyingexperienceofthefuture

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Spoke to a RevOps Manager setting up her first deal desk and one of her main priorities is getting her CEO to be LESS involved with approvals. Here's the 2 main changes she's implementing: 1) Define Pricing & Terms that Need CEO Approval Right now, he likes to review everything - which can be a bottleneck when they're trying to get quotes out the door quickly... Does he really need to approve discounts under 5%? Probably not. But discounts over 50%? Yeah, he should know about those. 2) Add Approval Levels If her CEO knows the Sales Manager and VP of Sales already approved something, then that adds speed and confidence to his decision making process. It also saves him time from having to review items that don't make it past the first two levels. *If you want to automate level (sequential) approvals, you can do so with RevOps: CPQ, Approvals, and Deal Desk - send me a DM if you'd like to learn more. #RevOps #DealDesk #Approvals #CPQ

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