Account Management Secrets

Alex Raymond
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Account Management Secrets is the podcast designed specifically for the unsung heroes of the business world—Account Managers. Every week, we share insights, strategies, and tools that will help you excel in your role and drive success within your organization. As someone responsible for over 70% of your company’s revenue, the stakes are high, but the resources and training available to you are often limited. This podcast is here to change that. Hosted by Alex Raymond, a leader in the field who has worked with thousands of Account Managers to improve their results, Account Management Secrets equips you with the knowledge and practical strategies you need to master the art and science of account management. Whether it’s navigating complex client relationships, preparing for critical Quarterly Business Reviews, or unlocking growth opportunities with your existing customers, each episode provides actionable advice you can apply immediately. Account Management Secrets is brought to you by AMplify, the elite community dedicated to helping Account Managers boost their careers, build their skills, and expand their networks. Join us at https://amplifyam.com and start your journey towards account management excellence.

  1. 6 days ago

    How to Build a Customer Relationship Map: Grow Revenue and Have Fun Doing It | EP106

    Most account managers know they're supposed to "know their customer." Few have an actual system for what that means or how to prove it.   Dan Horowitz, Head of US Sales & Account Management at Taboola, joins Alex Raymond to break down how to build a customer relationship map that protects revenue instead of just decorating a slide. Dan explains that strong account management starts with the fundamentals, including a red-yellow-green heat map of the relationships across an account, not just the one champion who takes your calls. He uses the example of "Susie," where an entire relationship depends on a single person who could leave the company tomorrow.   Dan also walks through creative account management strategies his teams have used to move relationships from transactional to strategic customer relationships, including a Yahoo Mail partnership with Walmart that lets users order groceries with one click, and a digital Super Bowl squares game built for Pizza Hut. Both started with an account manager who knew the customer well enough to spot an opportunity nobody else saw.   He also gets specific on how to know your customer in account management, right down to the language your customer's industry uses, and why hospitality in account management (borrowed straight from restaurateurs Danny Meyer and Will Guidara) might matter more than another QBR deck.   If you want a real framework for how to build a customer relationship map instead of another vague reminder to "know your customer," this episode gives you one. Press play and steal it for your next account plan.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Dan Horowitz's Mandate to Grow Revenue 02:30 The Art of Account Management Versus the Science 09:03 Inside Taboola's Account Management Structure and Focus 12:41 Small Steps Versus Big Leaps in Customer Growth 17:41 The Walmart and Yahoo Mail Grocery Partnership Story 19:05 How to Know Your Customer and Map Relationships 33:14 The Pizza Hut Super Bowl Squares Innovation 38:08 Hospitality and Moving From Transactional to Strategic 41:05 Risk Registers, Psychological Safety, and Celebrating Wins 49:35 Advice for Account Managers Ready to Leap   Connect with Dan Horowitz: Connect with Dan on LinkedIn    Connect with Alex Raymond: Connect with Alex on LinkedIn Visit the AMplify website Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  2. 4 Sept

    Why Customer Satisfaction Doesn’t Predict Retention | EP105

    Your happiest customers might be the first ones to leave. That is the uncomfortable finding behind why customer satisfaction doesn't predict retention, and new data makes it even stronger. Some of the most demanding, hardest to please customers turn out to be the ones who never walk away.   Greg Daines, founder and CEO of ChurnRx, returns to Account Management Secrets for his second appearance with host Alex Raymond. Their first conversation ran back in episode five, and the pattern they found then has only gotten stronger since. Daines now calls the strongest version of it customer bonding, the point where a customer becomes nearly impossible to lose. His customer bonding and retention research explains exactly why.   Daines explains why does NPS predict retention is the wrong question to ask, and why your loudest, most demanding accounts are often your safest ones. He unpacks measurable results customer retention data showing how one tangible win can move a customer into a category that almost never churns. The talk turns to customer satisfaction vs retention through a story from inside a major enterprise account, one that forced Daines to rethink how account managers earn trust. Raymond and Daines also revisit quarterly business reviews and what separates a real account management retention strategy from one that just fills time on a calendar.   Press play to hear why customer satisfaction doesn't predict retention, and what actually keeps your best accounts from walking away.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Welcome Back Greg Daines to the Show 02:23 Does the No Correlation Finding Still Hold 08:34 NPS as a Misleading North Star Metric 09:21 Is Customer Loyalty Even a Real Thing 15:07 Exogenous Churn and the Noise Floor 16:31 Customer Bonding Is a Real Phenomenon 21:58 The Reverse Correlation Between Happiness and Bonding 26:34 The Intel Story and Pushing Back on Clients 34:08 Segmenting Your Portfolio by Real Risk 47:18 Rethinking QBRs Around Value Not Updates   Connect with Greg Daines: Connect with Greg on LInkedIn Visit the ChurnRX website   Connect with Alex Raymond: Connect with Alex on LinkedIn Visit the AMplify website Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  3. 28 Aug

    How to Prevent “Green-to-Gone” Accounts | EP104

    Most account teams don't lose customers overnight. They lose them slowly, through signals nobody caught in time. Knowing how to identify at-risk customers before they churn is the difference between a controlled loss and a surprise that blindsides the whole business.   On Account Management Secrets, host Alex Raymond talks with Daniel Santiago, Senior Vice President of Customer Success at OrthoFi, about the net revenue retention strategy that took his team from 85% to 108% net revenue retention. Daniel explains the watch list system he built to catch what he calls "green-to-gone" accounts before they slip away.   Daniel walks through how OrthoFi worked to reduce customer churn in the first six months of a relationship, and how his team aims to keep churn forecasts within a plus-or-minus-five-percent tolerance. He also breaks down how quarterly business review best practices changed at OrthoFi, shifting QBRs from tactical fixes to conversations built on real data. Along the way, he unpacks net revenue retention vs gross revenue retention and what that fifteen-point spread reveals about a customer base.   Listen to hear how Daniel built a culture where flagging risk early gets rewarded instead of punished, and what it takes to run a customer success team on outcomes instead of instinct.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Welcome and Daniel Santiago's Path to OrthoFi 06:45 Splitting Customer Success From the Sales Org 11:48 Fixing the First Six Months to Cut Early Churn 18:35 How to Identify At-Risk Customers Before They Churn 21:00 The “Green-to-Gone” Problem and Building Psychological Safety 24:52 Minimizing Forecast Variance for Accurate Renewals 29:01 Turning QBRs Into Real Business Conversations 36:17 What Private Equity Expects From Customer Success 40:00 Net Revenue Retention Targets and Staying Power at OrthoFi   Connect with Daniel Santiago: Connect with Daniel on LinkedIn Visit the OrthoFi website Connect with Alex Raymond: Connect with Alex on LinkedIn Visit the AMplify website Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  4. 21 Aug

    How Account Managers Keep Losing Executive Access (And How to Stop) | EP103

    Most account managers can quote the theory on building relationships with executives, but the real test starts after the deal closes. That's when the senior sponsor hands you off to someone three levels down. Jamal Reimer has lived that handoff from both sides. He spent 26 years in enterprise software sales, including a $53 million deal while at Oracle, and he learned exactly how to build executive relationships in account management once the introductions end.   On this episode of Account Management Secrets, host Alex Raymond talks with Jamal Reimer about strategic selling vs transactional selling, and how that distinction shapes an enterprise sales strategy for account managers who inherit a client relationship instead of starting one from scratch. He shares the nine-month renewal sales cycle that grew a $10 million run rate to $53 million, and the single meeting that changed how he read a room for the rest of his career.   Jamal also shares his two-part method for staying connected to a senior sponsor after the handoff, something he calls micro commitments. It is a practical way to think through how to get access to decision makers before the relationship goes cold, and he explains why so few companies run functioning executive sponsor programs.   If you want to know how to talk to executives in sales without sounding like every other vendor, this episode breaks down exactly how to build executive relationships in account management and keep them. Press play to hear Jamal's approach in his own words. Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Why $50 Million Deals Aren't the Real Story 02:55 Jamal's First Ten Years Struggling With Transactional Selling 05:15 Getting Fired Twice and Finding Strategic Selling 08:00 The Meeting That Changed How Jamal Read a Room 11:00 How to Build Executive Relationships in Account Management 12:37 Leading With Knowledge Instead of Generic Questions 14:32 Turning a $10 Million Renewal Into $53 Million 16:27 New Logos vs Existing Accounts and Building a Brand 18:45 Crossing the Chasm From Sponsor to Operator 24:17 Why Micro Commitments Keep Relationships From Going Cold 25:15 Why So Few Companies Run Executive Sponsor Programs 27:41 Reading the Mountain: Bottom, Middle, and Executive Priorities 31:58 Pitching the Right Insight to the Wrong Level 34:22 Why Being a Little Wrong Opens the Conversation 38:02 The Lost Art of Whiteboarding With Customers   Connect with Jamal Reimer: Connect with Jamal on LinkedIn Visit Jamal's website   Connect with Alex Raymond: Connect with Alex on LinkedIn Visit the AMplify website Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  5. 14 Aug

    GRR vs NRR: What Private Equity Firms Really Evaluate in Customer Success | EP102

    Private equity firms don't care about your health scores or QBRs. They care about one question: what makes this business worth more tomorrow than it is today.   Carlos Granda spent 30 years running post-sales at Google Cloud, Salesforce, SAP, and Oracle before he started advising the private equity firms buying up software companies. That vantage point gave him a name for a problem most executives never see coming: the GRR time bomb. A healthy net revenue retention number can hide real churn underneath it, and by the time anyone notices, the damage is already baked into the company's valuation.   Why do so many leaders celebrate 103% NRR without asking what they lost to get there? Carlos breaks down the math and makes the case that gross revenue retention, not NRR, is the number that actually tells the truth.   He also pushes back on a phrase every account manager has heard a hundred times: "it's too expensive." That's rarely the real reason a customer leaves, and Carlos explains what's usually hiding underneath it. His bigger argument is that post-sales professionals are underappreciated because most of them have never learned to translate their work into the language of enterprise value. What would change on your team if a support ticket and a churn risk were understood as the same conversation PE firms are already having about your company's worth?   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Why Private Equity Cares About Enterprise Value, Not Health Scores 06:48 Connecting Account Management to Enterprise Value Creation 16:04 What Private Equity Firms Actually Evaluate in Post-Sales Teams 20:02 NRR vs GRR: The Metric That Tells the Truth 27:04 Building a GRR Get Well Plan 34:43 How to Pitch the Same Initiative to a CEO vs a PE Firm 44:11 The Future of Post-Sales: AI and the Disappearing Line Between Sales and Support Connect with Carlos Granda: Connect with Carlos on LinkedIn  Connect with Alex Raymond: Connect with Alex on LinkedIn Visit the AMplify website Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  6. 7 Aug

    Account Manager vs Project Manager: Why Smashing the Roles Together Backfires | EP101

    Account manager vs project manager isn't just a title swap. Smash the two roles together, and you get the worst of both worlds, with no time to do either job well.   On Account Management Secrets, Alex Raymond talks with Stephan Schroeder, Vice President of Global Sales and Client Services for the Automotive and Mobility Practice at Escalent. Escalent works with almost all major global automotive manufacturers, from Ford and GM to Toyota and Honda, as well as global suppliers like Lear and Magna. It is account management inside a concentrated industry, where the traditional pool of potential clients is finite and every relationship needs to generate business for years, not just months.   Stephan lays out the account manager career path as a fork in the road. One track leans into client relationship management and sales, eventually taking responsibility for larger books of business. The other builds solutions, project delivery, and subject-matter expertise. He walks through the triangle every account manager has to manage at once: the client, the team, and the boss above them. Get that balance wrong, and the pressure quickly compounds.   Stephan also explains why account managers are often the first to recognize emerging client needs. He describes account management as the canary in the coal mine when it comes to identifying what customers may need next. He also shares a tiered system he used earlier in his career to move new account managers onto larger clients without setting them up to fail. Listen to the whole episode to hear why separating account management from project management can create clearer career paths, stronger client relationships, and better results   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Meet Stephan Schroeder and Escalent's Automotive Practice 02:44 Working With Global Automakers and Major Suppliers 05:15 Revenue Goals, Retention, and Client Satisfaction Scores 11:41 Account Management Inside a Concentrated Industry 14:41 Growing the Business Through Innovation and New Markets 18:38 How Account Managers Surface New Product Ideas 25:51 Choosing a Sales Track or a Delivery Track 31:58 Account Manager vs Project Manager: Why the Roles Get Confused 41:16 The Client, Team, and Boss Triangle 47:49 Advice for Breaking Into Account Management   Connect with Stephan Schroeder: Connect with Stephan on LinkedIn Visit the Escalent website    Connect with Alex Raymond: Connect with Alex on LinkedIn Visit the AMplify website Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  7. 31 Jul

    What 100 Conversations Taught Me About Post-Sale | EP100

    Most account managers can’t clearly explain what their job is, and that gap costs them money, energy, and career momentum. This episode of Account Management Secrets delivers the account management career advice Alex Raymond has collected across 100 episodes and two years of conversations with account managers and customer success leaders around the world.   Alex breaks down the five lessons that mattered most. He explains why post-sales work still lacks a shared definition and how that gap leaves teams recreating systems and processes that should already exist. He also tackles the account management vs. sales mindset head-on. By reframing selling as delivering value before revenue is earned, Alex offers a different perspective on how to grow in account management without losing the trust customers depend on.   Alex makes the case for net revenue as the single metric worth rallying an account management team around instead of chasing a dozen scattered KPIs. He shares why no one is coming to save your career and what that means for anyone serious about post-sales career growth. The episode also includes the story of one account manager who grew a single account from $50,000 to $10 million, proof that the growth department account management movement is real and already changing how the role gets measured.   Press play and walk away with account management career advice you can use this week, not someday. Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Celebrating 100 Episodes and Two Years of Lessons 02:25 Guests Spanning Every Industry and Account Size 04:51 Why Post-Sales Still Has No Standard Definition 09:43 Reframing Selling as Value Before Revenue 19:29 Making Net Revenue Retention the North Star 24:15 No One Is Coming to Save Your Career 29:00 The Growth Department and Joanna's 200x Account 33:54 Closing Thoughts and Thanks to the Community Connect with Alex Raymond: Connect with Alex on LinkedIn Visit the AMplify website Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

  8. 24 Jul

    The Customer Success Competencies That Made the Relationship-Only CSM Obsolete | EP99

    Keeping customers happy no longer protects your job. Buyers want measurable business outcomes, and the customer success competencies you leaned on in the last decade will not carry you forward.   Host Alex Raymond sits down with Bradley Lawrence, former Global Head of Customer Experience at Coursera, who has led customer teams for more than fifteen years. Bradley names the five customer success competencies every CSM needs now, from a revenue-aligned commercial mindset to executive influence. He also draws a hard line on AI in customer success and identifies the three parts of the job humans should never hand over.   Alex shares a stat you will remember. Bring the C-suite to your QBRs, and you create significantly more expansion opportunities. Leave the meeting to junior contacts, and churn risk climbs. Bradley turns this into QBR best practices and a coaching move for reaching decision-makers you have never met. He rolled out an AI layer built for a thirty percent productivity lift, then explained why the win goes to your team, not your headcount. You will also hear why the relationship-only CSM is running out of road, and which customer success manager skills matter more than pure rapport.   Bradley also examines customer success leadership, why humility beats seniority, and how leaders can replace the customer happiness myth with a focus on business outcomes. Press play to learn the five competencies your career needs as AI reshapes post-sales work.   Episode Breakdown: 00:00 Alex Raymond Opens Account Management Secrets 02:20 The Biggest Misconception About Customer Success 03:46 Building Customer Success Competencies Through Strategic Priorities 06:37 Why Most QBR Training Falls Short 08:05 The Relationship-Only CSM Is Becoming Obsolete 11:14 What It Really Means to Be Strategic 15:14 Coaching CSMs to Reach the C-Suite 17:53 The Data Behind C-Suite Engagement and Churn 20:09 Evaluating and Investing in AI Tools for Customer Success 22:38 What Humans Should Never Outsource to AI 25:55 Rolling Out Cora.ai and Measuring Productivity Gains 31:25 The Five Competencies Shaping Customer Success 34:56 Leading with Humility in Customer Experience 36:58 Replacing Customer Happiness with Business Outcomes   Connect with Bradley Lawrence: Connect with Bradley on LinkedIn    Connect with Alex Raymond: Connect with Alex on LinkedIn Visit the AMplify website Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

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About

Account Management Secrets is the podcast designed specifically for the unsung heroes of the business world—Account Managers. Every week, we share insights, strategies, and tools that will help you excel in your role and drive success within your organization. As someone responsible for over 70% of your company’s revenue, the stakes are high, but the resources and training available to you are often limited. This podcast is here to change that. Hosted by Alex Raymond, a leader in the field who has worked with thousands of Account Managers to improve their results, Account Management Secrets equips you with the knowledge and practical strategies you need to master the art and science of account management. Whether it’s navigating complex client relationships, preparing for critical Quarterly Business Reviews, or unlocking growth opportunities with your existing customers, each episode provides actionable advice you can apply immediately. Account Management Secrets is brought to you by AMplify, the elite community dedicated to helping Account Managers boost their careers, build their skills, and expand their networks. Join us at https://amplifyam.com and start your journey towards account management excellence.

Information

  • Creator
    Alex Raymond
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2024 AMplify LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Account Management Secrets

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