Customer Success & Failures Practical customer success tips that you can use right away.

This has been a difficult week. I had to say goodbye to many amazing colleagues as part of a Meta layoff that impacted about 11,000 people. I’m thankful that I’m still employed but sad and concerned for those that have been let go. I’ve been trying to help those affected as best as I can.
Beyond trying to directly help those impacted, I thought it might be helpful to share more about my journey and provide some advice. Unfortunately, the tech sector and especially startups can take the brunt of economic downturns and the current recession we’re in is a good example of this. A company can be a unicorn one day and a “doomicorn” the next. Working in technology and especially tech startups is a gamble. Some bets pay off, but many don’t.
Customer Success seems to be a prime target for layoffs unfortunately. Although the role of CS is even more important in tough times as protecting revenue should take precedence, CS can often be the first to be chopped.
As someone who has been laid off, it’s a horrible experience. There is usually little to no notice and you are tossed to the curb like trash. Many people realize they are part of the riff when they find they can no longer access internal systems. There are no going away parties and no parting gifts. There are no thank you’s given and no opportunities to show your appreciation for your colleagues. Ba bye, so long and don’t let the door hit you on the way out. It really, truly stinks.
I have now been through a few economic downturns in the tech industry, so I have some experience here I can share. Let’s go waaaaay back. All the way back to 2001. I was a young sprout in school doing a post-grad engineering bootcamp and my school suddenly ceased operations and went into receivership. We’re coding one day and the next our systems are shut down. That was a horrible day and I was freaking out. I was on the brink of financial ruin as my $25K in tuition fees evaporated and I was now stuck paying off some massive student loans (on top of previous loans). Luckily, a white knight came along and bought out the school so we could graduate and eventually get jobs. I made it through the dot-bomb era relatively unscathed.
In 2008 I dodged another bullet. The tech industry was again hit hard as part of the mortgage crisis and my company at the time, Eloqua, laid off some outstanding people. Back then Eloqua was the clear leader in the marketing automation space and the layoff was a reminder that your job is never safe. Market conditions will dictate your fate - regardless of the impact or contributions you’ve made.
When I finally faced a layoff a decade later, it was due to my employer’s mediocre performance and the seniority of my role. My team was being cut in half and my role was deemed unnecessary, so I was let go. It wasn’t a surprise and the writing on the wall had been clear for a while, but it was still disappointing. My biggest challenge was having just 60 days to find a new job or face leaving the country due to my temporary H1B workers visa I had at the time. This layoff didn’t just impact me but also my wife and my three children.
I’m someone with a lot of pride and fully committed to the cause of the company I’m working for. Probably too committed :). While I took the layoff in stride, I did question my own abilities and if I had what it took to be a leader in Customer Success. This is natural and reflecting on your past is important. However, I decided very quickly that I couldn’t dwell on what happened - it was time to move forward. I also didn’t have a choice as my immigration clock was ticking.
For those that have been laid off - keep your head high
After taking a day to soak in the shock of my predicament, I knew I had to act quickly or face having to pull my kids out of school and moving back to Canada. Not that there is anything wrong with Canada, but I wasn’t ready to admit defeat and I wasn’t prepared to completely disrupt the

A father was on his deathbed but before he died, he took his daughter aside and said: "I'm giving you this watch that was your grandfather's. It's almost 200 years old. Go to the local jewelry shop and ask them how much they would pay you for it.” The dutiful daughter did as her father asked and went to a local jewelry shop. She returned to her father and said: "They will take $100 for the watch because of how old it is."
The father then said: "Now take it to the local pawn shop and see how much they think it's worth". The daughter again followed her father's instructions and went to the pawn shop. She reported back to her father that the pawn shop would only pay her $20 as the watch was scratched.
The father then asked her to travel to the museum to find out how much they thought it was worth. At this point, the daughter was starting to doubt if her father still had all his senses but as a loyal daughter she did as her father asked. The curator at the museum told the daughter that the watch was a rare historical piece and that they would offer her $375,000 to include it in their historical collection.
She hurried back to her father to share the news. Her father sat up in his bed and said: "I wanted to show you that the right place will value you in the right way. Don't find yourself in the wrong place and be angry if you feel you aren't valued. You need to speak up for yourself. And don't stay in a role where someone doesn't see your value, or where you don't feel appreciated".
Why did I tell you that story? I told you that story so I could tell you this one about myself. Early in my career I was managing a team member and my manager at the time wanted to give me the title of "team lead". I pushed back and asked for the manager title. I knew my worth and recognized that this was a manager role with manager responsibilities. Besides, someone else in the organization was in a similar role and had the manager title. Truthfully, I wasn't ready to be a manager, but the title was important to me. I didn't settle and I was given the title of manager.
Later in my career I wanted to seek out new CS leadership opportunities, so I moved my family from Toronto to the NYC area. This was a massive risk and took a tremendous toll on myself and my family, but I knew my value and had faith in my abilities. There have been other times when I didn't feel valued or appreciated but before I did anything, I evaluated the situation to determine why I felt that way, how I needed to change and what was best for myself and my family in the long term. I sought out advice from others before I made any rash decisions. I knew my worth and knew that if I wasn’t happy, I needed to make a change.
I want to remind you that you are talented. You are unique. You may not be in the right role, or you may be looking for that right role. Whatever the case, evaluate your own situation. Ask yourself if you feel valued. Look inwards. Talk to your manager if you can. Seek out advice. But don't settle. Find people that value you and your abilities. You are worth it.


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chadhorenfeldt.substack.com

“I’m not busy at all” said no customer success professional ever. Listen, I know you are super busy but what about your customers? They are extremely busy too and we sometimes fail to take this into account - all to our detriment. I know it’s frustrating when you see your customers floundering and you want to help them. The problem is that it doesn’t mean your customer has the mindset or capacity to act at this moment. Keep in mind that they work with multiple products and already have a full plate of priorities. Your challenge is to convince them to act but you also need to assess their mental state. How do you do that?
Spoon theory and customer success
For those with autoimmune diseases such as Lupus, it can be challenging and tiresome to continuously communicate how they are feeling. As a result of this, the spoon theory was developed as a straightforward way for those that have chronic illnesses to let others know their energy levels. These so called “spoonies” start their day with a defined number of spoons (say 10) and as they complete activities, they use up their spoons.
The number of spoons they have left signifies their current state. As an example, when someone has one spoon left for the day, they are making it clear that they are fatigued and need to conserve their energy.
When it comes to your customers, they also have limited time, attention, and energy. It’s helpful to visualize the number of spoons your customers are currently holding when you need them to do something. The question is, how do you get a sense of what they have on their plate and what they have an appetite for? I will take you through a proven method you can use.
Assess your customer’s motivation
You can quickly get a sense if your customer is ready to move forward by using a proven technique that many psychologists use called “motivational interviewing”. To evaluate your client’s motivation to change or take action, ask them the following scaling questions:
* On a scale of 0 to 10, where “0” is not important at all and “10” is crucially important, how important is it for you to take action?
* On a scale of 0 to 10, where “0” is no confidence at all and “10” is completely confident, how confident are you that you can take action?
Ideally, your customer responded with both high importance and high confidence to act but that seldom happens. You’ll find some of your customers that are highly motivated to act but have low confidence they can perform what is required. This may be due to a lack of skills, self-confidence, resources, time, budget, or faith in your product. 
You may have customers responded low for importance but high for confidence. It could be that they have other priorities, so your product or project is taking a backseat. They may also be egotistical and overconfident in their abilities, so they don’t believe they need to do anything or that your solution is worth the investment. You will want to dig into this further by using these two follow up questions:
* “Why did you pick the number X and not a lower number?”
* “What would it take to move it to a higher number?”
Your goal here is to listen for “change talk”, which is your customer telling you that they want to improve their current situation. For example, if your customer says: “I chose ‘8’ for importance as this area is critical to me and my company.”, you know you are on the right track as there is a desire to get moving.
If they provided a ‘3’ for confidence, you want to hear something such as: “I really want to use your new feature but I’m just too busy right now”. That gives you a sense that they are low on spoons. You can further dig into this to determine what their priorities are. You should then switch gears and put a plan together that works best based on their priorities. You can also try and give them some spoons by offering to directly assist them or suggesting a resource such as profe

You are sitting there and scratching your head. You just got an email from your client that they will be churning. How could this be? You spoke to them last week and have had regular meetings and they never mentioned the possibility of leaving.
Unfortunately, if you are in customer success, this can happen from time to time. The relationships that you think you have with your clients aren’t as strong as you think they are. Sorry to burst that bubble.
Here are two questions that I’ve borrowed from Claire Lew that I recommend you ask yourself regularly for each client to ensure you know where you stand with your customers.
Reality Check
You first need to do a reality check. Ask yourself: “To what degree are you seeing the current reality for what it is?” You need to get real here. Consider these items:
* Is the client actually achieving value from your solution?
* Do you know if they would renew tomorrow if they had to?
If you can’t confidently answer these questions, you need to dive deeper. As Bob London recommends, ask your clients disruptive questions such as: “If a competitor reached out to you, would you respond?”. Keep probing until you are satisfied with the response.
Just because a customer tells you everything is ok, doesn’t mean that it is. At times, it’s easier for them to gloss over their larger issues as they may be busy. In addition, they may be fed up as they are tired rehashing ongoing issues. It also may be easier for you to shake off signs that there are problems such as a customer canceling a call or ignoring your email. Seek out the truth - even if it hurts.
Environmentally Friendly
The second item to consider is the environment you’ve created for your customer. Ask yourself: “To what degree are you creating an environment for your client to be successful?”. Consider these items:
* Have I provided the client with everything they need to succeed?
* Do I need to do the work for the client or are they able to do it by themselves?
* Where are they struggling? Why are they struggling?
If you can’t confidently answer these questions, start by reviewing their conversations with your support team, any other voice of customer feedback such as surveys as well as their usage of your product. Look for potential issues within these areas and any past correspondence you’ve had.
Then ask them the challenging questions “how can we make things easier for you?” or “If our product went away tomorrow, how much pain would this cause you?”. Ask follow up questions to ensure that they are getting the support they need to be successful. Determine what are some of the immediate and longer-term steps that can be taken to improve their situation.
Figure out how to create a better environment for your customer and this will create an overall better customer experience.
Don’t get burned by unexpected churn. Challenge yourself with these two questions and challenge your clients.
PS. Here is a movie from 90’s that I highly recommend:


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chadhorenfeldt.substack.com

We’re moving so fast - light speed at times. In customer success we have to make so many micro-decisions that at times we can operate on autopilot. Think about a recent customer interaction you had. How did you respond to it? You probably relied on instinct based on your previous knowledge or processes and policies that your company has in place. You may not remember half of what you said. In most situations, that’s fine. 
But this of course doesn’t always work - especially where customers don’t agree with your response.  The challenge is recognizing when you have entered a special situation. A moment when your decision will make or break your client relationship. These are what I call moments of truth. Think of these situations like the butterfly effect where a small action will change the future. I will try and help you identify these moments of truth and provide recommendations so you can act appropriately. First let me tell you about my own wakeup call.
You can make a mistake, but how will you recover?
Going back a few years now I was in the depths of hell handling several client contract negotiations during the initial stages of the Covid crisis. I will be honest here - it was one of my most challenging times as a CS leader. As it was still early in the pandemic, it was difficult to understand the impact this would have on our customers. Different customers were experiencing the pandemic differently and I had to make decisions quickly based on sparse pieces of information. The main issue was that I had too many items coming at me from all directions. It didn’t take long until I made a colossal mistake that could have had larger repercussions.
One of our clients was starting to see an uptick in their business but they needed help. They needed to add licenses to help their team so they could better assist their own customers. Moving at the speed of light I coached my customer success manager to follow our process and offer our clients a solution based on our stated policies. The challenge was that this solution didn’t fit the client’s needs and would be costly. I didn’t realize it, but I was in a moment of truth, and I failed miserably. 
The client had no choice but to proceed and when the dust settled, they took the time to let me know that they weren’t happy with what transpired. They felt that we could have been more customer-centric and they were right. This was the wakeup call I needed, and I can’t express my appreciation enough to this client. After thanking them for their feedback I quickly reversed course. I obtained the necessary approvals to provide a better solution that made more sense in this situation.
Reflecting on this time, I realized that we should have pushed the pause button and considered the situation from the client’s perspective. Our policies were valid but didn’t account for the unique crisis we were in. We needed to consider the client’s business needs and go outside the lines of our established policies. This was our moment of truth and something I now constantly remind myself of.
Defining moments of truth
While I love Wayne McCulloch’s book The Seven Pillars of Customer Success, I disagree with how he defined moments of truth. He used this definition: “Anytime the customer comes into contact with any aspect of a company, however remote, he or she has an opportunity to form an impression”. He referred to a moment of truth as any time a customer interacts with you.
My definition is different. It was something that a former executive at Eloqua, Alex Shootman, had instilled in me years ago. I define a moment of truth as: “a critical interaction in the customer journey when the action(s) your company takes will determine if the client remains a long-term customer.” Therefore, this isn’t just any type of engagement. This moment will shape the future of your customer relationship.
How do you know it’s a moment of truth?
As I mentioned, it can be challengin

“Did you see that crazy deal that just came in? I can’t believe that we sold to them!”
“The salesperson reached out to my client and didn’t tell me. Now I have to clean up this mess that they created.”
“Why did sales push through that upsell? They clearly weren’t ready to make that purchase!”
Do any of these sound familiar? While these examples are fictitious, they are commonly said by customer success teams in regards to their sales colleagues. I’m sure I’ve said something similar over the years as well.
We’re also seeing these stereotypes perpetuated on social media (see the example below). I mean, they are really funny I’ll admit. But it’s not helping solve the underlying issue and while it’s an unpopular opinion, improvements can actually be made.
While it may seem nice to have a laugh at someone else’s expense, it’s causing a deeper rift between sales and customer success. Do you think this will help prevent another “wrong fit” customer from being signed? Do you think this will prevent the sales team from trying to upsell clients who are at-risk? Complaining about the problem just perpetuates it. It can make things worse as it becomes harder to see things from other people’s perspectives. That same empathy that is needed to help your clients also needs to be directed inwardly to your own organization. It’s time to look at this from a different perspective and break out of this us vs them mentality.
Your ego is in your way
“Own your s**t” is something that was ingrained into me over the years as a leader. The book Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin really drove this point home and changed my way of thinking. My takeaway from the book is that I’m fully responsible for everything that my team is involved in. If we lost a customer, that’s my fault and not the CSM. If someone quits on my team, that’s on me. I focused on improving our processes and creating a culture of accountability and high performance. I made sure that we owned our s**t. The problem I learned is that it isn’t enough.
I had a situation where we ran an upsell campaign that wasn’t communicated well to our customers. This caused some unnecessary friction with a small number of customers and the brunt of their unhappiness fell on the customer success team. Under the pressure of being chewed out by customers and then having my overburdened CS team being dragged through the mud yet again, I had had it. I escalated this to senior management and lashed out: “We really screwed this up. Why did this happen?”
I thought I was being a good soldier and practicing “extreme ownership”. I had my s**t together - why didn’t other people have the same mentality? I thought “if you mess up, own it, learn from it and move on”. What I realized later was that I had let my ego get in the way. I was looking at this from a black and white perspective. However, I couldn’t get past my own way of thinking that I was right and the other teams were wrong. While someone else may have made a mistake here, I was making the bigger one.
Own their s**t too
It wasn’t until I read Meg Poag’s book “The Adversity Hack” that it dawned on me that my thinking was flawed. As she phrases it, “I had to go to battle with my ego”. She defines ego as the following:
“Ego is the armor that guards the beliefs, pathways, and patterns we have built up to protect ourselves, survive, and feel better.”
I was blaming someone else as I was giving in to my ego. What I needed to do was to stay curious and try and better understand why certain actions were taken. We have to assume that everyone is trying to do the right thing (and not just the CS team). If mistakes are made, it’s best to understand why they happened. I needed to ask myself, “what role did I play in this situation?” and “How could have I prevented this from happening?”
In the situation with the upsell campaign, I could have made more of a