27 episodes
SaaS Therapy BrainStorm
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- Business
Dive into "SaaS Therapy" with industry veterans Todd Kirk and Casey Trujillo – the podcast for customer-facing teams in SaaS. Casey and Todd leverage their experience working between software vendors and their clients to help you master your SaaS customer relationships. They dig into the complexities of client relationships, offer expert insights, and share proven strategies for overcoming common challenges. It's not just a podcast—it's a masterclass in nurturing and enhancing your SaaS customer connections.
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Who owns the value in a SaaS relationship?
Value ownership in a SaaS relationship is a shared responsibility between the customer and the SaaS vendor. Listen to Todd Kirk and Casey Trujillo while they discuss the challenges of customer churn and explore the concept of value ownership, including how it shifts throughout the customer journey.
They identify three main challenges that SaaS vendors face in empowering customers to achieve their own business value: overwhelm, lack of proper tools, and lack of expertise.
Takeaways
Value ownership in a SaaS relationship is a shared responsibility between the customer and the SaaS vendor.
Customers often face challenges in realizing the value of their software, including overwhelm, lack of proper tools, and lack of expertise.
CSMs should focus on equipping customers with the right resources and knowledge to drive adoption and success.
Customers need support in change management, developing business acumen, marketing the software internally, and training their teams.
CSMs should strive to make the customer's life easier and empower them to achieve their goals.
Contents
00:00 Introduction
1:47 Who Owns the Value?
06:29 The Problem of Solving the Customer's Problem
14:54 Challenges in Empowering Customers
26:51 Equipping Customers for Success
30:13 Conclusion and Homework Assignment
Resources
Connect with Casey
Connect with Todd
Visit the show page
Get to know BrainStorm
Credits
Show direction: Debra Wilson
Show design: Kensie Smith
Show manager: Angela Allred -
The value of coaching in the workplace with Mark Stagi, VP of CS @Avoma
Todd and Casey are joined by Mark, a customer success leader with over 20 years of experience. They discuss the importance of coaching in the workplace and how it translates to supporting customers and employees. Mark shares his approach to coaching, which includes game tape playback, team meetings, and peer-to-peer coaching.
Takeaways:
Leaders should focus on growing other leaders and nurturing individuals to achieve their goals
Creating a culture of feedback and continuous learning is essential for success
Coaching can take various forms, including game tape playback, team meetings, and peer-to-peer coaching
Hiring individuals with a growth mindset and a hunger for learning is crucial
Start small with giving feedback and create a culture of learning and coaching within your organization Create a safe and transparent environment for feedback
Balance focusing on strengths and areas for improvement
Hire people with a growth mindset and a hunger for learning
Utilize strategies like game tape playback, team meetings, and one-on-one feedback sessions
Align coaching efforts with business goals and drive better outcomes for customers
Content:
00:00 Introduction
06:21 The Importance of Coaching in the Workplace
11:45 Different Forms of Coaching
23:39 Aligning Skills with Roles & Responsibilities
32:53 Managing the Chaos & Craziness
38:25 Demonstrating the Value of Coaching to Leadership
45:03 Conclusion
Resources
Connect with Casey
Connect with Todd
Visit the show page
Get to know BrainStorm
Credits
Show direction: Debra Wilson
Show design: Kensie Smith
Show manager: Angela Allred -
The power of building a customer community with Heather Wendt, community strategist @HigherLogic
Welcome to Season 2 of SaaS Therapy! Today, Todd Kirk interviews Heather Wendt, a community strategist at HigherLogic, about the importance of building a customer community. They discuss how a community can expand the reach of customer success teams, foster organic and transparent communication, and provide a space for customers to collaborate and share insights.
Heather emphasizes the difference between an audience and a community, highlighting the value of building relationships and empowering customers to contribute to the growth of the company. Join us for tips about creating a successful community and how you can make it valuable, easy to access, collaborative, aligned with company goals, and a tool for streamlining communication and support.
Takeaways
A customer community allows customer success teams to expand their reach and communicate with customers in a more organic and transparent way.
Building a community fosters collaboration, relationship building, and the sharing of insights among customers.
A community provides a space for customers to contribute to the growth of the company and offer feedback on new features and use cases.
The success of a community is measured by its ability to meet customer needs, drive engagement, and support organizational goals.
To create a successful community, it should be valuable, easy to access, collaborative, aligned with company goals, and used as a tool for streamlining communication and support.
Contents
00:00 Introduction
02:53 Heather's Background in Community and the Rise of Community in CS
08:02 The Difference Between an Audience and a Community
11:20 The Value and Impact of a Community
35:22 When is the Right Time to Build a Community?
42:16 Homework Assignment: Reflect on Customer Engagement
42:44 Conclusion
Resources
Connect with Casey
Connect with Todd
Visit the show page
Get to know BrainStorm
Credits
Show direction: Debra Wilson
Show design: Kensie Smith
Show manager: Angela Allred -
End of Season 1: Highlights from our favorite episodes
Welcome to the last episode of Season 1! For today, Casey reviews the top five learnings from Season 1.
The learnings include the importance of having meaningful conversations with customers, hiring the right people at the right time, addressing the last mile problem in customer engagement, understanding the impact of executive usage on renewal, and the difference between a coach and a champion in customer relationships.
Join us for the start of Season 2 next week!
Takeaways
Always have meaningful conversations with your customers.
Hire the right people at the right time.
Address the last mile problem in customer engagement.
Understand the impact of executive usage on renewal.
Differentiate between a coach and a champion in customer relationships.
Contents
00:00 The Importance of Meaningful Conversations with Customers
03:07 Hiring the Right People at the Right Time
04:50 Addressing the Last Mile Problem in Customer Engagement
06:32 Understanding the Impact of Executive Usage on Renewal
08:26 The Difference Between a Coach & a Champion in Customer Relationships
Resources
Connect with Casey
Connect with Todd
Visit the show page
Get to know BrainStorm
Credits
Show direction: Debra Wilson
Show design: Kensie Smith
Show manager: Angela Allred -
Don't settle: Solve the SaaS "last mile" problem
Today, Todd and Casey delve into the current challenges in the SaaS industry, focusing on the concept of the 'last mile' and its relevance to customer success and education. They tackle issues like customer churn and software underutilization, emphasizing the importance of innovative solutions in SaaS companies.
Takeaways:
The last mile accounts for a significant portion of the overall cost of moving the product
Many SaaS companies struggle to drive results for their customers, leading to low software utilization and high churn rates.
Efforts should be made to connect the different stages of the customer journey and ensure a smooth transition from sales to utilization.
Technology is improving the delivery industry by enabling better tracking and optimization.
There is a fear of inconsistency and lack of control when outsourcing, but outsourcing can provide flexibility and adaptability in solving problems
There are two approaches to empowering customers: involving them in the decision-making process and giving them the power to take action on their own.
SaaS companies should not settle for suboptimal solutions and should strive to be innovators.
Content
00:00 Introduction
02:07 The Last Mile: A Key Concept in Solving Challenges
06:23 Connecting the Customer Journey
13:45 The Importance of Infrastructure and Innovative Solutions
20:42 Embracing Change and Innovation
23:58 The Impact of Technology on the Delivery Industry
27:10 Outsourcing vs. Optimization
31:26 Striving for Better
Resources
Connect with Casey
Connect with Todd
Visit the show page
Get to know BrainStorm
Credits
Show direction: Debra Wilson
Show design: Kensie Smith
Show manager: Angela Allred -
The shift from reactive to proactive customer success with Greg Daines, CEO @ChurnRX
Enjoy this special episode from last week's live podcast recording event hosted at Silicon Slopes! In this episode, Todd Kirk talks with our guest, Greg Daines, who shares his research and industry knowledge on the importance of shifting from a reactive to a proactive mindset in customer success. Greg emphasizes that customer results, rather than customer satisfaction, drive retention. Their conversation highlights the need to focus on the key activities that drive customer behavior change and deliver measurable results.
Takeaways
Shift from a reactive to a proactive mindset in customer success
Focus on the key activities that drive customer behavior change and deliver measurable results
Scale and automate customer success processes
Measure customer results to build trust and improve retention
Content
00:00 Getting to Know Greg
04:49 Shift from Reactive to Proactive Customer Success
25:02 Measuring Customer Results for Improved Retention
35:00 Conclusion and Homework Assignment
Resources
Connect with Casey
Connect with Todd
Visit the show page
Get to know BrainStorm
Credits
Show direction: Debra Wilson
Show design: Kensie Smith
Show manager: Angela Allred