[Un]Churned – The No. 1 Podcast for Customer Retention

Gainsight
  • 5.0 (96)
  • BUSINESS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

If you're experimenting with automation, questioning the traditional post-sales model, or trying to drive more value with less headcount, you're in the right place. AI won’t fix churn, but these conversations might. Retention is the new growth & AI is rewriting the rules. Hosted by Josh Schachter, SVP of Atlas at Gainsight, [Un]Churned—the No. 1 podcast for retention and Customer Success leaders—features real talk with the sharpest minds in the Customer Success space. We dig into how teams are scaling smarter, activating AI agents, and redesigning the customer journey for lasting impact.

  1. How Slido Cut Support Tickets by 70% With AI ft. Jo Massie (Slido)

    1D AGO

    How Slido Cut Support Tickets by 70% With AI ft. Jo Massie (Slido)

    Ready to churn less and win more? 🏆 Subscribe for a simple, once-a-month rundown of the episodes at gainsight.com/unchurned What does it actually take to move from human-first customer success to digital-first at scale? In this episode of Unchurned, host Jenny Calvert sits down with Jo Massie, COO at Slido, to unpack how her team is transforming customer experience using AI, community-led support, and product-led growth. Jo shares how Slido’s lean team manages marketing, customer success, and most of sales under one customer organization—and how aligning these functions unlocks faster execution, stronger feedback loops, and better customer outcomes. They dive into how Slido is using AI chatbots to deflect 70% of support tickets, how their community became the center of their digital hub, and how experimentation and MVP thinking are key to surviving rapid AI innovation. Jo also explains how Slido evolved after being acquired by Cisco, adapting from startup speed to enterprise scale while maintaining agility and experimentation. If you're building digital-first customer success, PLG motions, or AI-enabled support, this episode is packed with practical insights. --- Timestamps 0:00 - Preview & Introduction 0:41 - Meet Jo Massie & Jo's Role at Slido 2:21 - Breaking down silos with a digital team 4:00 - How AI chatbots reduced support escalations 5:48 - Using AI to scale the customer voice program 7:20 - Community-first support strategy 9:50 - Hiring for diversity of thinking vs specialization 11:30 - Slido’s acquisition by Cisco and the enterprise shift 13:05 - The pace of AI innovation and what excites Jo most 14:36 - Digital teams running weekly sprints for speed 16:43 - Advice for companies starting digital-first strategies --- What You’ll Learn * How Slido transitioned from human-first to digital-first customer success * Why the community is becoming the new support channel * How AI chatbots reduced support escalations to just 30% of tickets * The role of AI in customer voice programs * Lessons from scaling inside Cisco after Slido’s acquisition --- Want the playbook, not just the conversation? Subscribe for deep-dive, actionable breakdowns from every episode at unchurned.substack.com. --- Where to Find Jo Massie LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jomassie/ --- Where to Find Jenny: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennycalvert/ --- Where to Find Josh: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jschachter/ Unchurned Substack: https://unchurned.substack.com/

    19 min

  2. 1D AGO

    How CS Leaders Can Build Relationships Between Meetings to Drive Retention & Expansion ft.Darren McKee

    Ready to churn less and win more? 🏆 Subscribe for a simple, once-a-month rundown of the episodes at gainsight.com/unchurned Customer Success is changing fast, and many CS leaders are realizing that staying visible to customers between meetings is becoming essential. In this episode of Unchurned, host Josh Schachter sits down with social selling expert Darren McKee to explore how LinkedIn can become a powerful engine for building relationships, staying top of mind with customers, and driving revenue growth. Darren shares how he went from traditional sales to building a massive LinkedIn following through consistent posting and authentic storytelling — and how companies can turn employees into a distributed marketing and relationship engine. The conversation dives into why CS leaders must become teachers in their industry, how social presence builds customer trust, and why authentic content often drives more business than traditional outreach. If you're in Customer Success, Sales, or GTM leadership, this episode will give you a practical playbook for building relationships and staying relevant in an increasingly digital world. --- Timestamps 0:00 - Preview & Introduction 1:23 - Meet Darren McKee 3:40 - Growing a LinkedIn audience through daily posting 7:00 - Why CS leaders should be active on LinkedIn 9:23 - Why human connection matters more than ever online 11:00 - How social selling drives real revenue (for startups & even billion-dollar companies) 16:00 - The 4 pillars of LinkedIn content (with examples) 28:21 - The Power of “Dwell Time” 29:30 - Authentic posts vs polished marketing posts 34:05 - Should employees be paid for posting on LinkedIn? 38:12 - The 5-3-1 LinkedIn engagement framework --- What You’ll Learn • Why Customer Success leaders should be active on LinkedIn • How social visibility can help drive retention, expansion, and stronger relationships • Why authentic storytelling outperforms polished marketing posts • Darren McKee’s 5-3-1 daily engagement framework for building relationships on LinkedIn • How companies can turn employees into a distributed marketing and relationship engine • How to engage customers online between QBRs and formal meetings to stay relevant --- Want the playbook, not just the conversation? Subscribe for deep-dive, actionable breakdowns from every episode at unchurned.substack.com. --- Where to Find Darren McKee LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenmckeesales/ --- Where to Find Josh: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jschachter/ Unchurned Substack: https://unchurned.substack.com/

    41 min
  3. Inside SAP’s Scaled Customer Success Strategy ft. Carsten Schütz (SAP)

    MAR 6

    Inside SAP’s Scaled Customer Success Strategy ft. Carsten Schütz (SAP)

    Ready to churn less and win more? 🏆 Subscribe for a simple, once-a-month rundown of the episodes at gainsight.com/unchurned In this episode of Unchurned, Jenny Calvert sits down with Carsten Schütz, VP & Global Head of Scaled CS at SAP, to talk about how modern CS teams must evolve to serve thousands of customers without losing the human touch. Carsten shares how his journey from startup CSM to SAP executive reshaped his thinking about scale, specialization, and the real role of AI in customer success. The conversation dives deep into why the traditional “hire more CSMs” model doesn’t work anymore, how AI agents can support the long tail of customers, and why product usage data—not just sentiment—is the future of customer health. One of the biggest takeaways: AI isn’t replacing customer success. It’s enabling teams to finally support the majority of customers who currently receive little to no human interaction. --- Timestamps 0:00 - Preview & Introduction 0:55 - Meet Carsten Schütz 4:25 - The real answer to the generalist vs specialist debate 6:20 - What customers actually want from their CSMs 7:57 - What makes a truly valuable QBR 9:18 - Why AI is essential for the 80% of customers at scale 11:08 - The importance of keeping the human touch 12:02 - Using AI to drive adoption, detect risk, and churn prevention 13:55 - Why product usage data is critical for customer health 16:28 - What CS leaders should look for when hiring today 19:04 - How AI is changing how younger professionals work 20:55 - “This is the worst AI will ever be.” 21:48 - Q4 renewal strategy and human connection 23:33 - Why in-person conferences still matter --- What You’ll Learn * Why 80% of customers require a scalable CS strategy * Why the generalist vs specialist debate is the wrong question * How product usage data reveals hidden churn risks * Why CS teams must think beyond 1-to-1 engagement * How to scale digital engagement without losing human connection * Why the future of CS is human-first, AI-powered --- Want the playbook, not just the conversation? Subscribe for deep-dive, actionable breakdowns from every episode at unchurned.substack.com. --- Where to Find Carsten Schütz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carstenschuetz/ --- Where to Find Jenny: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennycalvert/ --- Where to Find Josh: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jschachter/ Unchurned Substack: https://unchurned.substack.com/

    25 min
  4. How This Ex-CRO Is Making CS Impossible to Ignore ft. Manish Chawla (PowerSchool)

    MAR 4

    How This Ex-CRO Is Making CS Impossible to Ignore ft. Manish Chawla (PowerSchool)

    Ready to churn less and win more? 🏆 Subscribe for a simple, once-a-month rundown of the episodes at gainsight.com/unchurned Customer Success doesn’t become mission-critical because you say it is. It becomes mission-critical when it owns revenue. In this episode of Unchurned, Josh Schachter sits down with Manish Chawla, CCO at PowerSchool, to talk about what it actually takes to make CS essential — to customers and to the company. Manish doesn’t come from traditional CS. He’s been a CRO. A GM. He learned that the only truth that matters is what the customer believes. Now he’s applying that lens to CS. At PowerSchool, CSMs don’t just manage relationships. They carry GRR and expansion targets. AI isn’t a premium add-on — it’s table stakes. And cost-to-serve must go down while customer experience goes up. This isn’t theory. It’s operational. If Customer Success isn’t tied directly to profit, it risks becoming optional. And optional doesn’t survive. This episode is for operators who want CS at the revenue table — not watching from the sidelines. --- Timestamps 0:00 - Preview & Introduction 1:25 - Meet Manish Chawla & Overview of PowerSchool 3:35 - From consulting to CRO to CCO 6:13 - Why execution matters more than strategy 8:35 - Bringing a commercial mindset to Customer Success 10:52 - Should CSMs carry revenue? (GRR & expansion targets) 16:20 - Making CS mission-critical inside the company 17:42 - Cost-to-serve: Driving efficiency without hurting CX 18:50 - Scaling through digital CS. partner & ecosystems 21:25 - Designing CS for K-12 and vertical SaaS 28:30 - AI is table stakes (and customers won’t pay extra) 30:51 - Using AI internally to increase productivity 32:25 - Building a CS engineering team 35:45 - Becoming essential to customers --- What You’ll Learn * Why CSMs carry GRR and expansion targets — not just NPS * Why AI is table stakes (and why customers won’t pay extra for it) * How to lower cost-to-serve without lowering experience * How to tie CS directly to the CEO’s revenue equation * Why vertical SaaS demands deep domain fluency in CS hiring * How to position the CSM as the COO to the AE’s CEO --- Want the playbook, not just the conversation? Subscribe for deep-dive, actionable breakdowns from every episode at unchurned.substack.com. --- Where to Find the Guests Manish's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manishchawla1/ --- Where to Find Josh: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jschachter/ Unchurned Substack: https://unchurned.substack.com/

    38 min
  5. How We Turn Churn Into Comebacks (The Revenue Hiding Inside Your Churn) ft. Eleanora White (Supermetrics)

    FEB 27

    How We Turn Churn Into Comebacks (The Revenue Hiding Inside Your Churn) ft. Eleanora White (Supermetrics)

    Ready to churn less and win more? 🏆 Subscribe for a simple, once-a-month rundown of the episodes at gainsight.com/unchurned Is the future CSM a generalist empowered by specialist AI agents? Live from Pulse Europe, Eleanora White, Global Head of CS & Solutions Architects at Supermetrics, joins Jenny Calvert to break down how her team is operationalizing Agentic AI inside customer success. From internal AI agents that reduce friction… To customer-facing automation at scale… To autonomous agents that challenge and pressure-test insights… Supermetrics is building a 3-phase AI roadmap that reshapes how CSMs work — without replacing the human relationship. If you’re working on AI adoption or retention strategy — this episode is your blueprint. --- Timestamps 0:00 - Preview & Introduction 0:40 - Meet Eleanora White 1:10 - AI as a Team Member 3:39 - Supermetrics’ 3-Phase AI Strategy 5:38 - Removing Friction with Internal AI 6:49 - The Future CSM Profile 9:00 - Hitting GRR Targets in Q4 11:03 - The “Stay-Alive” Retention Strategy 13:15 - Win-Back Metrics & LTV 14:27 - What’s Next for 2026 --- What You’ll Learn * Why the best CSMs will become AI-powered generalists * How to structure CS teams in the agentic era * How Agentic AI can serve CSMs internally before customers * The “stay-alive contract” retention strategy to increase long-term LTV * How to win customers back without hurting GRR * Why discovery is the most underrated CSM skill --- Want the playbook, not just the conversation? Subscribe for deep-dive, actionable breakdowns from every episode at unchurned.substack.com. --- Where to Find the Guests Eleanora's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanora-white/ --- Where to Find Jenny: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennycalvert/ --- Where to Find Josh: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jschachter/ Unchurned Substack: https://unchurned.substack.com/

    16 min
  6. B2B Communities Aren't Dead, Your Outdated Metrics Are ft.Jon Wishart & Brian Oblinger

    FEB 25

    B2B Communities Aren't Dead, Your Outdated Metrics Are ft.Jon Wishart & Brian Oblinger

    Ready to churn less and win more? 🏆 Subscribe for a simple, once-a-month rundown of the episodes at gainsight.com/unchurned Is community in B2B SaaS a cost center — or a growth engine hiding in plain sight? In this episode of Unchurned, Josh Schachter sits down with Jon Wishart and community strategist Brian Oblinger to break down what community really means beyond vanity metrics and buzzwords. They explore how community drives retention (GRR), expansion, and customer success — and why most companies are measuring it wrong. Plus, they unpack how AI is reshaping search, traffic, and discoverability, and why declining pageviews don’t mean declining value. If you’re building, scaling, or rethinking your community strategy, this episode will change how you think about impact — and the future of customer connection. --- Timestamps 0:00 - Preview & Introduction 1:45 - Meet Jon Wishart & Brian Oblinger 7:56 - What community in B2B SaaS actually is 9:00 - The “eras” of community ownership (Support → CS → Marketing → Product) 12:30 - Is community a cost center? And measuring impact 18:15 - The CFO conversation: investment vs expense 19:35 - AI, traffic declines, and community panic 21:30 - Why AI isn’t killing community 26:42 - The shift from “How do I?” to “How do we?” 30:40 - How community impacts feature development strategy 33:13 - Starting from zero: advice for new community builders --- What You’ll Learn * The core definition of community in B2B SaaS (without the fluff) * How community drives retention, expansion, and lower support costs * Why operational metrics (posts, members, pageviews) are outdated * How to measure community’s business impact using cohort analysis * What AI is really doing to search traffic and discoverability * Why declining traffic doesn’t mean declining value * How to future-proof your community strategy * The fundamentals every new community leader must get right --- Want the playbook, not just the conversation? Subscribe for deep-dive, actionable breakdowns from every episode at unchurned.substack.com. --- Where to Find the Guests Brian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-wishart/ Jon's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-wishart/ --- Where to Find Josh: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jschachter/ Unchurned Substack: https://unchurned.substack.com/

    38 min
  7. 75% of SaaS Companies Will Disappear ft. Brett Queener (Bonfire Ventures)

    FEB 20

    75% of SaaS Companies Will Disappear ft. Brett Queener (Bonfire Ventures)

    Ready to churn less and win more? 🏆 Subscribe for a simple, once-a-month rundown of the episodes at gainsight.com/unchurned 18 months ago, venture capitalist Brett Queener made a bold prediction: 75% of customer-facing software companies would disappear. Now he’s back—with receipts. On this episode of Unchurned, Brett explains why traditional SaaS moats have collapsed, why “system of record” is no longer defensible, and why we’ve entered a new era of agentic software—where you don’t buy tools anymore… You hire them. Brett introduces what he calls the Judgment Layer—the only remaining defensible advantage in AI-powered products. In a world where agents can build, code, write, and self-organize, your job shifts from operator to manager. And your product’s job shifts from workflow engine to embedded judgment engine. If you build, invest in, or buy software, this episode is required listening. --- Timestamps 0:00 - Preview & Introduction 2:15 - From GPT moment to Agents 4:02 - Survival in the AI era 6:50 - Meet Brett 8:00 - Why SaaS moats disappeared 10:40 - The Judgment Layer explained & Feedback loops 13:58 - Hiring software vs. buying software --- What You’ll Learn * Why most SaaS companies are now replaceable * Why embedded judgment is more valuable than workflow automation * The new decision framework for buy vs. build * Why the humanities may outperform pure STEM in the AI era * What founders must build to remain defensible --- Want the playbook, not just the conversation? Subscribe for deep-dive, actionable breakdowns from every episode at unchurned.substack.com. --- Where to Find Brett Queener LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettqueener/ Substack Article: https://queener.substack.com/p/in-the-end-it-may-just-be-judgement Bonfire Ventures: https://www.bonfirevc.com/ --- Where to Find Josh: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jschachter/ Unchurned Substack: https://unchurned.substack.com/

    16 min
  8. What Consumption-Based CS Looks Like Inside a $100B Company ft. Jared Collins (Dell)

    FEB 18

    What Consumption-Based CS Looks Like Inside a $100B Company ft. Jared Collins (Dell)

    Ready to churn less and win more? 🏆 Subscribe for a simple, once-a-month rundown of the episodes at gainsight.com/unchurned What happens when you bring consumption-based customer success into a company? In this episode of Unchurned, Jared Collins, Senior Director of Customer Success at Dell Technologies, shares how the Apex team is building a modern CS engine inside a $100B infrastructure giant. Unlike SaaS companies that can deploy value instantly, Dell Apex operates in a world of physical logistics, supply chain constraints, and long hardware lead times. That means customer success isn’t just about adoption — it’s about anticipation. Jared breaks down how his team connects data sources across the enterprise, builds trigger-based playbooks, partners deeply with sales, and prepares for an AI-driven future where customer signals surface before customers even recognize the need. --- Timestamps 0:00 - Preview & Introduction 1:25 - Meet Jared Collins & Overview of Dell Apex 3:55 - The operational reality of shipping infrastructure 5:52 - Why CS must anticipate months ahead (lead times + forecasting) 8:20 - Working inside a $100B company: complexity vs opportunity 9:53 - Enabling CSMs for success to build strategic relationships 11:20 - Becoming data strategists: Building health scores across multiple business units 13:15 - Data → Triggers → Playbooks: the operational CS framework 16:46 - AI in CS: why foundations matter more than hype 19:20 - What success looks like for Apex CS in the next 1–2 years 21:55 - What Jared loves about Dell --- What You’ll Learn * Why hardware logistics fundamentally changes how CS operates * How to build proactive CS using data triggers and standardized playbooks * How to integrate CS inside a massive enterprise organization * The difference between CapEx and consumption-based thinking * Why AI only works if your data foundations are clean * How to free CSMs to focus on strategic relationship-building * What “good” looks like for CS inside infrastructure businesses --- Want the playbook, not just the conversation? Subscribe for deep-dive, actionable breakdowns from every episode at unchurned.substack.com. --- Where to Find Jared Collins LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredrcollins/ --- Where to Find Josh: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jschachter/ Unchurned Substack: https://unchurned.substack.com/

    25 min
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5
out of 5
96 Ratings

About

If you're experimenting with automation, questioning the traditional post-sales model, or trying to drive more value with less headcount, you're in the right place. AI won’t fix churn, but these conversations might. Retention is the new growth & AI is rewriting the rules. Hosted by Josh Schachter, SVP of Atlas at Gainsight, [Un]Churned—the No. 1 podcast for retention and Customer Success leaders—features real talk with the sharpest minds in the Customer Success space. We dig into how teams are scaling smarter, activating AI agents, and redesigning the customer journey for lasting impact.

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