The Unchurned podcast brings you the stories that will help you forge incredible customer relationships, prevent churn, & build institutional knowledge. The CS & BS series is a part of the Unchurned podcast wherein, with each episode, our hosts - Kristi Faltorusso, Jon Johnson, Josh Schachter, and special guests uncover the secrets of top leaders and innovators of companies so that you can advance your career and the performance of your customer success team.
Unchurned, and the CS&BS series, are presented by UpdateAI - https://update.ai/
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How to Thrive in the Change Economy in the Age of AI ft. Brett Queener (Bonfire Ventures)
Episode 135
Wednesday, April 9, 2025 • Duration 44:23
#updateai #customersuccess #saas #business
Jon Johnson and Josh Schachter sit down with Brett Queener, Managing Director at Bonfire Ventures, to explore the rapidly evolving landscape of software companies in the age of AI. Brett shares his thoughts on the future of SaaS, the importance of speed and innovation, and the critical role of product marketing.
They dive into founders' challenges and anxieties in today’s "change economy," where software evolves at warp speed, and discuss what it takes to build a defensible business amidst ever-growing competition.
Join us as Brett provides insights on how startups can thrive by truly solving customer problems and staying ahead in the AI-driven tech landscape.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Preview, Intros & BS
2:22 – Bonfire & Brett’s Blog: Tales from The Bonfire
6:55 – Predictions & Observations: AI’s Influence on SaaS
13:07 – Running a Software Company Amid Rapid Change
16:33 – Applying Jobs-to-be-Done Framework
17:50 – Innovation Pace vs. Continual Adaptation
24:45 – Product Innovation, Value, and Market Differentiation
28:45 – Investor Perspective and Guidance for Startups
👉 Sign up for UpdateAI - the only Zoom virtual assistant for customer-facing teams.
👉 Be the first to know when a new episode of Unchurned is dropped. Sign up for our newsletter at https://blog.update.ai/
________________
Unchurned is presented by UpdateAI
About UpdateAI
At UpdateAI our mission is to empower CS teams to build great customer relationships. We work with early & growth-stage B2B SaaS companies to help them scale CS outcomes. Everything we do is devoted to removing the overwhelm of back-to-back customer meetings so that CSMs can focus on the bigger picture: building relationships.
How can AI as a strategic partner transform CS from reactive to proactive?
Episode 134
Wednesday, April 2, 2025 • Duration 22:25
#updateai #customersuccess #saas #business
In this episode of the Unchurned podcast, we are joined by our dynamic duo of experts, James Sanders (AI Implementation Strategist) and Michelle Carter (Customer Success Innovation Lead). From automated call summaries and sentiment analysis to predictive analytics and personalized customer experiences, James and Michelle will guide us through the current trends and future possibilities of AI.
They discuss the burgeoning interest in specialized AI tools for customer success and delve into various applications—such as conversation intelligence, chatbots, and predictive health scoring—that are reshaping the industry. By leveraging AI, CSMs can focus on building relationships and delivering value with their new AI copilots.
Timestamps
0:00 - Preview & Intros
2:17 - AI and Customer Success
3:11 - Call summaries and follow-up generation
4:05 - Voice of the Customer (Sentiment Analysis)
5:11 - Predictive Analytics for Churn and Upsell
6:03 - Customer Health Scoring
6:40 - Task Automation and Workflow Orchestration
7:42 - Chatbots and Self-Service AI
8:37 - Personalized Content and Recommendations
10:52 - Sophisticated proactive retention alerts
12:02 - Embedded copilots for AI assistance
13:03 - Multichannel customer orchestration
15:45 - Solution Categories in AI for Customer Success
19:39 - Glossary of Terms Related to AI
Defining the CS Playbook Philosophy to Balance - Guidance and Governance ft. Caitlin Wood (ZeroFox)
Episode 133
Wednesday, March 26, 2025 • Duration 35:04
Caitlin Wood, Chief Customer Officer at ZeroFox, joins hosts Kristi Faltorusso, Jon Johnson, and Josh Schachter. They discuss the intricacies of customer success in the cybersecurity industry, along with her unique insights into the challenges and triumphs of leading a customer success organization—especially in the realm of cybersecurity, where the ROI often means that nothing happens.
Tune in as Caitlin uncovers how she approaches customer experience, the evolution of customer engagement models, and the balance between AI integration and the indispensable human element in achieving customer success.
Timestamps
0:00 - Preview, BS & Intros
4:08 - Learn about ZeroFOX
5:10 - Challenges in Proving ROI in Cybersecurity
7:45 - Customer Engagement and Service Model
10:57 - Lead Pass Process and CSQLs
15:10 - Complexity and Simplicity in Incentives
18:10 - Efforts to Mature Models and Remove Friction
22:35 - Adaptation of Playbooks
25:51 - Attitude, Aptitude, and Experience in Hiring
How to Scale Customer Success Beyond the Comfort Zone? ft. Kelly McGuire (Everstage)
Episode 132
Wednesday, March 19, 2025 • Duration 28:24
#updateai #customersuccess #saas #business
Kelly McGuire, Vice President of Customer Success at Everstage, joins hosts Jon Johnson and Josh Schachter (Co-Founder & CEO of UpdateAI). They dive into how Everstage is disrupting the market, driving outcomes for its clients, and empowering a range of roles—from sales operations to account managers. Kelly shares her "comfort zone philosophy," emphasizing the importance of stepping beyond our comfort zones to foster growth and achieve success.
She also talks about Everstage’s vibrant, no-ego culture, the crucial role leadership plays in scaling customer success, and her vision for expanding Everstage’s impact in the years ahead.
Timestamps
0:00 – Preview
0:48 – Meet Kelly McGuire, VP of Customer Success at Everstage
4:00 – The role of customer success in sales
6:10 – Kelly’s "comfort zone philosophy"
12:10 – Transition from Sisense to Everstage
15:42 – No-ego culture and collaborative work environment
20:20 – Leadership alignment and transparency initiative
25:55 – Kelly’s vision for scalable growth at Everstage
How to Build a Customer-Centric Culture ft. Rimple Patel (Eightfold.ai)
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 • Duration 35:03
#updateai #customersuccess #saas #business
Rimple Patel, Chief Customer Officer at Eightfold.ai, joins host Josh Schachter, Co-Founder & CEO of UpdateAI, as she walks us through her strategic approach to leadership, including evaluating teams, aligning missions, and fostering a customer-first culture.
Josh and Rimple also explore the role of AI in scaling business processes, covering innovations like agentic AI and AI recruiters while emphasizing the irreplaceable human element in the workplace.
Finally, Rimple shares her insights on driving GRR and NRR growth at Eightfold and her strategy for scaling the company.
Timestamps
00:00 - Preview & Intros
01:35- Overview of Eightfold.ai
04:30 - AI in Talent Management
08:00 - Rimple’s Journey, Career Path & Industry Experience
17:43 - Challenges & Insights from Her Role as CCO
20:03 - Evaluating Leadership, Talent, and Cultural Shifts
21:05 - Building a Customer-First Value System
22:09 - Team Principles & Leadership Accountability
28:50 - Customer Segmentation & Health Assessment Strategies
How CS Teams Can Build Trust and Secure Buy-In to Grow and Scale Customer Success ft. Lawrence Waldman (GLMX)
Wednesday, March 5, 2025 • Duration 42:22
#updateai #customersuccess #saas #business
Lawrence Waldman, who recently stepped into a new role as Global Head of Client Experience at GLMX, shares insights from his initial hundred days at the company. He opens up about navigating change and scaling operations in a rapidly growing space while also spotlighting his team's strong customer relationships and innovative approaches.
Timestamps
0:00 - Preview, Music Nerds Unite, LinkedIn & Intro
8:30 - GLMx, its services
12:28 - Lawrence's new role at GLMx, team dynamics and culture
15:08 - Lawrence's experience hunting a job
19:00 - The first 100 days
23:10 - Building trust and buy-in
31:45 - Pleasant surprises and operational challenges
Redefining Customer Experience with Empathic AI ft. Andrei Negrau & Chad Horenfeldt (Siena AI)
Wednesday, February 26, 2025 • Duration 31:45
#updateai #customersuccess #saas #business
Andrei Negrau, CEO of Siena AI, and Chad Horenfeldt, VP of CS at Siena AI, join Jenny Calvert and Josh Schachter to discuss the intricacies of maintaining brand voice integrity in AI-driven interactions, the company's strategic focus on net dollar retention, and the unique challenges and opportunities of AI’s transformative role in e-commerce. Plus, learn how companies can leverage tools like UpdateAI to capture real-time customer insights and drive strategic growth.
Timestamps
0:00 - Preview & Introductions
7:01 - The Concept of Empathic AI
11:20 - Working at Startups vs. Larger Companies
14:30 - Aligning Company and Team Goals for Customer Success
17:18 - Siena’s Customer Experience Strategy for 2025
24:14 - Using UpdateAI’s Frameworks to Score Customer Experience
Navigating Mergers and Leading Through Change ft. Bonnye Hart
Episode 128
Wednesday, February 19, 2025 • Duration 27:27
#updateai #customersuccess #saas #business
Join Josh Schachter (Founder & CEO, UpdateAI), Kristi Faltorusso (CCO, ClientSuccess), and Jon Johnson (Principal CSM Enterprise, UserTesting) as they discuss the recent merger between Opexus and Casepoint with Bonnye Hart, Chief Customer Officer.
Discover how these twin powers under the Thoma Bravo banner are navigating change, professional growth, and customer success. From strategic partnerships to expanding adoption, this episode is packed with engaging conversations and expert insights.
Timestamps
0:00 - Preview, BS & Intros
2:49 - Thoma Bravo and merger discussion
6:04 - Team dynamics post-merger
8:00 - Introduction to Opexus and Casepoint
11:53 - The curiosity post-merger and job security
How to Hire, Build, and Grow an All-Star Customer Success Team ft. Amy Oilman (Conversica)
Episode 127
Wednesday, January 29, 2025 • Duration 27:51
#updateai #customersuccess #saas #business
Amy Oilman, SVP of Customer Success at Conversica, joins hosts Jon Johnson, Principal CSM, Key Accounts at UserTesting, and Josh Schachter, Co-Founder & CEO at UpdateAI, to share insights from her experience building and leading customer success teams at industry giants like Google and Salesforce. Drawing from her time at these powerhouse companies, she reveals how to create the most effective customer success teams, emphasizing the importance of a well-defined team vision, the core values guiding her teams, and innovative approaches to battling churn and ensuring customer satisfaction.
Timestamps
0:00 – Preview & Intros
4:10 – Priorities for 2025
7:07 – Rules of the Road
8:40 – The #1 Rule of the Road
11:23 – Collaboration with Internal Teams
13:00 – Showing Up with a Point of View & Being Engaged
15:37 – Identifying and Hiring Potential Candidates
Enabling Excellence by Transforming CSM Roles ft. Christine Boermeester (Deltek)
Episode 127
Wednesday, January 22, 2025 • Duration 22:45
Christine Boremeester, Senior Director of Strategy & Enablement at Deltek, joins Kristi Faltorusso, CCO at ClientSuccess, and Josh Schachter, Co-Founder & CEO of UpdateAI, to share invaluable insights into how Deltek continues to innovate and serve its global customer base.
Tune in to explore Deltek's ambitious initiatives, including the creation of specialized customer success roles and the challenges of standardizing processes across a diverse range of products and customers.
Christine also highlights her team’s excitement and anticipation as they prepare to launch these transformative changes, aimed at elevating customer relationships and driving business growth.
Timestamps
0:00 - Preview & Intros
3:00 - Christine's Career Evolution
4:15 - Formation of the Strategy and Enablement Group
11:00 - Team Structure & Implementation
12: 19 - Hiring Plans & Profiles
13:40 - Expectations from CSMs
17:40 - Diverse challenges due to multiple products and systems
👉 Sign up for UpdateAI - the only Zoom virtual assistant for customer-facing teams.
👉 Be the first to know when a new episode of Unchurned is dropped. Sign up for our newsletter at https://blog.update.ai/
________________
Keywords:
How to keep your customers happy, customer success manager, customer support, customer success management, Customer Success Manager role, customer success metrics, AI implementation strategist, Customer success innovation, Generative AI, Customer success roles,
Software companies, Conversation intelligence tools, Call summaries, Predictive analytics for churn, Customer health scoring, Task automation,
Risk analytics, Customer feedback, Sentiment AI, Generative AI for content,
Large language models, Embeddings, Vector search, Fine tuning, Retrieval augmented generation, Proactive retention alerts, Multi-signal AI, Embedded co-pilots, Digital customer success
______________________
Unchurned is presented by UpdateAI
About UpdateAI
At UpdateAI our mission is to empower CS teams to build great customer relationships. We work with early & growth-stage B2B SaaS companies to help them scale CS outcomes. Everything we do is devoted to removing the overwhelm of back-to-back customer meetings so that CSMs can focus on the bigger picture: building relationships.
👉 Sign up for UpdateAI - the only Zoom virtual assistant for customer-facing teams.
👉 Be the first to know when a new episode of Unchurned is dropped. Sign up for our newsletter at https://blog.update.ai/
________________
Keywords:
How to keep your customers happy, customer success manager, customer support, customer success management, Customer Success Manager role, hiring tips for customer success, customer success metrics, Chief customer officer, Customer engagement, Account manager, Technical account managers, Customer experience, Playbooks, Onboarding, customer outcomes, Health scoring, Productivity tools, Work with customers
______________________
Unchurned is presented by UpdateAI
About UpdateAI
At UpdateAI our mission is to empower CS teams to build great customer relationships. We work with early & growth-stage B2B SaaS companies to help them scale CS outcomes. Everything we do is devoted to removing the overwhelm of back-to-back customer meetings so that CSMs can focus on the bigger picture: building relationships.
👉 Sign up for UpdateAI - the only Zoom virtual assistant for customer-facing teams.
👉 Be the first to know when a new episode of Unchurned is dropped. Sign up for our newsletter at https://blog.update.ai/
________________
Keywords:
How to keep your customers happy, customer success manager, customer support, customer success management, Customer Success Manager role, hiring tips for customer success, customer success metrics, sales compensation, EverStage, customer journey, sales ops, rev ops, revenue goals, customer outcomes
______________________
Unchurned is presented by UpdateAI
About UpdateAI
At UpdateAI our mission is to empower CS teams to build great customer relationships. We work with early & growth-stage B2B SaaS companies to help them scale CS outcomes. Everything we do is devoted to removing the overwhelm of back-to-back customer meetings so that CSMs can focus on the bigger picture: building relationships.
👉 Sign up for UpdateAI - the only Zoom virtual assistant for customer-facing teams.
👉 Be the first to know when a new episode of Unchurned is dropped. Sign up for our newsletter at https://blog.update.ai/
______________________
Unchurned is presented by UpdateAI
About UpdateAI
At UpdateAI our mission is to empower CS teams to build great customer relationships. We work with early & growth-stage B2B SaaS companies to help them scale CS outcomes. Everything we do is devoted to removing the overwhelm of back-to-back customer meetings so that CSMs can focus on the bigger picture: building relationships.
👉Sign up for UpdateAI - the only Zoom virtual assistant for customer-facing teams.
👉 Be the first to know when a new episode of Unchurned is dropped. Sign up for our newsletter athttps://blog.update.ai/
______________________
Unchurned is presented by UpdateAI
About UpdateAI
At UpdateAI our mission is to empower CS teams to build great customer relationships. We work with early & growth-stage B2B SaaS companies to help them scale CS outcomes. Everything we do is devoted to removing the overwhelm of back-to-back customer meetings so that CSMs can focus on the bigger picture: building relationships.
👉Sign up for UpdateAI - the only Zoom virtual assistant for customer-facing teams.
👉 Be the first to know when a new episode of Unchurned is dropped. Sign up for our newsletter athttps://blog.update.ai/
_______________________
Unchurned is presented by UpdateAI
About UpdateAI
At UpdateAI our mission is to empower CS teams to build great customer relationships. We work with early & growth-stage B2B SaaS companies to help them scale CS outcomes. Everything we do is devoted to removing the overwhelm of back-to-back customer meetings so that CSMs can focus on the bigger picture: building relationships.
At UpdateAI our mission is to empower CS teams to build great customer relationships. We work with early & growth-stage B2B SaaS companies to help them scale CS outcomes. Everything we do is devoted to removing the overwhelm of back-to-back customer meetings so that CSMs can focus on the bigger picture: building relationships.
At UpdateAI our mission is to empower CS teams to build great customer relationships. We work with early & growth-stage B2B SaaS companies to help them scale CS outcomes. Everything we do is devoted to removing the overwhelm of back-to-back customer meetings so that CSMs can focus on the bigger picture: building relationships.
👉 Sign up for UpdateAI - the only Zoom virtual assistant for customer-facing teams.
👉 Be the first to know when a new episode of Unchurned is dropped. Sign up for our newsletter at https://blog.update.ai/
________________
Keywords:
How to keep your customers happy, customer success manager, customer success management, Customer Success Manager role, Unchurned, customer relationships, Deltek, enterprise software, information solutions, customer care, customer support, customer success, strategy and enablement, digital content management, customer enablement group, customer experience, customer engagement, customer success manager, renewals, digital segment, account management
______________________
Unchurned is presented by UpdateAI
About UpdateAI
At UpdateAI our mission is to empower CS teams to build great customer relationships. We work with early & growth-stage B2B SaaS companies to help them scale CS outcomes. Everything we do is devoted to removing the overwhelm of back-to-back customer meetings so that CSMs can focus on the bigger picture: building relationships.
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