Should You Visit More Of Your Prospects In Person? Almost Certainly
I remember the first customer I lost due to not showing up in person. They were a Fortune 50 customer. We did a CSAT survey, and every user loved us. The implementation was flawless. There were zero issues. And … we lost them at renewal. Our buyer was kind...
Should You Discount to Save a Renewal? The NRR Trap Says No. You Probably Should Anyway.
The Discount That Would’ve Kept Us So we’re going to churn off Adobe Marketo. The irony: I was one of the first 10 Marketo customers. Ever. I’ve been a customer (with a break) for goodness, the better part of two decades. And a reference account for...
Do You Treat Your 20-Year Customers Worse Than Your New Ones? You Probably Do
You probably do treat most of your oldest, longest lived customers far worse than a new prospect. As crazy as that sounds at some level. We’ve talked enough about our really, really rough experience with old, dated Adobe Marketo for marketing automation. They...
We Haven’t Had a Great CS Experience in Years. But Our FDEs Have Been Incredible.
In some ways, we helped build the Customer Success category at SaaStr a generation or so ago. Some of the earliest writing here on Second Order Revenueand the power of a funded, dedicated CS organization informed a generation of B2B founders. We believed in it deeply....
The Best AI Startups Do the Training For You. It’s On You to Make the Agent Awesome — Not Your Customers.
Think about how customers bought enterprise software in 2019. Or even in 2023. You’d get sold by a sales rep. Then you’d hire an Accenture or other third party to deploy it over 9-12 months. And you’d hope and pray it worked like the sales rep...
What To Do When A Customer Wants to Cancel A Contract
"If a customer wants to go, let them. In fact, help them. First, it really doesn't matter when they go, if they go. They drop off your ARR eventually. Second, treat them right, they may well come back." pic.twitter.com/QrDVkLyd19 — Jason...
Dear SaaStr: What Were Aspects of Your Startup That Were Easier Than Anticipated?
Dear SaaStr: What Were Aspects of Your Startup That Were Easier Than Anticipated? The part I didn’t originally get as a first-time B2B founder was how relatively easy it is to grow exising accounts and account size if your customers are happy. 120% NRR: Your revenue...
Dear SaaStr: What Do You Do With Churned Customers?
Dear SaaStr: What Do You Do With Churned Customers? You put them into a Get Them Back bucket and re-market to them with a dedicated program. And you have sales especially follow-up twice. Once in about 90 days, to see if they might want to come back —...
Dear SaaStr: What’s The Best Way to Get Traction After We Have Our First Few Paying Customers?
Dear SaaStr: What’s The Best Way to Get Traction After We Have A Few Paying Customers? Answer: try everything that just might work, even a little bit. Then: double down on anything that works even a little. That may sound obvious, but what I mean is, most start-ups...
Dear SaaStr: What Do You Do When Your Startup is Not Growing Anymore?
Dear SaaStr: What Do You Do When Your Startup is Not Growing Anymore? First, be honest about why. You can blame it on macro issues if you want, or on the competition over promising, or whatever — but if growth has radically decelerated, it’s likely because you...
There’s No Excuse for “We’ll Get Back to You in 1 Business Day” in the Age of AI
Recently I reached out to support at 2 fintechs we used, both at $500m+ ARR, and what did support say? “We’ll get back to you in a day.” There’s no excuse for this anymore in the Age of AI. There was no excuse ever, but pre-AI, keeping up...
Is AI Support Perfect? No. But It’s A Lot Better Than No Support at All
Dear SaaStr: We’re thinking about deploying AI for customer support. Is it actually good enough yet, or should we wait? Don’t wait. Do it now. Pick a leader and go. Just don’t forget to train it. You have to train AI support with your real data, FAQs,...
How OpenAI Built a Global CS Organization in 18 Months: Vanessa Gatihi’s Playbook for AI-Powered Customer Success
Vanessa Gatihi joined OpenAI as their first customer success hire 18 months ago. Today, she leads a global CS team as Head of AI Deployment & Adoption spanning San Francisco, New York, Munich, Paris, Dublin, London, Singapore, and Korea, serving a thriving...
What To Expect From a New VP of Customer Success in The First 30-60-90 Days
Dear SaaStr: What Should My New VP of Customer Success Be Doing In The First 30-60-90 Days? Here’s how I’d structure their 30-60-90 day plan to ensure they’re focused on the right priorities: First 30 Days: Meeting With Customers — ASAP. And Deep Dive and...
Founder SaaStr
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