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This CCO Won't Ask His Team What He Wouldn't Do Himself (And Why) ft. Jim Richmond (Smartling)
[Un]Churned – The No. 1 Podcast for Customer Retention
Intro
Josh introduces Jim Richmond and previews Smartling, the episode themes, and Jim's customer-first approach.
Ready to churn less and win more? 🏆 Subscribe for a simple, once-a-month rundown of the episodes at gainsight.com/unchurned
Jim Richmond is the Chief Customer Officer at Smartling, an AI-powered translation company doing AI "before it was cool" since 2009. Leading 50 professionals across support, services, and customer success, Jim shares his 2026 playbook: why GRR is his North Star, how he's building systems to scale 4x, and why role specialization beats generalization in the AI era.
Jim reveals how AI bots eliminated single-touch support tickets at Smartling, why he still carries his own book of business as a CCO, and his career advice for aspiring leaders to build the professional empathy that makes them an authentic partner.
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Timestamps
0:00 - Preview & Introduction
2:05 - Meet
0:00 - Introduction to Jim Richmond & Smartling
0:44 - What is Smartling? AI-powered translation and localization
2:04 - Company size and team structure
2:58 - 2026 Priorities: GRR as the North Star metric
5:43 - Building a four-quarter forecast to eliminate surprises
7:25 - Why poor forecasting is dangerous for boards and businesses
8:54 - Building systems for 4x growth: "This is the smallest this team will ever be"
11:19 - Role specialization: Moving from generalists to specialists
13:51 - The debate: Will AI make CSMs more generalized or specialized?
14:22 - Why AI application companies will win (not just frontier LLMs)
16:57 - How AI bots eliminated single-touch support tickets
18:47 - AI removes the "where is the bathroom" questions
20:48 - What it's like being a first-time Chief Customer Officer
22:58 - The rule of thirds: How a CCO allocates time
24:44 - Leading from the front: Why this CCO still carries his own book of business
25:25 - Career advice: Seek out a diversity of experiences
27:33 - The power of professional empathy and "I won't ask what I wouldn't do"
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What You’ll Learn
* How to build a four-quarter forecast that eliminates revenue surprises
* Why role specialization creates more operational leverage than generalization
* How AI bots eliminated single-touch support tickets at Smartling
* Why leading from the front means carrying your own book of business
* How to build professional empathy by seeking diverse experiences across sales, CS, and services
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Want the playbook, not just the conversation? Subscribe for deep-dive, actionable breakdowns from every episode at unchurned.substack.com.
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Where to Find Jim Richmond
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimrichmondatl/
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Where to Find Josh:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jschachter/
Unchurned Substack: https://unchurned.substack.com/
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