Unchurned - The No. 1 podcast for Customer Success

Meet the Woman Who Coined the CSQL ft. Rachel Orston (Instructure)

Nov 20, 2024

Rachel Orston, Chief Customer Officer at Instructure, shares her insights on the intersection of customer success and revenue goals. She discusses the challenges of implementing a variable compensation model and emphasizes the importance of cultivating collaboration across teams. Rachel also highlights the significance of engaging educational institutions effectively, sharing strategies for enhancing user adoption of their platform. Listeners will appreciate her perspective on fostering genuine connections with customers beyond immediate crises.

32:10

Creator website

Episode guests

Rachel Orston

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Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Rachel Orston emphasizes the importance of aligning customer success with sales through performance-based incentives to enhance collaboration and drive revenue.

The implementation of tools like Salesforce and a structured 'drive team' model at Instructure fosters improved communication and strategic alignment for better customer engagement.

Deep dives

The Role of a Chief Customer Officer

The Chief Customer Officer (CCO) plays a crucial role in ensuring strong connections between the company and its customers. Staying close to end users and understanding their needs is vital for informing decision-making across the organization. Engaging with customers through various means, such as annual reviews and advisory boards, helps build relationships and understand their challenges. This approach not only aids in crafting solutions that resonate but also empowers the CCO to advocate for customers within the firm.

Intro

3min

Navigating Educational Technology

11min

Engagement Strategies and Metrics in Educational Platforms

3min

Engaging Customers as a Chief Customer Officer

11min

Enhancing Collaboration Between Customer Success and Sales Teams

5min

#updateai #customersuccess #saas #business

Rachel Orston, Chief Customer Officer at Instructure joins the hosts ⁠⁠Jon Johnson⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠Josh Schachter⁠⁠ to discuss her strategic approach to aligning customer success with sales and revenue goals, the challenges of transitioning to a variable compensation model, and how Instructure fosters a culture of connection and collaboration.

Timestamps

0:00 - Preview & Intros

5:15 - Discussing about CoThrive

8:07 - Diverse customer segments at Instructure

13:15 - Performance metrics that drive success

16:45 - Connecting with customers

22:36 - Emphasis on performance-based variable compensation

27:23 - CS and Sales

30:15 - Tools and processes for improved collaboration

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👉 Follow the podcast

Youtube: https://youtu.be/JprAz-o-dWk

Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3dfWXmD

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3KD3Ehl

👉 Connect with the guest

Rachel Orston: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelorston/

Rachel's blogs: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelorston/recent-activity/articles/

👉 Connect with hosts

Jon Johnson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonwilliamjohnson/

Kristi Faltorusso: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristiserrano/

Josh Schachter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jschachter/

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👉 Be the first to know when a new episode of Unchurned is dropped. Sign up for our newsletter at ⁠https://blog.update.ai/⁠

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Keywords:

How to keep your customers happy, customer success manager, customer support, customer success management, Customer Success Manager role, Rachel Orson, Canvas, Instructure, on-demand training, integration with Student Information Systems (SIS), customer advisory boards, QBRs, customer relationships, user engagement, Customer Success Managers (CSMs), sales alignment, Salesforce, Gainsight.

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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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