Account Management Secrets Episode 26: How to Turn Customer Success Into a Growth Function
Customer success is at a crossroads. Does it need a complete rebrand? A new strategy? A bigger role in driving revenue?
In this episode, Alex Raymond talks with Rav Dhaliwal, a veteran in customer success and account management, about what’s working, what’s broken, and what needs to change. Rav shares why customer success teams struggle to define their own value and how that disconnect affects both customers and company growth.
One of the biggest challenges? The divide between sales and customer success. Both teams focus on helping customers see value, yet outdated structures keep them working in isolation. Rav explains why shared goals and incentives could create stronger results for everyone.
Rav also questions whether the term “customer success” still makes sense. Is it time to rethink the function entirely? Should it evolve into something bigger? If customer success is truly a competitive advantage, leaders need to stop treating it as an afterthought.
This episode pushes past buzzwords and into the real conversations happening inside companies today. If you’d like to know where customer success is headed, this is one you don’t want to miss.
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Introduction
01:55 Rav’s Career Journey and Insights
02:57 The Evolution of Customer Success
06:19 Linking Customer Success to Revenue
08:17 Incentives and Organizational Alignment
09:11 Misconceptions About Customer Success
10:09 The Need to Retire the Term “Customer Success”
13:05 The Future of Customer Success
15:26 Customer Success and Revenue Ownership
19:30 Organizational Design: CCO vs. CRO
22:39 Skepticism About the CCO Role
25:05 The Importance of a CCO in Complex Organizations
29:40 Typical Friction Points in Alignment
35:04 The Competitive Advantage of Great Customer Success
37:04 Integrating CS into the Sales Process
42:15 Growing the Deal with CS Involvement
Links
Connect with Rav Dhaliwal:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravinderdhaliwal/
Medium: https://ravsterd.medium.com/
Connect with Alex Raymond:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/
Website: https://amplifyam.com/