
The Customer UnSuccess Podcast Beyond the Money Ask: Building Customer Engagement for Successful Renewals w/ Marie Lunney
Marie Lunney shares insights from her experience building digital customer success programs, highlighting the pitfalls of focusing only on renewals rather than designing a complete customer journey. She discusses the importance of aligning executives around customer success, creating internal workflows before customer-facing automation, and remembering that meaningful engagement requires multiple touchpoints throughout the customer lifecycle.
• Focusing exclusively on renewal automation can backfire, resulting in disengaged customers and last-minute scrambling
• The "Rule of Seven" marketing concept applies to customer success—customers need approximately seven touchpoints before taking action
• Clean data is essential before implementing any automation to avoid embarrassing misfires
• Internal automation carries less risk than customer-facing automation and can provide quick wins
• Content-based resources like self-service guides and value realization frameworks provide immediate value with lower technical complexity
• Cross-functional executive alignment is crucial for effective risk mitigation
• Start building touchpoints throughout the entire customer journey instead of leaving gaps between onboarding and renewal
Join DCS Connect, Marie's Slack community for Digital CS professionals, to connect with others building scaled customer success programs. Learn more by connecting with Marie on LinkedIn.
🎙️ Guest: Marie Lunney
Founder | DCS Connect | Director of Scaled Customer Experience at Bynder
📣 Find Marie:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marielunney1
🔥 Topics Covered:
🟣 Why focusing your first digital CS motion on renewals can backfire
🟣 The benefits of starting with onboarding & early adoption initiatives
🟣 How executive alignment strengthens risk mitigation efforts
🟣 Why clean, consistent data must come before automation
🟣 Internal automation as a low-risk, high-reward starting point
🟣 Leveraging content and self-serve resources for scalable impact
🟣 Balancing tech and human touch in scaled customer journeys
🟣 Common pitfalls to avoid when launching your first scaled program
💡 Shoutouts & Mentions:
- DCS Connect — Community for Digital Customer Success professionals — https://airtable.com/appLGhZyujOoYp8BQ/shr4ixoZmB8hBoLbM
Pavilion — Global GTM & CS community — https://www.joinpavilion.com/
🌐 Website
https://www.joedoestechtouch.com/
📰 Subscribe to the JDTT Newsletter –
Get raw insights, no-fluff frameworks, and tech touch tactics straight to your inbox: https://www.joedoestechtouch.com/jdttnewsletter
🎙️ Be a Guest on the Podcast
Have a CS horror story or digital-first strategy worth sharing? Submit to be a guest:https://www.joedoestechtouch.com/podcast
🔗 Connect with Joe on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephdigrande
📺 Watch Full Episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaH58ojbaWym4ej_PedQ4Fw
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