The Growth Signal

Customer segmentation isn’t just a spreadsheet exercise—it’s the foundation of your entire customer success strategy. In this episode, Alyssa sits down with Kristen Hayer, CEO of The Success League, to unpack what most companies get wrong about segmentation, how investor pressure is reshaping CS priorities, and why B2B needs to finally catch up to the B2C approach to customer value. From behavior-based segmentation to the untapped potential of AI, Kristen shares the mindset and methods that separate reactive CS from strategic growth engines.Kristen Hayer is the founder and CEO of The Success League, a consulting and training firm specializing in Customer Success. With over a decade of experience building and scaling CS organizations, Kristen is a leading voice on how to operationalize customer-centric strategies that drive retention, expansion, and long-term value. She’s also a co-author on an upcoming book exploring modern CS leadership.Main Topics Covered:The Problem with Revenue-Based Segmentation Why most segmentation strategies fall flat—and how behavior-based models deliver better customer experiences.The Rise of Retention-Driven CS How investor pressure is forcing a mindset shift from acquisition at all costs to proving customer value.AI as Augmented Intelligence Kristen and Alyssa explore how AI isn’t replacing CS—it’s enhancing the human work that really matters.Resources & Links Mentioned:The Success League website: https://www.thesuccessleague.ioConnect with Kristen on LinkedIn: Kristen Hayer on LinkedInKey Moments:00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome00:31 Kristen's Origin Story03:12 The Evolution of Customer Success05:02 Building a Customer Success Program07:18 The Importance of Customer Segmentation13:06 Adapting to Changes and Challenges16:16 The Role of AI in Customer Success23:41 Connecting with Thought Leaders25:14 Conclusion and Contact InformationSend us a textWelcome to The Growth Signal, where we’re throwing out the old playbooks, and reimagining the future of customer relationships. Connect with Alyssa on LinkedIn Connect with Amber on LinkedIn Apply to be a Guest at TheGrowthSignal.com

If your Customer Advisory Board feels like a presentation, you’re doing it wrong. Irene Yam joins Alyssa to explain why the most effective CABs ditch the slide deck and prioritize real conversation. Drawing from 20+ years of experience leading executive programs, Irene shares what makes CABs work—from building trust to making room for off-script moments that change the game.Whether you’re mid-market or enterprise, you’ll walk away with a clearer blueprint for turning your CAB into a strategic growth lever—not a checkbox.Irene Yam is the author of How to Build a World-Class Customer Advisory Board. She’s spent over two decades designing strategic customer programs for high-growth startups and global enterprises, working with clients spending $20M+ annually. Irene’s approach emphasizes human connection, customer-led feedback, and creating spaces where strategic conversations can thrive. Key Takeaways:The best CABs feel more like jam sessions than board meetings.You don’t need enterprise dollars to get enterprise-level insights.Real feedback starts when you give customers permission to be honest—and stop trying to impress them.Key Moments:00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome00:28 Irene's Origin Story01:44 Customer Advisory Boards vs. Focus Groups03:12 Value of Customer Advisory Boards for Mid-Market Businesses06:24 Starting a Customer Advisory Board07:44 Successful Customer Advisory Boards16:58 Virtual Customer Advisory Boards18:07 Innovative Meeting Ideas21:18 Conclusion and Contact InformationFollow Irene on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ireneyam/Send us a textWelcome to The Growth Signal, where we’re throwing out the old playbooks, and reimagining the future of customer relationships. Connect with Alyssa on LinkedIn Connect with Amber on LinkedIn Apply to be a Guest at TheGrowthSignal.com

When the pressure’s on, most leaders default to speed—but moving fast without thinking clearly is what gets companies stuck. In this episode of The Growth Signal, Alyssa Nolte talks with Charles Browne, a seasoned executive and leadership coach, about the overlooked cost of rushing to solutions. Drawing from decades in the Navy, nuclear ops, and national labs, Charles shares a framework for slowing down strategically, aligning your values, and empowering your team to make better calls—faster. If you're leading a growth-stage org, this is your playbook for sustainable scale.Guest Bio:Charles Browne is a leadership expert and deputy director at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he leads complex, high-risk initiatives. With a background in nuclear operations, Six Sigma, and executive coaching, he specializes in helping technical leaders become high-impact decision-makers.Main Topics Covered:Why Speed Isn’t Strategy – How defaulting to action creates shallow solutions—and what to do instead.Building a $2,000/Hour Leadership Mindset – The mental shift leaders need to stop doing $20/hour work and start building scalable systems.Authenticity at Scale – How defining your values (and sticking to them) builds trust across teams and with customers.Key Moments: 00:00 Introduction and Welcome00:15 Charles' Origin Story02:24 Current Roles and Responsibilities03:47 Common Leadership Blind Spots12:00 Defining Core Values and Decision Making16:32 Implementing Core Values in Business19:15 The Pitfalls of Micromanagement19:49 Defining Business Focus: Customer, Product, or Operations20:38 Southwest Airlines: A Case Study in Operational Decisions22:14 The Importance of Consistency in Leadership25:41 Aligning Personal and Company Values28:48 Serving the Customer with Integrity30:45 Identifying and Serving Your Ideal Customer33:09 Adapting to Change and Seizing Opportunities34:34 Final Thoughts and ResourcesSend us a textWelcome to The Growth Signal, where we’re throwing out the old playbooks, and reimagining the future of customer relationships. Connect with Alyssa on LinkedIn Connect with Amber on LinkedIn Apply to be a Guest at TheGrowthSignal.com

In this episode of The Growth Signal, we sit down with Bob Mathers—customer success coach, keynote speaker, and host of The Growth Mixtape—to explore the emotional toll of working in high-pressure CS environments. What starts with a conversation about trauma, perspective shifts, and boundary-setting quickly evolves into a deep dive on why CS professionals are hitting peak stress younger than ever, how our work habits are reinforcing the burnout cycle, and what it really takes to reclaim our energy and impact.If you’ve ever found yourself answering Slack messages at 9PM or wondering why your “relationship-driven” role feels more reactive than strategic, this episode is for you.Guest Bio:Bob Mathers is a customer success coach, keynote speaker, and podcaster with decades of experience helping CS leaders—from scrappy startups to $100M SaaS companies—build sustainable, revenue-driving customer organizations. Known for his no-BS insights and deep empathy, Bob brings clarity to one of the messiest, most misunderstood functions in SaaS.Main Topics Covered:Why CS Burnout Is Getting Worse, Not Better – And how the “always on” culture and lack of clear ownership are accelerating it.The Real Role of CS in Revenue – Why being “relationship-first” doesn’t mean avoiding the number—and why pretending it does is hurting the profession.Designing Your Calendar Around Energy, Not Urgency – Bob’s framework for mapping energy highs and lows to the right kind of work, and why it might boost your productivity 30%.Key Moments:00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome00:15 Personal Stories of Overcoming Challenges03:37 Work-Life Balance and Boundaries07:39 Customer Success Insights17:12 Productivity and Energy Management23:37 Final Thoughts and Contact InformationSend us a textWelcome to The Growth Signal, where we’re throwing out the old playbooks, and reimagining the future of customer relationships. Connect with Alyssa on LinkedIn Connect with Amber on LinkedIn Apply to be a Guest at TheGrowthSignal.com

In this episode of The Growth Signal, host Alyssa Nolte welcomes Sabina Pons, CEO & Chief Customer Officer at Growth Molecules, for a real, human conversation on the evolution of customer success—and why being a trusted advisor doesn’t mean avoiding revenue.Sabina shares her unconventional journey from PR to SaaS leadership, the gut-punch of getting laid off during the 2008 recession, and how that moment sparked a career grounded in empathy, adaptability, and operational rigor. From scaling CS orgs to building a million-dollar consultancy, Sabina brings the receipts.You’ll hear:Why “Customer Success is Dead” misses the pointHow trusted advisors can own renewals without losing trustThe difference between value as a feeling vs. ROI as a calculationHow to make CS teams easy to work with (and why that’s underrated)A wild, full-circle moment that proves the power of long-tail relationshipsIf you’ve ever wrestled with the tension between advocacy and accountability, or wondered how to make CS more strategic without becoming salesy—this one’s for you.👥 Connect with Sabina: 👉 Sabina Pons on LinkedIn💡 Quote of the Episode: "Even if you don’t own the revenue number, you’re still responsible for keeping the customer." – Sabina PonsKey Moments:00:00 Introduction and Welcome00:36 Sabina Pons' Career Journey01:48 Transition to Customer Success06:41 Building a Career in B2B SaaS12:10 The Role of Customer Success Managers18:07 Human-Centric Approach in B2B21:34 Influential Figures and Personal Insights23:44 Connecting and Following Sabina PonsSend us a textWelcome to The Growth Signal, where we’re throwing out the old playbooks, and reimagining the future of customer relationships. Connect with Alyssa on LinkedIn Connect with Amber on LinkedIn Apply to be a Guest at TheGrowthSignal.com

In this episode of The Growth Signal, host Alyssa Nolte is joined by Alex Turkovic—customer success leader, podcast host, and the mind behind the Digital CS Maturity Model—for a hands-on conversation about how CSMs can stop running in circles and start making meaningful progress.They dig into:Why the most strategic CSMs don’t work harder—they work smarterHow templatizing repetitive tasks creates long-term leverageThe compounding power of small systems (and how to start building yours)How to think about AI as augmented intelligence—and why CSMs who treat it that way are pulling aheadWhy internal chatbots and tooling should be battle-tested before going customer-facingThe underrated magic of prepping on Friday to hit the ground running on MondayAlex also shares some creative ways he’s using tools like Perplexity and Zapier to fuel better, more consultative customer conversations—and offers a pointed challenge to every CSM stuck in reactive mode.Key Moments:00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome00:33 The Key to Customer Success01:34 Templatization and Efficiency05:28 Personal Productivity Hacks08:46 The Role of AI in Customer Success14:04 AI Chatbots and Brand Impact17:09 Leveraging AI for Industry Insights20:12 Influential Voices in Customer Success22:18 Final Thoughts and Contact Information 👉 Connect with Alex: linkedin.com/in/alexturkovicSend us a textWelcome to The Growth Signal, where we’re throwing out the old playbooks, and reimagining the future of customer relationships. Connect with Alyssa on LinkedIn Connect with Amber on LinkedIn Apply to be a Guest at TheGrowthSignal.com

In this episode of The Growth Signal, host Alyssa Nolte sits down with Jean Pierre (JP) Dumas, a seasoned sales and CX leader with a track record of turning chaos into best-in-class teams. From his childhood selling seeds door-to-door in LA to leading massive CX transformations across telecom and travel industries, JP shares the pivotal leadership lessons that shaped his philosophy: take care of your people first, and everything else follows.They dive into:The wild experiment that taught JP the true cost of ignoring employee experienceHow one employee writing “Union” on a whiteboard sparked a cultural reckoningThe link between low EX scores and high churn—and what leaders can do about itReal-life stories of pandemic-era innovation driven by employee-led actionWhy the best customer experience begins far behind the frontlinesJP doesn’t hold back. He unpacks the hard-earned truth: if your people don’t feel seen, heard, and supported, your customers never will.🔥 Key Takeaway: EX is not a soft metric—it’s your first customer. Treat it that way, and you’ll build a flywheel of loyalty, trust, and growth from the inside out.💬 Connect with JP: LinkedIn: JP DumasSend us a textWelcome to The Growth Signal, where we’re throwing out the old playbooks, and reimagining the future of customer relationships. Connect with Alyssa on LinkedIn Connect with Amber on LinkedIn Apply to be a Guest at TheGrowthSignal.com

Introducing The Growth Signal: The Podcast for Revenue Leaders Who Play to Win. Hosted by Alyssa Nolte and Amber Moore and designed for customer-facing teams, this podcast tackles the challenges of reactive growth strategies and offers proactive solutions. Each episode features insights from top experts who are transforming customer-facing teams into effective revenue generators. Join us as we cut through the noise with practical, tactical advice to help you drive real change and growth in your organization.00:00 Welcome to the Growth Signal Podcast00:05 The Need for a New Playbook00:26 Introducing the Growth Signal Approach00:32 Who This Podcast is For00:41 Expert Insights and Tactical Advice00:56 Join Us on the Growth Signal PodcastSend us a textWelcome to The Growth Signal, where we’re throwing out the old playbooks, and reimagining the future of customer relationships. Connect with Alyssa on LinkedIn Connect with Amber on LinkedIn Apply to be a Guest at TheGrowthSignal.com