The Digital CX Podcast: Driving digital customer success and outcomes in the age of A.I.

Sara Roberts (Bayview Talent and host of Success Unscripted) may not immediately jump out to you as an obvious guest of this podcast. No, she doesn't run a digital CS function nor does she have a rich history in CS.What she does have is her finger on the pulse for growing and scaling CS teams as that is her recruiting agency's specialty. As such, it was a great opportunity to talk about two specific areas: the state of the CS job market today and how to build & scale digital functions.In this fascinating interview we discussed:Being part of the Zenefits growth and the evolution into her establishing Bayview, specifically focused on CS recruitingHiring and the job search freeze are thawingSara’s motivation for starting the Success Unscripted PodcastThe importance of being vulnerable and sharing your hard experiences to help others who are doing the sameBuilding and scaling digital teams from a hiring perspective Hiring for digital is not just about putting your Junior CS teams in a scaled team but instead looking for technical resources, marketing people, product…etc.Start by analyzing what systems & people you have. What are the skills gaps in relation to what problems you’re trying to solve. That will inform your hiring strategy for digital.For a digital role - you are looking to hire people who can go deep into the data, but can also pull up and see the strategyPractical advice for CSMs looking for their next role: take on projects and prove you can already do the work of that roleFor those looking for work: Focus on the industry you already have experience with which will give you a leg up over other applicants. Focus on the ACV of the target customer that is within your comfort range. Finally, focus on what stage company it is vs. your experience.Don’t just send in your resume and call it a day - recruiters are likely not looking at those resumes. Find the manager of the team and send them a note on LinkedIn.Sara’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saralynneroberts/Bayview Talent: https://www.bayviewtalent.com/Success Unscripted Podcast: https://www.unscriptedpod.com/Resources:Crunchbase for conducting targeted company searches based on your criteriaSupport the show+++++++++++++++++Like/Subscribe/Review:If you are getting value from the show, please follow/subscribe so that you don't miss an episode and consider leaving us a review. Website:For more information about the show or to get in touch, visit DigitalCustomerSuccess.com. Buy Alex a Cup of Coffee:This show runs exclusively on caffeine - and lots of it. If you like what we're, consider supporting our habit by buying us a cup of coffee: https://bmc.link/dcspThank you for all of your support!The Digital Customer Success Podcast is hosted by Alex Turkovic🎬 This content was edited by Lifetime Value Media.Learn more at: https://www.lifetimevaluemedia.com

Reminder! Enter for a Gold Pass to the CS Festival in Austin:Leave a review the podcast and send a quick screenshot to alex@digitalcustomersuccess.comGo to this LinkedIn post and Like it: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7152780848642068480Leave a comment on that same post. Easy!Today's Guest Annie Dean of RecastSuccess is a TRUE CS veteran and is one of those rare individuals who was around when the term 'Customer Success' was coined! What does that mean for us? Lots of insight and knowledge to learn from. In this fascinating conversation, Annie draws from her deep career at legendary companies like LinkedIn, Cisco & Coursera - as well as her current experience with RecastSuccess - to give us a ton of great nuggets of knowledge.It was also a pleasure having her on as RecastSuccess does so much to drive equity and diversity within CS - which is definitely worth highlighting. In this fantastic conversation, we cover a lot of ground including:How to prioritize where to start digitallyHow tooling has helped us to normalize digital CS The genesis of RecastSuccess and its mission to help foster diversity in CS The role profiles of Digital CS and how product management, marketing, sales ops  and data science fit in well with DCS - not necessarily CSM.How RecastSuccess partners with VCs & Startups to help grow CS orgs with well trained team membersEarly stage startups have an advantage because you can start with automations and have them in place from the beginningHow to be proactive with end-users (those that aren’t reaching out) to help drive outcomes for those executivesAverage professional in the US uses 80 apps regularly - which is why it is imperative to be proactive with users Semi-live webinars are a great way to scaleNew AI tools are there to augment and improve what you’re doing - not replace what you’re doing.Racial & Gender diversity in tech and RecastSuccess’ mission for building CS teams that are as diverse as possibleThe ever-present topic of whether to QBR or whether to not QBRAnnie's Industry Newsletter ListSupport the show+++++++++++++++++Like/Subscribe/Review:If you are getting value from the show, please follow/subscribe so that you don't miss an episode and consider leaving us a review. Website:For more information about the show or to get in touch, visit DigitalCustomerSuccess.com. Buy Alex a Cup of Coffee:This show runs exclusively on caffeine - and lots of it. If you like what we're, consider supporting our habit by buying us a cup of coffee: https://bmc.link/dcspThank you for all of your support!The Digital Customer Success Podcast is hosted by Alex Turkovic🎬 This content was edited by Lifetime Value Media.Learn more at: https://www.lifetimevaluemedia.com

Enter the contest for a Gold Pass ($1300 value!) to the Customer Success Festival in Austin (Feb 13 & 14, 2024) by following these steps:Review the podcast on your platform of choice and send a quick screenshot to alex@digitalcustomersuccess.comGo to this LinkedIn post and Like it: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7152780848642068480Leave a comment on that same post about what aspect of CS Festival you're most looking forward to or any questions comments you might have about the event.Today's Guest Anika Zubair is a CS household name and award winning customer success leader who is constantly providing insanely valuable content to the community. She has led and scaled many functions throughout her career and is currently Head of Customer Success at Griffin. There are so many valuable nuggets of information to pull away from our conversation in this episode including:Leveraging technology to meet our customers where they are with what they needCovid normalized digital engagementThe resurgence of QR codesTransitioning from full-time gig to consulting and backThe difficulty of the current job marketUsing ‘CS Trailers’ to solve for customer engagement via short form, TikTok style video and how this style aligns with how people are consuming content todayCombining short videos (max 90 seconds) with analytics and strong call to actions can lead to strong customer engagementPractical example of a short onboarding flowThings like 'Spotify Wrapped' are HARD to get to but so effective if you doCelebrating customer wins and demonstrating value digitallyIt’s ok as B2B to communicate like B2C - we are all just humanAnika's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anikazubair/Apps:Cast.app - Virtual Digital CSMBagel - Tie product features to revenue opportunities and customer feedbackContent:This is Growth PodcastRevenue Today PodcastCS Office HoursShoutouts:Dan EnnisJay NathanJeff Breunsbach+++++++++Support the show+++++++++++++++++Like/Subscribe/Review:If you are getting value from the show, please follow/subscribe so that you don't miss an episode and consider leaving us a review. Website:For more information about the show or to get in touch, visit DigitalCustomerSuccess.com. Buy Alex a Cup of Coffee:This show runs exclusively on caffeine - and lots of it. If you like what we're, consider supporting our habit by buying us a cup of coffee: https://bmc.link/dcspThank you for all of your support!The Digital Customer Success Podcast is hosted by Alex Turkovic🎬 This content was edited by Lifetime Value Media.Learn more at: https://www.lifetimevaluemedia.com

Enter the contest for a Gold Pass ($1300 value!) to the Customer Success Festival in Austin (Feb 13 & 14, 2024) by following these steps:Review the podcast on your platform of choice and send a quick screenshot to alex@digitalcustomersuccess.comGo to this LinkedIn post and Like it: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7152780848642068480Leave a comment on that same post about what aspect of CS Festival you're most looking forward to or any questions comments you might have about the event.Winner will be announced on Jan 31!+++++++++++++Today's Guest: Anita TothThere is no denying that there are a ton of amazing people in the CS community. Anita Toth is no exception. She is such a great presence in CS and regularly puts her academia background in full display with well thought through concepts and tangible take-aways that help elevate CS within our organizations. This conversation was jam packed with really great take-aways including:Anita's background in academiaHer transition into CS and the lessons that it can teach others about approaching transitionDeep research in CS and looking for patternsStandardizing customer feedback, CS inputs, etc. to drive data cleanliness and see trendsElevating CS within an organization from the kids table to the adult tableHow to feed CS' valuable customer data to the rest of the companyStart with Marketing and share details of your top 20% customers - help marketing build an ICP so that they can go help find more of that type of customerHow our tooling is helping us to produce insights for the businessCS’ main product should be insights on customer healthThe importance of CS leaders to understand other business leaders’ goals so that we know what insights can help themTrust and ethics in adopting GenAI and the inflection point that is coming where we won’t be able to tell the difference between human and algorithmSpeculating on the future use of GenAI within CSAnita's LinkedInATIChurn No More Leadership WorkshopResources:The School of Greatness: Lewis HowesDr. Joe DispenzaDoctor Mike+++++++++++++Support the show+++++++++++++++++Like/Subscribe/Review:If you are getting value from the show, please follow/subscribe so that you don't miss an episode and consider leaving us a review. Website:For more information about the show or to get in touch, visit DigitalCustomerSuccess.com. Buy Alex a Cup of Coffee:This show runs exclusively on caffeine - and lots of it. If you like what we're, consider supporting our habit by buying us a cup of coffee: https://bmc.link/dcspThank you for all of your support!The Digital Customer Success Podcast is hosted by Alex Turkovic🎬 This content was edited by Lifetime Value Media.Learn more at: https://www.lifetimevaluemedia.com

Bhavika Kochhar is one of those amazing individuals that does an incredible amount of service to the CS community and seemingly eats, sleeps & breaths customer success. She's been in the trenches as a CSM and is now pursuing her Masters in Engineering Management, where she is focused on pulling technical prowess into CS.I loved this conversation with Bhavika because she provided a lot of tactical advice, not only for leaders but also front-line CSMs on the mindset and general operations of great digital programs. Topics in our conversation include:How her love of tech brought her to the Engineering Management Masters program at DukeEven as a CSM - you can go an automate things to make your job betterDCS isn’t replacing the CSM - it’s in service of the CSM to make them more efficientThe benefit of being technically proficient on your product and your own tech stack/integrationsYour customers shouldn’t know that they are interfacing with different teams and systems. It should feel cohesive.Gender and racial diversity in CS and techEffective cross collaboration with other departments Asking questions is so important in getting to know other functions - being naturally curious is goodSuch great info from such a sweet person. I hope you enjoy...because I sure did!Bhavika's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bhavikak/Bhavika's Website: https://www.bhavikakochhar.com/CS Ladies initiative: https://www.linkedin.com/company/csladies/Resources:Customer Success Mindset: Building Customer-Centricity into the DNA of your Growth Strategy by Jyo Shukla: https://amzn.to/3vtw6N6The AI Empowered Customer Experience: A CX practitioner's guide to the possibilities and risks of AI by Simon Kriss: https://amzn.to/41Ob7R0+++++++++++++++++Support the show+++++++++++++++++Like/Subscribe/Review:If you are getting value from the show, please follow/subscribe so that you don't miss an episode and consider leaving us a review. Website:For more information about the show or to get in touch, visit DigitalCustomerSuccess.com. Buy Alex a Cup of Coffee:This show runs exclusively on caffeine - and lots of it. If you like what we're, consider supporting our habit by buying us a cup of coffee: https://bmc.link/dcspThank you for all of your support!The Digital Customer Success Podcast is hosted by Alex Turkovic🎬 This content was edited by Lifetime Value Media.Learn more at: https://www.lifetimevaluemedia.com

Digital strategist Alyssa Opella discusses incorporating digital motions into the post-sale journey, including data quality, interventions, and celebrating wins. Topics include career journey, org perception, executive communications, personas, and crafting personalized messages. They also highlight automation benefits, leveraging insights, feedback mechanisms, and finding inspiration from various sources.

Marie Lunney, seasoned digital CS leader and founder of DCS Connect Slack community, discusses digital CS before it was called DCS, cross-coordination with other departments, employee satisfaction, data hygiene, digital business reviews, hiring for Digital CS, and the branding implications of a good digital CS program.

Jon Johnson, CS leader, musician, and writer, shares insights on the interplay between human & digital aspects of customer success, the loss of humanity in digital, workplace trauma & mental health, building real relationships in business, and the importance of personalization in digital customer success.

Jeff Kushmerek of Infinite Renewals has to be one of the most dynamic and fun people in our amazing CS community. His contributions are immense via his generosity, amazing content and overall attitude towards CS. You might also see him as one of the most musically active members of the community.While we do start with a fun 'this or that' activity on albums, in this fun convo, we delve into all sorts of great topics related to digital CS including:Jeff's general approach to consultingWhen his clients are NOT ready for a digital programHuman & Digital motions working together instead of replacing each otherHow hiring junior CSMs for digital isn't necessarily the right staffing fitDigital signals beyond basic login metricsSales to CS handoffOperational rigor to make digital motions workCS & Product interactionThis was a fun one which made me smile listening back to it during the edit.Enjoy! I know I sure did...Jeff's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkushmerek/Infinite Renewals: https://www.infiniterenewals.comResources Mentioned in this Episode:Gain Grow Retain Podcast: https://podcast.gaingrowretain.com/Unchurned Podcast: https://blog.update.ai/blog/category/unchurned-podcast/SaaStr Podcast: https://www.saastr.com/podcasts/The Team House Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-team-house/id1492797340Zero Blog Thirty Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/zero-blog-thirty/id1151856991Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend Podcast: https://teamcoco.com/podcasts/conan-obrien-needs-a-friendShoutouts:Colleen Stein @ Churn ZeroDan Ennis @ Monday.comDavid Epperly @ Blackpoint CyberKara Smith @ SearchspringSupport the show+++++++++++++++++Like/Subscribe/Review:If you are getting value from the show, please follow/subscribe so that you don't miss an episode and consider leaving us a review. Website:For more information about the show or to get in touch, visit DigitalCustomerSuccess.com. Buy Alex a Cup of Coffee:This show runs exclusively on caffeine - and lots of it. If you like what we're, consider supporting our habit by buying us a cup of coffee: https://bmc.link/dcspThank you for all of your support!The Digital Customer Success Podcast is hosted by Alex Turkovic🎬 This content was edited by Lifetime Value Media.Learn more at: https://www.lifetimevaluemedia.com

I absolutely love interviewing guests who are deeply embedded and leading CS teams for companies that primarily serve the Customer Success community. That is why this week's chat with Chris Dishman of Totango was such a joy!It goes without saying that not only does Chris' team run a stellar customer success program, but they also advise clients on best practices and have a birds eye view into how many of their customers are approaching CS.In our chat, we talk a bit about Chris' background and how he went from being a Totango customer to employee/leader. After that, we get deep into topics like:The current and future states of health scoringBest practices when building out your own scoringThe right (and wrong) time to implement a CSPCS Operations Human and digital motions working together.Working cross-functionally to drive customer outcomesDigital/Video Business ReviewsMy favorite quote from the episode: "Scaled CS isn't all-or-nothing - you can have variations and flavors of human and machine working together."For those in the US - Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you get to spend some good family time this week.Chris' LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherdishman/Totango: https://www.totango.com/Resources:McKinzey & Company Articles: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insightsThe Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty: https://amzn.to/49qpNJBDecoder Podcast: https://www.theverge.com/decoder-podcast-with-nilay-patelShoutout:Allie Irvin @ Extreme Networks: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allie-irvin/Support the show+++++++++++++++++Like/Subscribe/Review:If you are getting value from the show, please follow/subscribe so that you don't miss an episode and consider leaving us a review. Website:For more information about the show or to get in touch, visit DigitalCustomerSuccess.com. Buy Alex a Cup of Coffee:This show runs exclusively on caffeine - and lots of it. If you like what we're, consider supporting our habit by buying us a cup of coffee: https://bmc.link/dcspThank you for all of your support!The Digital Customer Success Podcast is hosted by Alex Turkovic🎬 This content was edited by Lifetime Value Media.Learn more at: https://www.lifetimevaluemedia.com