In 2025 Look For:Greg and Kristen Tell You What To Do - Greg Brisendine and Kristen Hayer share their leadership experiences, talk about how to be a great leader, and laugh a whole lot along the way.Customer Success For Regular People - Russell Bourne and Allison Tiscornia interview leaders who are inserting customer success into traditional industries like transportation, building, education and healthcare.Thanks for listening, and we hope you'll join us in 2025 for these new podcasts!

Unlock the secrets to transforming customer education into a powerhouse for customer success. Join us as we learn from Casey Trujillo and Todd Kirk of Brainstorm, who bring a wealth of experience in professional services, SaaS product development, and customer success strategies. Discover how Brainstorm helps organizations implement consistent training practices, using change management principles to drive software adoption and organizational change. Find out how this approach prevents custom...

Unlock the secrets of how AI can revolutionize the customer success space with insights from Pallavi Gadepalli, the dynamic founder and CEO of Stealth AI Startup. Pallavi's fascinating journey from developer to product manager and ultimately to customer success sets the stage for her unique perspective on integrating AI into high and mid-touch customer success roles. Her company's AI assistant, inspired by Jarvis from Ironman, promises to automate repetitive tasks and enhance in-call experien...

Discover the future of Customer Success with Julie Fox, Global Director of Customer Success at Cin7, as she shares her journey into her transformative new role. Julie is driving her team towards a proactive, predictive model while also enhancing upsell and cross-sell strategies. Learn how Julie is navigating the dynamic environment of Cin7, an inventory management solution, and addressing the unique challenges and rewards of her role. Julie highlights the significance of community networking,...

Have you grappled with the complexities of customer success programs, especially in a year fraught with industry shifts and layoffs? Join our host Kristen Hayer and our esteemed guest, Parul Bhandari, founder of South Asian Success, as we tackle the evolution of Customer Success and the imperative of retention focus in today's businesses. They discuss the controversial role of CS teams in managing renewals, drawing on our own initial stumbles to highlight the essential preparation and s...

Ever wondered what's in a job title? Jeff Heckler, a seasoned Customer Success guru, joins the podcast to unravel the significance of titles in the CS world and how they impact both personal and organizational dynamics. As we traverse Jeff's journey from business intelligence to leading the charge in customer engagement, you'll learn how titles such as "Head of Customer Success" can translate into real-world challenges and triumphs. Navigating the corporate ladder isn't simply about clim...

Unlock the secrets to revolutionizing your Customer Success journey with Ryan Ballein, a trailblazer in the CS arena. You'll hear invaluable insights from Ryan's transition from sales to leadership and his expert strategies for building a robust CS function from the ground up. Kristen and Ryan's conversation focuses on implementing digital-first customer engagement, emphasizing automation's role in freeing up CS managers for more meaningful work, thus amplifying customer satisfaction and empl...

Unlock the secrets of customer value with Lakshmi Neelakantan from SAP, as we delve into the world of Platform as a Service (PaaS). Lakshmi has an extensive background in computer science and offers valuable insights, from leveraging the SAP Business Technology Platform to accelerating the journey of value realization for customers. Listen as we discuss fostering customer relationships that make renewals second nature. With Lakshmi's expertise, this episode is a journey into the heart of Cust...

Ever wondered what it takes to leap from being an individual contributor to a leader? Jump in as we pique your curiosity and unravel this mystery with Sumitra Narayanan, a seasoned professional at Braze who leads a CS scale team. Sumitra generously shares her experiences, discussing her path from a humble contributor to becoming a key leader in her field. Her tale is laced with lessons, insights, and a wealth of knowledge that will prove invaluable to those looking to chart a similar course i...

Ready to revolutionize your customer success strategies? Join me, Kristen Hayer, founder and CEO of The Success League, as we decode how to achieve this by harnessing the power of Total Search. Buckle up for an engaging discussion with Prasanna Dhungel, co-founder and managing partner of GrowByData. We’re breaking down how marketing tools like Total Search can drive efficiencies in customer success programs. Together, we'll navigate through the importance of understanding what your customers ...

Join us as we sit down with Duta Sadeep, a veteran in the world of customer success, as he unveils hidden facets of this critical aspect of an organization. Duta shares how he stepped into this influential role and paints a vivid picture of why the true significance of customer success often gets overlooked. He also introduces us to the broader metrics of value - customer lifetime value, CSAT, and NPS, taking us beyond the standard measures. In the latter part of our chat, Duta stresses on th...

Ever felt the pressure of leadership, the gnawing stress, and the looming threat of burnout? You're not alone. I, alongside my special guest, Ryan Johansen - founder of HumanLeadership.io and mentor to leaders at Amazon and HubSpot - discuss the pitfalls and pressures leaders often face. From his personal journey shifting careers from pharmaceutical sales to software, Ryan recounts his own brush with burnout and how it dramatically altered his life and approach to leadership.We dissect the un...

On this episode of Innovations in Leadership, Kristen interviews Swati Garg, Founder & CEO of Melo Associates. They discuss the process of hiring and how to determine whether to hire from within your staff or if you should seek external candidates.Don't forget to subscribe to stay up-to-date with Innovations in Leadership!

On this episode of Innovations in Leadership, Kristen interviews Amber Monroe, Head of Enterprise Strategy at Paradigm Senior Services. Amber shares how her teams used surveys and interviews to help strengthen their customer success team.Don't forget to subscribe to stay up-to-date with Innovations in Leadership!

On this episode of Innovations in Leadership, Kristen interviews Todd Schiller, Co-founder & CEO, PixieBrix. They discuss the growth of AI tools and how it can help your Customer Success team.Don't forget to subscribe to stay up-to-date with Innovations in Leadership!

On this episode of Innovations in Leadership, Kristen interviews Michael Bojanski, Director of Customer Operations & Support at Learn to Win. They discuss helpful tools for creating a strong CS experience.Don't forget to subscribe to stay up-to-date with Innovations in Leadership!

On this episode of Innovations in Leadership, Kristen interviews Nik Mijic, Founder and CEO of Matik. They discuss the ins and outs of building value for your customers with a strong CS experience.Don't forget to subscribe to stay up-to-date with Innovations in Leadership!

On this episode of Innovations in Leadership, Kristen interviews Steve Cornwell, CEO at Northpass. They discuss the best ways to integrate education into your Customer Success program.Don't forget to subscribe to stay up-to-date with Innovations in Leadership!

On this episode of Innovations in Leadership, Kristen interviews Taylor Kniffin, Director of New Market Readiness at Engaged MD. They discuss the strategies Taylor used to build and grow a CS team that had the bandwidth and skills to really assist their clientele.Don't forget to subscribe to stay up-to-date with Innovations in Leadership!

Welcome to CS Essentials by Gainsight! This series focuses on the foundational pieces of building a customer success organization. In this episode, hosts, Kristen Hayer and Tim Van Lew, interview Nick Mehta , CEO at Gainsight, about Motivating and Engaging Your Team During an Economic Downturn.Don't forget to subscribe to stay up-to-date on Customer Success best practices!