Atlanta Customer Success Network

Kudos to James Scott and the entire Atlanta Customer Success Network team running ATLCS Summit! This was my first conference and I ?? recommend this conference for anyone at any level that is responsible for customer growth, revenue & the customer journey. Here's why: 1. Data-driven Networking: Attendee surveys & attendee lists with relevant expertise, targets & org/team sizes were so helpful to make the most use of our time together. 2. Learning -> Action: We received workbooks with topic suggestions and space for us to make notes. 3. Meaningful Breakouts: This was a throwback to my #YamJam days when we used to host #unconferences facilitating meaningful breakouts rather than a bunch of presentations. The three most common themes I heard were: 1. Questions about how CS can effectively own revenue and align with your sales & finance leadership to make this possible. Carie Buchanan led a fantastic discussion about this. 2. A data-driven, predictable, automated onboarding journey is a key differentiator to accelerate speed to value, increase NPS and decrease cancellations/SKU changes & dissatisfaction. Roman Trebon shared some great points about this in the keynote. 3. AI in CS is necessary but overwhelming. In a group of 10 CS Leaders, 10 different tools were mentioned as part of the tech stack with varying levels of endorsement. Many asked questions about consolidation & enablement. Look out for David Ellin's research in the coming months about leading CS AI tools. I personally am grateful to have met IRL with some welcoming, inspiring thought leaders in Atlanta including Rishi Bhagwandeen, Diane Simone, M.S., PMP, CSPO, Kathryn Taylor, Natasha Chua Tan Thomas Bass (TBass) Keith Hanks Joe Di Grande Michael Weil Hannah Jones Roman Trebon What other themes did you hear? Looking forward to the next one Atlanta Customer Success Network! https://lnkd.in/eF9zcPWf

Quota, quota, quota... I was at the Atlanta Customer Success Network's Spring Summit yesterday and got the opportunity to network with so many different CSMs from different orgs. The one constant I kept hearing was how much more emphasis is being put on the revenue aspect of the role. It's honestly not surprising. Interest rates remain elevated leading to downward pressure on start ups who have variable or floating debt. What this means is that software companies are less likely to be buying new software and are scrutinizing the softwares they have. Start ups can't afford to have slowing growth rates from net-new acquisition on top of having declining GRR. HOWEVER, putting additional emphasis on the commercials will not fix your issues overnight. Within CS orgs, there tends to be a longer revenue tail due to the dual mandate being pushed on CSMs (retention with adoptions on top of farming upsells/cross sells). Many CSMs do not like the sales aspect, if they did, they'd be AEs. Thus, if you're a founder or head of CS, you have to be understand how to appropriately enable the team while not focusing only on short term sales. If you have questions about how to set up your CSM team for success let's have a chat! #retention #expansion #saas #founders #customersuccess #csms

I had a great time at Atlanta Customer Success Network Spring Summit yesterday at the Atlanta Tech Village. I enjoyed the opportunity to talk about Teams Plus onboarding, meet so many new great contacts in the Atlanta area, and come home with actions from the lively small group discussions. Looking forward to many more great events in 2025!

Yesterday I attended the Atlanta Customer Success Network Spring 2025 Summit. There was a session on AI, but the most interesting AI-influenced discussion was during the Roadmap session, where we discussed the Velocity of feature deployment and the decrease in backlog. The general consensus of the group was that we are beginning to see an increase in the velocity of released features but that development groups have not yet adjusted their ability to estimate for the increased productivity. What are your thoughts?

Santa came early this year – at least for those at the Atlanta Customer Success Network Summit Spring 2025! Thursday, March 20th, was the third Summit held by the #ATLCS. Shout out to the team for another great event! I left with lots of good connections and a few gifts. Let me brag about three of them. ??? The “Building Your Personal Brand” session was full of lessons and actionable takeaways, even for this social media dinosaur! Your personal brand is an essential asset in today’s market — and that goes for solopreneurs, founders, or job seekers. (Shout out to Justin Chappell for a great session!) ?? James Scott and I shared insights for rising stars in the “Navigating the CS Job Market” breakout. The challenge and opportunity of the current market is that the CSM role has changed and is still changing. Those looking for work need to bring patience, tenacity, innovation, and the willingness to network and prospect like an SDR to their job search. I walked away with a stronger commitment to help strong #CS and #CX practitioners find their next home. ?? The goody bag of course included a shirt. But, it also included Brian Solis's book “Mindshift: Transform Leadership, Drive Innovation, and Reshape the Future.” I have been meaning to read it since hearing Brian on a few podcasts late last year. The reviews and Brian’s articles announcing the book promise a journey to improving one's leadership skills and drive change. If the book lives up to its promise, I’ll write an article with my learnings. If you are in #ATL, I recommend joining the Atlanta Customer Success Network. It is a community where you can learn the latest techniques, build strong relationships, ride the industry's wave of change, and prepare for the future. (OK. The unpaid ad is over. ?? ) #CustomerSuccess #CustomerExperience #CS #CX #Community #Leadership #ATLCSSummit

It’s go time! It’s my second Atlanta Customer Success Network Summit. ????