Corey O'Brien

A poorly executed #customersuccess strategy will kill your #NRR for years to come. I've seen it first-hand too many times over the years. Here is how you deliver a well-executed CS strategy to drive great NRR and ultimately, business growth: 🛣️ 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝗗𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 & 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 The first step in any customer success strategy is understanding the full & dynamic revenue & customer journey. This means not just knowing what your customers do, but why they do it. How and why did they buy your services? How do they move through their journey with you (rarely ina straight line!)? By understanding their motivations, you can better anticipate their needs and deliver solutions that truly add value. And don't forget, the old-school customer journey is not the standard anymore, you need to use the full, dynamic revenue & customer journey to get the full picture. This stretches from pre-sale to post-sale and allows for the customer to move in and out of journey phases/stages dynamically. 📈 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 Customer success is not a reactive function. It's about being proactive, anticipating customer needs, and addressing them before they become issues. You have to ensure that your strategy is aligned around, and fosters, a proactive CS culture and process that allows your team to execute effectively. This not only improves customer satisfaction, but also reduces churn, and creates more expansion opportunities. Both key factors in improving NRR. 📊 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚-𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 In the #SaaS & #CS world, we have access to a wealth of data. By leveraging this data, we can make informed decisions that drive customer success. This could be anything from identifying usage patterns to predict churn, to understanding which features drive the most value for customers and beyond. And it needs to go beyond telemetry, usage etc. Also capture, track and understand customer goals and other qualitative data points. One problem is that this data is often siloed or hard to access, so make sure you have systems (like RevSetter) that can bridge that gap and allows CSMs to effectively action the data & insights. 🤝 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫-𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 Customer success should not be the responsibility of a single department. It should be ingrained in the company culture. When everyone in the organization understands the value of customer success, it becomes a strategic priority that drives business growth. This is why the dynamic revenue & customer journey, the engagement focus, and the proactive mindset are so important. When those are present - and a strategic & customer-centric approach is adopted by the CEO & leadership - the sky is the limit. Leverage these four building blocks and your CS strategy and execution will thank you for it ✅ *** 🛎️ If you enjoy my content, follow me for more ♻️ Repost to share with your network

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Learn more about how the Premier Success Plan helps you start strong, scale, and get more value from Salesforce.

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Enablement is critical to driving business results, but it’s not easy to measure its value. Take it from my esteemed marketing-turned-enablement colleague, Stacey Justice. But she also has a solution derived from her years of enablement expertise: four ways you can grow the ROI of your enablement program and, perhaps most crucially, measure it. Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/gDdHvCgH

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The #1 question we get asked: what exactly is a Revenue Cadence? Revenue Cadences can seem complex. But they’re essential to keeping your team aligned. Watch John Queally, Clari's Director of RevOps, explain what a Revenue Cadence is and why it’s critical for driving predictable revenue.

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Sharing this list of insightful B2B GTM predictions for 2025 from industry thought leaders: https://lnkd.in/grCwaaCi Thank you 6sense for curating the insights, elevating the important topics, and including me! #AI #GTM #ContentCreation #ABM #PersonalizedExperience

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How to execute a great demo…

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Every CEO I know wishes Sales and Marketing were more aligned. Here are 10 ways to get there.

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What CEO doesn't want to build more aligned Sales & Marketing, a stronger pipeline and a more dependable growth engine? Here are 10 ways CEO's produce better outcomes. #CEO #CMO #CSO #BetterTogether

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Generative Canvas is here to turbocharge your Sales processes with AI. 🤖 This free, AI powered research tool is designed to boost productivity among your sales teams, and can support your AEs with... ⭐ Generating elevator pitches ⭐ Generating account summaries ⭐ Summarizing Open Cases ⭐ Generating Opportunity Analysis Discover Generative Canvas and how it can help you supercharge your sales processes, lead meaningful conversations, and close deals faster: https://sforce.co/3XIYmH6 #AI #Salesforce #Agentforce #SalesforceLabs #AppExchange #ChatGPT #AppExchangeApps #GenerativeAI

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🚀 GTM Lessons from the Trenches: Reflection 🚀 As founders and sales leaders, we’re all navigating rough times. Over the past year, our team has learned deeper lessons in go-to-market strategy that have fundamentally shifted our approach: 1️⃣ Sales Enablement Tools Must Be a Suite, Not Point Solutions The days of single-function (aka. best of the breed) tools are behind us. Sales teams need integrated platforms that streamline processes and provide end-to-end solutions. The more cohesive, the better. Sales leaders don't want to run shadow IT. 2️⃣ Top-Down Approach Is Essential While bottom-up adoption has worked for a while, it didn’t move the needle for us. Sales tools need to be embraced from the top down, with leadership buy-in driving usage and value, while the value should translate bottom-up. 3️⃣ Self-Service Isn’t Enough Anymore The promise of 100% self-service (PLG) sounded great, but it’s falling short in this economic climate. Teams need guided onboarding and ongoing support to get the most out of sales enablement tools. This is to say, just because a specific GTM worked for someone don't just adopt it. There is a new normal for every company. #SalesLeadership #GTMStrategy #SalesEnablement #MidMarket #B2BSales #salestable

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Last week, I had the privilege of watching up close Marc Benioff’s #Dreamforce keynote which was an absolute masterclass in storytelling. He didn’t just lay out a vision for the future of AI with #Agentforce— he deftly repositioned Salesforce against every other vendor as DIY tools, while positioning Salesforce as the holistic, ready-to-deploy solution. It was a brilliant example of how to sell a vision while creating clear distance from the competition. What struck me most, though, is the shift from horizontal AI (tools that assist across multiple tasks) to vertical AI (agents built to perform specific workflows). This isn’t just a technological evolution—it’s a shift in how companies will operate. Horizontal AI gives us flexibility, but vertical AI will transform how entire industries work by embedding intelligence into specialized roles, unbundling complex workflows, and streamlining execution. It’s no longer about automating tasks piecemeal—it's about redefining the workflows themselves. That’s where the real value lies. Companies that can leverage this shift will move from incremental gains to exponential impact, but we need to be mindful of where we are today. The vision is grand, but the path forward will require precision in execution. Marc’s storytelling brilliantly captures this—setting the future stage while grounding us in the reality of what needs to happen now. Exciting times ahead for those ready to seize this moment. #AI #Agentforce #innovation #dreamforce2024 #MarcBenioff #storytelling

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Important message from Steve Silver at Forrester. "Making the number" is great for this quarter. It may not be great if you're planning for the next 3-5 years. "Sales leaders, sales organizations, and the revenue engine at large must shift their focus from “make the number” (e.g., “close any deal with any customer at any price on the last day of the quarter”) to designing and leading a sales ecosystem that delivers scalable, profitable, and sustainable growth over the short, medium, and long term." "Of course, sales leaders still need to achieve targets, but focusing only on short-term results comes at a cost, such as overdependence on a small number of high-performing reps, employee burnout, excessive discounting, and increased customer churn, not to mention an 18-month average tenure for sales leaders." Here's the article: https://lnkd.in/eu8C6NZf

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This slide is filling up fast as #MSPartners sign up by the minute for Ultimate Partner LIVE '24 in Dallas, TX, on October 22 and 23rd. Why? 1️⃣ High-Impact Thought Leadership Noted speakers include Sandy Gupta, Global VP for ISV, Stephen Boyle, GM Partner Development for GSIs, Erwin Visser, GM for SMC Partners, and more! 2️⃣ Focused on YOU as a Microsoft Partner. An agenda packed with partner-focused sessions. You’ll walk away with practical, partner-focused strategies that you can implement immediately. 3️⃣ Exclusive, Executive-Level Networking - deep, meaningful connections with leading Microsoft Partners and VP/GM Microsoft leaders from ISV, GSI, and CSP. It's about business acceleration they see at Ultimate Partner events. 4️⃣ Actionable Insights for Business Impact - the HOW you do it as a partner. How to win in this ecosystem—with practical, actionable insights on go-to-market strategies, co-selling, and unlocking new growth opportunities. 5️⃣ The Ultimate Partner Difference - the most important leaders, industry experts, and the Ultimate Partner Workshops a MASTERCLASS in two days. ⚠ Still a couple of days to get your free GOLDEN TICKET 🎫 by tagging people to our posts. Register today https://lnkd.in/egWpnT3t

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Are you going to re:Invent this year? Is AI strategy top of mind? I’m carving out time for 1:1 conversations with technology and business leaders who are ready to run. Whether you're building, scaling, or strategizing, let's discuss. 🎲 Also open to discussing best practices to identify and exploit +EV table games without getting banned 🎲

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Sales, marketing, and success leaders. Think about your ideal customer and turn to your left and right. Do your GTM colleagues have the same ideal? Too many GTM teams are out of sync, and it often starts right here – with the definition of the ideal customer. When there’s little agreement on which companies to target, you end up with: 1. Marketing generating interest in accounts that don’t close or renew. 2. Sales slogging uphill with prospects that aren’t in-market or aware of your business. 3. Success prioritizing customers that aren’t great matches for where your business is headed. Instead of getting stuck in this unhappy Venn diagram, make the definition of your ideal customer a priority. All of your GTM leadership should buy into the same definition of what makes a great customer. Here’s a shorthand on how to get started: * Describe the ideal customer using both binaries (e.g. “they must use Salesforce” or “they must be in the EU”) and weighted scores (e.g. “companies with large call centers are better targets” or “financial services companies are better targets”). * Match these characteristics with firmographic and technographic data that you can access (e.g. via LinkedIn or your favorite data provider). * Collect all accounts that match all of your binaries. Then, score your remaining list using the weighted factors that you defined. That’s your prioritized list. Marketing isn’t running targeted programs to your entire addressable market. They’re focusing resources on the top, say, 1,000 accounts that they can meaningfully engage. Same thing for sales. They’re not running with their own target account list. The circle in their Venn diagram overlaps fully with marketing’s. They’ll look at their resources and determine where their cutoff is on the prioritized list. Say, the top 600 accounts. Now, those top 600 accounts are getting attention from sales. And they’re also getting prioritized messaging, targeting, and community building from marketing. That’s going to turn into more and better pipeline. But what if account # 601 comes to your website and pokes around your pricing page? Behavior beats firmographics... so long as those binaries are met. Prioritize account # 601. Plus, you’re going to be constantly reevaluating your scoring system. Ideally, you should reevaluate your scoring system every quarter. You can do it by: * Looking at dynamics in your pipeline. What are the firmographics and technographics of deals that close won and have high lifetime value? Can you adjust the attributes or weights in your scoring system to reflect that? * Interviewing customers, listening to sales calls, and other qualitative analysis. You can quickly understand pains better and translate them into symptoms that you can score.  * Assessing who’s engaging with your community. Maybe you’re finding fans of yours that aren’t buying because of a product mismatch. Is that an opportunity for product expansion and rescoring?

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Contact center leaders are facing challenges like long wait times and inconsistent service delivery -- but AI is here to help.   AI is transforming customer experiences by enabling businesses to deliver highly personalized, efficient, and proactive service across every touchpoint. It’s all about leveraging AI's ability to analyze vast amounts of data in real time, understand customer behavior, and predict future needs.   ●     For customers: This means reduced wait times, first-call resolution, and self-service options that allow them to solve problems independently, on their own terms.   ●     For agents and supervisors: AI empowers agents to quickly find answers, leading to more meaningful conversations with customers. And for supervisors, it provides real-time insights to help agents improve the customer experience.   ●     Enterprise-wide: AI ensures consistent quality across products, services, and interactions, driving satisfaction for everyone involved.   In a recent webinar, RingCentral highlighted exciting new AI features that enhance their RingCX platform, empowering you to deliver an even more streamlined and personalized customer experience.   For more details about how AI innovations create seamless customer experiences, go to the link in the first comment.   #cutsomerexperience #artificialintelligence #customerservice #employeeexperience

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Do you like Force Management or Challenger methodologies better? Which have you used? Pros / cons / horror stories? I have a client selecting between the two, would love more real-world experience inputs. I was trained in Sandler and LAMP when I was an enterprise sales rep. I see many of the same core principles thread through all of the methodologies: listen more, be more of a trusted advisor than a slick salesperson, find the pain, educate, keep them engaged, give to receive, etc. But have you had more success implementing one over the other? #SalesMethodology #CMO #CRO #Drivemorerevenue

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Fix sales competencies... or ease their burden? Create more sales plays/messages... or structure and package messaging? Inside your company, there’s tremendous angst about "hitting the number." It’s tense—there’s finger-pointing and pressure from the CFO and CEO. A lot of urgent issues have popped up. One? A push to move "top of funnel" opportunities to middle stages with more rigorous qualification. "In-Flight" is one of those stages where the company requires a customer to formally agree to a structured evaluation plan, with go/no-go stages before showing a demo. Clients can only receive a demo if they agree to this plan. The expected value of these focused opportunities increases from 10% to 30%, which will create good optics for leadership if accomplished. Operations and enablement teams have assembled many "prescriptive materials" that tell sellers exactly what to do, with qualifying questions to ask, and CRM tools to make it all much easier. 1️⃣ A common situation. Meet our protagonist, Tim. At home, he considers himself a person, but at work—he wonders. Referred to as "a seller," he’s often on the receiving end of highly prescriptive things from "corporate" that make him question himself. It all seems so straightforward—seller does this, seller says that, customer buys. But, for two years, it hasn’t worked out that way for Tim. Acme is a big opportunity for Tim. His champion is Jen. He’s a little nervous about getting her involved in a review process with internal people who use the type of "salesy" lingo that people who've never sold before use. But he did it. Jen is supportive but won’t agree unless she gets buy-in from her boss and 5 others. What must Tim do? Navigate Acme's agreement network to a decision. 2️⃣ Quantify the messaging. - Jen and Tim agree to prioritize 4 without alienating 2 (6 total). - Tim has cobbled together 5 reasons for Acme to move forward. - Jen asks him to modify the messages for each. - He crafts the content (role relevance), tone (style and level), and context. - He plans for two reminders. Weaving this multi-threaded message together is very challenging. In fact, he will be weaving 97,200 messages to be successful. 3️⃣ So, how do you fix Tim? You don’t. Stop trying! The real culprit is "productitis," where vendors put themselves in a helio-centric echo chamber, believing entire markets orbit around their product. In this context, blunt, single-threaded, persona-contrived assets and messages bombard sales teams from an almost endless cacophony of sources. Overburdening Tim like this—while micromanaging and generating more prescriptive tasks (as if sales is just about activities and checking boxes)—is one glaring example of a broken system. There are so many more. Sales is simple. Simple is hard. #gotocustomer

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