Account Management Secrets

Most account managers are told to ask great questions, but without trust, those questions go nowhere. So how do you earn the right to dig deeper without losing credibility?   In this episode, Alex Raymond is joined by Richard Harris, the founder of the Harris Consulting Group and author of “The Seller’s Journey,” to discuss how emotional intelligence helps account managers earn the right to dig deeper without losing trust. Richard introduces the “respect contract,” a way to set the stage for better client conversations.    This episode also explores why focusing on economic impact is the best way to drive urgency and meaningful engagement. Along the way, Richard challenges common sales advice and shares practical strategies for handling disengaged clients, navigating tough conversations, and strengthening relationships. If you’ve ever struggled to get real answers from a client, Alex and Richard’s discussion will give you the tools to change that.   Quotes “In sales—and even in account management after they become a customer—our job is to keep earning our customers’ trust.” (03:22 | Richard Harris) “If leadership hasn’t taught them to send an email before you ask those questions, well, that’s just piss poor leadership, in my opinion. That’s just terrible leadership.” (09:54 | Richard Harris) “Nothing drives urgency more than money. Nothing.” (27:25 | Richard Harris)  “You don’t become more resilient by doing the same thing over and over again. You become more resilient because you try something and you adjust.” (31:35 | Richard Harris)    Links Connect with Richard Harris: LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/rharris415/ Website: https://theharrisconsultinggroup.com/   Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/ Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Most customer success strategies miss the mark because they push a product instead of solving real customer pain points. So how do you keep clients engaged and drive real growth?   Alex Raymond sits down with Emilia D’Anzica, the Chief Customer Officer and founder of Growth Molecules, to discuss what makes customer success work. Emilia shares why leaders struggle to get buy-in, how silos kill momentum, and why clear roles and accountability matter more than ever. She also challenges companies to rethink their approach—are they equipping teams to drive retention, or just expecting results without the right tools?   From using AI to lighten the load on account managers to the shift in how investors view customer success, this episode has insights for leaders who want to build stronger, more sustainable client relationships.   Quotes “Stop trying to push your whole product on a client. No one cares about your product. They care about what the product is going to do to help alleviate their pain.” (43:31 | Emilia D’Anzica)  “1st, what’s the company’s North star? What’s our organization doing in this grand scheme of things? And then what’s in it for the individuals who are going to make it possible? If you aren’t answering those two questions around the why, the why for the company, the why for me, then people can quickly get lost or working in silos. And I think that’s really important, understanding the big picture and then breaking it down into micro steps to success. And that’s where I would start as a leader.” (​​04:28 | Emilia D’Anzica) “I cringe when people say everyone owns customer success or everyone owns this goal that the company’s achieved. Actually, no, you need to break it down and really explain who owns the function.” (06:58 | Emilia D’Anzica) “The one thing you can’t automate with tech is making sure that people feel like they’re part of the mission and the change, and that you’re enabling them during change.” (10:17 | Emilia D’Anzica)   Links Connect with Emilia D’Anzica: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emiliadanzica/ Website: https://growthmolecules.com/   Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/ Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Account management is more than a role. It’s the backbone of customer success and a springboard to leadership. David Karp, chief customer officer at DISQO, joins Alex Raymond to share how his 20-year career journey, rooted in building relationships and understanding customer needs, led him to the C-suite.    David provides a behind-the-scenes look at the multifaceted responsibilities of a CCO, from aligning sales, product, and operations to fostering collaboration across teams. He points out the importance of key metrics like net revenue retention to assess value delivery and drive business growth, while emphasizing a hands-on approach to understanding customer interactions and feedback.    This episode also touches on the often-overlooked contributions of account managers—David calls them the “unsung heroes” of business—and he advocates for showcasing their impact to elevate their role within organizations.   Quotes “The biggest difference of that CCO role versus the others is how much time I spend working on the business instead of in the business.” (09:05 | David Karp)  “If you roll your sleeves up in today’s world, that gives you the option to roll them down. Things are changing so fast. We need to be close enough to what’s happening in the business to support teams, help customers, and make rapid decisions.” (13:03 | David Karp)  “The customer doesn’t care what department you’re in. They just want to know: ‘Are you going to help me?’” (34:24 | David Karp)  “We started with trying to make sure we understand the moments that matter for customers. And then, how do we create metrics around those moments that matter?” (24:40 | David Karp) “We don’t just need other people to shout out and take those unsung heroes and make them heroes. You know how I want them to be heroes? Because everybody else realizes I should be more like them… that to me is the coolest part about it. That’s the influence that account managers can have when we set them up for success and they start to do what they do and share it with others.” (43:07 | David Karp)    Links Connect with David Karp: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidalankarp/   Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/ Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

“Any successful organization is only successful because it puts its customers at the heart of what it does. If they’re not, then it’s what I would call a scam or a rip-off, quite frankly,” says Dave Jackson, a coach and author known as the “CS Heretic.” In this episode, Dave joins Alex Raymond to talk about customer-led growth, exploring why it’s not just a post-sale activity but a comprehensive approach to the entire customer lifecycle. Are companies truly understanding and delivering what matters most to their customers, or are internal silos holding them back?    Dave shares insights into the importance of aligning teams across marketing, sales, product, and post-sales to deliver measurable results that customers value. He challenges organizations to rethink their design, shifting from internal processes to an outside-in perspective rooted in customer success. How do your customers measure the impact of what you do? And are your efforts truly helping them achieve their goals?    Join Alex Raymond and Dave Jackson as they explore how customer-led growth strengthens customer relationships and creates a foundation for sustainable growth.   Quotes “Any successful organization is only successful because it puts its customers at the heart of what it does. If they’re not, then it’s what I would call a scam or a rip-off, quite frankly.” (04:24 | Dave Jackson) “One of my favorite [quotes] is by an American called Arthur Jones: ‘Every organization is perfectly designed to get the results it gets.’ If you want to change the results that you get, you have to change the organization.” (09:39 | Dave Jackson)  “One of the first management consultants, a guy called Peter Drucker once said, ‘The customer rarely buys what the company thinks it’s selling.’ We tend to push our products, talk about their value and benefits, but what we actually sell is features.” (13:10 | Dave Jackson) “How do customers measure the impact we have on them? Once you start to understand that, you'll build momentum that says, ‘We can’t not do this.’” (37:08 | Dave Jackson) “If you don’t deliver some form of measurable results, you ain’t going to retain that customer. You might have put huge amounts of effort into acquisition, but your LTV value is going to be crap.” (37:31 | Dave Jackson)   Links Connect with Dave Jackson: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidjacksonuk/ Website: https://www.customer-led-growth.com/   Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/ Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Retention is the secret weapon for sustainable growth, yet too many companies overlook its true power. Ali Cudby, the CEO of Alignment Growth Strategies and author of “Keep Your Customers,” joins Alex Raymond in this episode, and explains why fixing the leaks in your bucket changes everything.    Why do so many businesses prioritize acquisition over retention? Ali breaks it down, and points out the hidden costs of churn and the untapped potential of keeping customers engaged long-term. From chaotic onboarding processes to misaligned internal teams, she shares how these common missteps can derail growth.     Can retention become a company’s strategic focus? Ali offers ways to shift this mindset, including the power of clear playbooks and leadership-driven alignment across departments. By tackling onboarding challenges head-on and investing in customer success, businesses can create lasting relationships and sustainable profitability.     Ali and Alex’s discussion will challenge you to rethink the role of retention in your organization, because growth doesn’t come from plugging holes; it comes from building a stronger foundation.   Quotes “If you talk about what drives growth—what’s really gonna make your company move, hit their revenue targets, move to the next level—it’s retention.” (05:43 | Ali Cudby) “When you plug the leaks in your bucket, then every customer that you bring in, every new customer, instead of filling a hole, is growth revenue. It’s net new. And so, it’s not just the downside of plugging the holes. It’s the upside of being able to level up.” (08:21 | Ali Cudby) “By looking at the impact of churn and really being able to isolate the numbers, what is it costing us? Then, you can start to tease apart and see what that impact of churn really looks like. And when you can articulate the impact in numbers, it’s a lot easier for account management teams to come to the table and say, ‘Here’s why we need the support that we need, and here’s what’s at stake, and here’s what we’re bringing.” (18:55 | Ali Cudby) “In order to deliver a great customer experience, you need two things: the smart—systems, processes, tracking—and the heart—making people feel seen, heard, and valued.” (33:40 | Ali Cudby)   Links Connect with Ali Cudby: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicudby/ Website: https://alignmintforgrowth.com/   Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/ Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Customer success teams are facing mounting pressure to prove their worth as organizations tighten budgets and shift priorities. Ed Powers, an expert in customer success and account management, joins Alex Raymond to discuss the challenges of reducing churn and demonstrating customer value in a way that resonates with decision-makers. Why do some customers leave while others stay and deepen their engagement? Ed points out the importance of understanding this dynamic and argues that true success lies in connecting day-to-day activities with tangible business outcomes.   The discussion also examines the evolving role of customer success, from bridging gaps in the customer journey to aligning efforts with revenue goals. Ed shares insights on measuring value and creating a compelling narrative that positions customer success teams as indispensable. This episode invites leaders to rethink their strategies and focus on what truly drives retention, loyalty, and long-term growth.   Quotes “What is the economic impact of building trust with a customer? Well, that has been very fuzzy. It’s a lot of hand-waving. There’s no real numbers that tie those two things together. And if you don’t have that, if you can’t kind of convincingly show that cause and effect, then they’re not going to put money into it, right? They’re going to take the easy way out, which is, well, just give them a quota number.” (07:17 | Ed Powers) “No one’s really paying attention to that customer’s experience of value, closing the gap between the expectation and the realization of that value. Nobody owns that. It just gets lost in all the silos.” (15:30 | Ed Powers) “When customers achieved a certain milestone, a certain value realization milestone, the odds of them renewing and expanding increased by a factor of five and a half times, five and a half times versus those who didn’t get there.” (39:30 | Ed Powers)  “Understand why your customers leave and why others stay and buy more. If you’re not crystal clear on that and you can’t quantify that, you’re lost already. Start with what is driving the behavior of your customers. That is the secret to everything.” (41:33 | Ed Powers)    Links Connect with Ed Powers: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ed-powers-ab5315/ Website: https://se-partners.com/   Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/ Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

“Customer success is no longer just held accountable for adoption and NPS; CS teams now have to own a portion of the number, as we should,” says Maranda Dziekonski, the new VP of Customer Success at ID.me. In this episode, Maranda joins Alex Raymond to talk about the transformation of customer success into a strategic driver of revenue, providing insights on how CS teams can align their goals with executive priorities and board expectations.   From tracking customer success qualified leads to leveraging quarterly business reviews as more than just check-ins, Maranda explains how CS leaders can demonstrate tangible business impact. She shares strategies for identifying untapped value, creating effective ideal customer profiles, and helping teams document and achieve customer goals. How can CS leaders turn customer insights into a flywheel for growth? How can teams secure resources and prove the value of CS initiatives in a tight economic environment?   Join Alex and Maranda’s discussion as they share takeaways on how CS teams can evolve from reactive support to proactive growth partners, cementing their role as a vital part of modern business strategy.   Quotes “Customer success is no longer just held accountable for adoption and NPS; CS teams now have to own a portion of the number, as we should.” (04:37 | Maranda Dziekonski) “You have to earn the right to do that with your customers. You have to be solving for the problem statements that they’ve already invested in before you start looking for additional problem statements to solve for. And that’s the beautiful thing about customer success. When you do it right, you queue it up and it is a flywheel. It starts to get that momentum going and then it’s a no-brainer.” (19:17 | Maranda Dziekonski) “The business review really is us doing a report card together on how the relationship is going. Once upon a time, you had a problem. These were the problems that you identified we were going to solve together. Here’s how we’re doing.” (20:27 | Maranda Dziekonski)  “If you tie your teams to revenue outcomes within your organizations in the same way sales does, it becomes a formula, a mathematical equation that for every CSM, we can print this amount of renewals and this amount of upsells.” (33:52 | Maranda Dziekonski) “You have to look at your green space. How much available green space can you have? Make a projection on how much of that is actually real. How much of that can you actually help get across the finish line? What does the relationship between CS and sales look like in regards to getting that across the finish line, but tying yourself to a number, making it a mathematical equation rather than just a feel. That’s how you get a budget these days.” (34:19 | Maranda Dziekonski)   Links Connect with Maranda Dziekonski: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marandaanndziekonski/   Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/ Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

How can account managers and customer success teams become true drivers of growth in today’s competitive, profit-focused landscape? In this episode, Rod Cherkas, the author of “The Chief Customer Officer Playbook” and “Reach: A Framework for Driving Revenue Growth from Your Existing Customers,” joins Alex Raymond to share insights into his REACH Framework, a structured approach to uncovering expansion opportunities, building stronger customer relationships, and delivering consistent value.     Rod challenges the status quo by urging customer success teams to adopt a more revenue-focused mindset and demonstrates how methodologies like the REACH Framework can turn account management into a predictable, strategic function. With advice on navigating organizational challenges and fostering collaboration with enablement teams, he offers insights to help you make a measurable impact on growth while staying aligned with customer needs.     If you want to learn how to balance trusted advisory roles with revenue goals or move beyond short-term wins to achieve sustainable, long-term growth, join Alex and Rod as they share insights to transform the way your team works.   Quotes “It’s important for our listeners to understand that what’s important to your executive team, your CEO and your CFO is not just that you can deliver results in a particular quarter, but that you can deliver those results on an ongoing basis in a predictable, forecastable way.” (16:32 | Rod Cherkas) “What I’ve seen is that companies can load a lot of resources, look at their customer base, identify that white space, and create a whole bunch of opportunities in the short term. But then you get to next quarter, and you don’t have any way to redo that or predict what’s going to happen next quarter, the quarter after.” (16:56 | Rod Cherkas)  “One of the objections I hear is that people feel like if they start talking about other solutions, they’re going to come across as too salesy or too pitchy, or they're going to lose their trusted advisor status. And I don’t believe that at all. I think that there are very thoughtful ways that you can be talking to your customer about how you can provide more value from the solutions that you offer to be mutually beneficial. People just don’t have the skill set.” (33:53 | Rod Cherkas)  “Customer success organizations are moving too slow and need to move faster to take on more impact on the top line, whether they’re formally responsible for expansion bookings, or whether they have expectations that they’re identifying, uncovering, and nurturing those customers.” (37:05 | Rod Cherkas)   Links Connect with Rod Cherkas: Website: https://rodcherkas.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodcherkas/   Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/ Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

“It’s all about ‘what I want the customer to do based on what I care about.’ Nobody says that explicitly, but underlying that is a mindset still focused on what we need for our business to succeed, rather than what we need to do to help the customer’s business succeed,” says Shakeel Bharmal, as he highlights the critical gap between claiming customer-centricity and truly living it. Organizations must transition from self-serving goals to genuinely prioritizing the success of their customers—a shift that fosters trust, loyalty, and long-term growth for both parties.   In this episode, Shakeel Bharmal of The Summit Group shares how third box thinking can transform account management by reframing how we see our customers. Are we truly understanding their challenges, or are we just focused on pushing our own goals? Shakeel argues that meaningful growth starts with empathy—seeing the world through the lens of the customer’s customer.   Shakeel explains why customer-centricity often falls short despite all the tools and data available today. He offers practical ways to shift this mindset, starting with a simple exercise: map the value chain from your company to the end user. How often do we really take the time to ask, “What does the customer’s customer care about?”   Leadership also plays an important role in driving this change. Shakeel points out how consistent reinforcement from leaders can shape a culture that prioritizes long-term success over quick wins. The result? Stronger relationships, better alignment, and exponential growth potential.   Tune in to Shakeel and Alex Raymond’s discussion if you’re looking to deepen your impact as an account manager and create genuine value for your clients. How could embracing third box thinking change the way you approach your work?   Quotes “It’s all about ‘what I want the customer to do based on what I care about.’ Nobody says that explicitly, but underlying that is a mindset still focused on what we need for our business to succeed, rather than what we need to do to help the customer’s business succeed.” (07:50 | Shakeel Bharmal) “Third box thinking says if you are Box 1—your company, your customer’s Box 2, their customer is Box 3… By beginning the analysis on your customer’s customer, otherwise known as Box 3, you are now looking at the world not through your lens of what the customer cares about, but you’re looking at the world through the lens of your customer's customer, and looking at your customer from their customer’s perspective.” (13:53 | Shakeel Bharmal) “Imagine what the world would be like if we all thought about how the people we serve can be more effective, more impactful at serving the people they serve. And imagine if every human being on this planet took that approach of wanting to help the people that they serve serve the people they serve. Can you imagine the ripple effect of impact and change that would happen?” (18:02 | Shakeel Bharmal)    Links Connect with Shakeel Bharmal: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shakeelbharmal/ Website:  https://www.summitvalue.com/   Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/ Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

“We’re diplomats, we’re orchestrators, we’re figuring out how to thread the needle of client needs and agency ambitions,” explains James Hidden as he reflects on the complexities of account management in creative agencies. This role isn’t about following a script but about balancing strategy and creativity, structure and adaptability.   In this episode, James, who’s a seasoned account management leader and former managing director at Ogilvy, joins Alex Raymond to share how the best account managers navigate client relationships and agency dynamics. Why is listening more important than speaking? How does tenacity outweigh experience in this fast-paced world? James provides answers to these questions while challenging the way we think about roles in account management and project management.   From the shift to project-based engagements to the value of building a brand, James offers insights for anyone who’s looking to succeed in a marketing or creative agency. This episode is a call to embrace curiosity, prioritize relationships, and see every challenge as an opportunity to grow in this ever-changing, creative industry.   Quotes “We often say that at the agency, you’re the voice of the client to the agency and the voice of the agency to the client. So we’re diplomats, we’re orchestrators, we’re figuring out how to thread the needle of client needs and agency ambitions.” (03:30 | James Hidden) “Great account leadership is more than just execution and delivery; it’s about navigating the gray areas, triangulating the ultimately subjective challenges of great creativity, brand building, client needs, and brand requirements.” (05:13 | James Hidden) “The very best account leaders have this superpower of triangulation, of understanding what’s not being said as well as what is being said, understanding the brief behind the brief, picking up on that seemingly throwaway comments someone made in a meeting that might actually be a massive unlock to how we get past the challenge or sell the creative idea or whatever it might be.” (13:42 | James Hidden)  “If you want 20% growth from a customer, you can sit on a Zoom call and do it that way. If you want 10x growth, you’ve got to go walk the hallways and spend time with them. That’s when you see all the other opportunities you wouldn’t otherwise have visibility into.” (18:12 | Alex Raymond)    Links Connect with James Hidden: Website: https://www.jameshidden.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameshidden/   Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/ Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Most account plans fail not because they lack detail, but because they fall short as tools for proactive, strategic partnership. In this episode, Alex Raymond challenges account managers to rethink their approach to account planning, asking: Are your plans truly aligned with your clients’ goals, or are they just ticking a box? He identifies the most common mistakes—overcomplicating plans, treating them as static documents, and planning in isolation—and explains why these habits can damage trust, limit growth, and make account planning feel like a burden.    Through a more thoughtful, collaborative, and client-focused approach, Alex shows how account planning can become your competitive edge. He points out the value of simplifying plans to focus on actionable priorities, keeping them agile, and regularly revisiting them to reflect evolving client needs. With practical advice on collaboration and documenting key wins, Alex demonstrates how account managers can use account planning to build trust, drive meaningful results, and position themselves as true strategic partners.   Quotes “Account planning, when done right, is your roadmap. It’s your guide. It’s how you are going to execute on all the ideas and plans that you have. It’s what takes you from being a reactive order taker to being a proactive strategic partner.” (02:46 | Alex Raymond) “Avoid having lots of tabs and pages. A simple, clear plan that’s easy to follow and reference beats a 50-page document every single time. So, don’t overcomplicate your account plans.” (06:28 | Alex Raymond) “The real value of building an account plan is not in the final product. It’s not in the plan itself; it’s in the process of planning. So, what I mean by that is shift your mindset to see account planning as an ongoing process. It’s an ongoing conversation with your client, with your internal stakeholders, and you’re constantly revising and refining it. The plan isn’t the end state; it’s a tool to help you get somewhere.” (12:03 | Alex Raymond) “The plans were so often about us, as opposed to being about the customer. And guess what? Your clients can smell that from a mile away. They can tell if you’re truly being customer-centric or not. So my challenge to you, my invitation to you, is to make your account plans truly customer-centric.” (17:04 | Alex Raymond) “Document your wins and your learnings… Documenting these learnings will be crucial when you review the account plan in a month or a quarter. I always say, document everything you can and bring in perspectives from others. This will help you gain clarity on what you’ve done and how you’re progressing with your clients.” (23:05 | Alex Raymond)   Links Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/ Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

“There’s a mythology surrounding the concept of listening to the customer and being customer-centric. It comes from the fact that we think we’re listening, but the reality is customers don’t feel heard and understood,” says Bob London, the creator of the Radically Authentic Discovery Method.     Joining Alex Raymond in this episode, Bob challenges account managers to rethink how they approach client relationships. Are you truly listening to your customers? Or are you missing the deeper insights that could transform your understanding of their business needs?     Bob introduces his method of “radically authentic discovery,” which focuses on asking bold, truth-sparking questions, practicing silence to fully absorb answers, and connecting the dots between what customers need and what you offer. It’s a framework designed to uncover priorities and challenges that often remain hidden in surface-level conversations.     Curiosity, Bob argues, is a superpower for account managers. He shares practical techniques, like using intentional pauses, to create space for clients to share more freely. He also offers advice on shifting your mindset to prioritize meaningful discovery, even with packed schedules.     This episode is a wake-up call for account managers to embrace deeper curiosity and active listening. By understanding the voice of the customer, you can build trust, strengthen relationships, and bring valuable insights back to your organization. Are you ready to change the way you listen? Join Bob and Alex’s discussion today!   Quotes “There’s a mythology surrounding the concept of listening to the customer and being customer-centric. It comes from the fact that we think we’re listening, but the reality is customers don’t feel heard and understood.” (05:16 | Bob London) “Your customer doesn’t have to be in board meetings to be able to answer, but they have to understand that what you’re trying to do is ask them, start at the most important level for them. What’s driving your priorities as a decision-maker or a user? And so, I try to explain to them that there’s these four principles of radical authentic discovery.” (08:50 | Bob London) “Like many things in life, including—I’m sure—people’s relationships, people will remember that you made them feel heard and understood more so than the substance. I’m not saying the substance isn’t important. I’m saying that the main priority is to leave the customer feeling like this was a different conversation.” (38:31 | Bob London)   Links Connect with Bob London: Website: https://www.boblondon.co/ LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/boblondon/   Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/   Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Blind spots in customer understanding can hold companies back, but customer advisory boards offer a way to uncover them and strengthen strategic accounts.   Alex Raymond is joined by Betsy Westhafer, the CEO of the Congruity Group, to discuss how CABs reveal gaps in customer knowledge that companies often miss. Are you as customer-centric as you think? Betsy shares eye-opening stories, including one where a global company’s lack of account planning was laid bare in a CAB meeting. Insights from that moment led to significant improvements and pointed out the importance of truly knowing your customers.   Betsy breaks down the essentials of creating impactful CABs—aligning leadership, engaging a mix of customer voices, and encouraging honest conversations. CABs are about listening and acting on what matters most to customers. She also explains why bringing in a neutral facilitator can make all the difference and warns against half-hearted efforts that risk doing more harm than good.   If you’re an account manager or business leader ready to rethink how you engage with key customers, this episode offers actionable insights on building trust, uncovering critical gaps, and turning feedback into a competitive advantage.   Quotes “We did a customer advisory board probably about two or three months ago. And within the first few minutes, one of the customer advisory board members said to the host company, ‘Here’s what I want to hear from you: What’s your plan for my account?’ And it caught this company completely off guard, and they had to fess up that they did not have an actual plan for that account. This is a large global company.” (04:48 | Betsy Westhafer) “When you bring in an outside third party that can create an environment where these blind spots get uncovered, it’s really, really valuable.” (05:56 | Betsy Westhafer) “We do look at different metrics that are non-monetary ROI… the number of blind spots that have been uncovered or the number of advocacy activities resulting from CAB members. There are lots of other metrics beyond strictly sales dollars that we do track.” (32:58 | Betsy Westhafer) “One of the things we do at the very beginning of any engagement is create a value scorecard with our clients. Because it’s different for every client we work with… We build that value scorecard and then track it throughout the entire engagement using a red, yellow, green system to indicate whether things are on track. We pay close attention to whether the customer engagement activities are delivering the desired results.” (33:46 | Betsy Westhafer)   Links Connect with Betsy Westhafer: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/betsywesthafer/ Website: https://thecongruitygroup.com/   Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/ Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

“Most QBRs suck,” says Alex Raymond, calling out the truth that too many Quarterly Business Reviews are boring, one-sided, and lack real impact. But what if QBRs could be more? In this episode, Alex gets into why so many of these high-stakes meetings fall flat. Are outdated beliefs holding you back from having the kind of QBRs your clients want? Alex uncovers four common missteps: seeing QBRs as presentations, handling them solo, taking a defensive stance, and focusing too much on past results.   Imagine instead a QBR where the focus is on the client’s goals, where data is shared in advance, and where the agenda is co-created with the client. Through practical shifts like these, account managers can turn QBRs into dynamic conversations that build trust and foster genuine partnership. Alex’s advice on limiting presentation time, encouraging real dialogue, and setting clear next steps brings fresh insight on how to make these meetings truly valuable. How often do you reconsider the structure and purpose of your QBRs? For those eager to level up, this episode provides a preview of Amplify’s upcoming QBR Mastery program in January 2025, designed to help account managers make every meeting count.   Quotes “If your QBRs are nothing but a 60-minute monologue, you’re missing a massive opportunity. And not only are you wasting your client’s time, you’re also losing a chance to position yourself as a true strategic advisor to them.” (03:38 | Alex Raymond) “If you’re thinking about the QBR as just a presentation about you, you’re thinking about it all wrong. And frankly, it’s not even a presentation; it’s meant to be a conversation. I’d like to invite you to reframe this and think about how we can use the QBR to align with our customer and create a dialogue.” (06:52 | Alex Raymond)  “Let’s make our QBRs forward-looking. This is an opportunity to strategize together, to look down the road ahead, and to use this time to ask open-ended questions about your customer—their future goals, needs, and challenges. It’s a chance to figure out what it will look like as we work together to achieve these goals. That mental shift creates a real partnership, where both sides are committed and focused on concrete goals that lead to long-term success.” (14:27 | Alex Raymond)  “If we want to make our QBRs truly valuable, we’ve got to ditch this idea that it’s a presentation—that our job is just to ‘show up and throw up.’ That’s not the idea at all. We also need to remember, we’re not here to do all the work ourselves. We have to enroll our customers and get them to do their share of work as well.” (25:04 | Alex Raymond)   Links Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/ Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

“There are strategic accounts that will organically grow without proactive effort. Every account is strategic but you don’t have the time to grow them in terms of the way in which top performers do versus the rest. I think it’s a big mistake up front by trying to go for it all, because you end up winning less,” says Andy Springer, the Chief Client Officer at RAIN Group.   In this episode, Andy joins Alex Raymond to talk about the game-changing power of focusing on fewer, high-potential accounts. Why spread your resources thin when doubling down on the right clients can yield far bigger returns? Andy reveals how top-performing account managers know the value of strategic account selection—choosing which clients to grow proactively and which will thrive organically.    Andy also shares a fresh perspective on segmentation: how well do you really know your clients? The more you understand their goals and challenges, the more you can build trust and position yourself as a true partner, not just another vendor. Andy walks us through the essential roles of an account team, the importance of a flexible, evolving account plan, and why becoming a client’s trusted advisor can be the key to unlocking hidden growth.    Are you ready to rethink your approach and unlock the “ridiculous upside” within your accounts?   Quotes “What we find also separates those who outperform versus those who don’t in strategic account management is one very simple thing: it’s the accounts that they select to grow… As a practitioner, when you’re in, and when you’ve engineered the success in terms of shifting that dial to take someone from the rest to top performance, you go for less, you win more.” (06:48 | Andy Springer) “There are strategic accounts that will organically grow without proactive effort. Every account is strategic but you don’t have the time to grow them in terms of the way in which top performers do versus the rest. I think it’s a big mistake up front by trying to go for it all, because you end up winning less.” (09:30 | Andy Springer) “Top performers see account planning as a dynamic. The rest see it as a linear annual event.” (30:15 | Andy Springer) “The bigger the org, the more complex it is. The more demands that they put on really important people like you who help generate future growth and sustain current revenues for the business—it’s critical.” (45:25 | Andy Springer)   Links Connect with Andy Springer: Website: https://www.rainsalestraining.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyspringer/   Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/ Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

“I strongly believe that there’s a strong connection between employee experience and customer experience. Employee experience drives the customer experience,” says Annette Franz, the CEO of CX Journey Inc. She joins Alex Raymond to talk about how putting employees first fuels customer success. Annette challenges the typical focus on metrics, asking us to consider: Are we truly supporting our employees to deliver the experience our customers expect?   Annette’s perspective is clear: collaboration—especially between sales and account management—is the key to equipping teams with the resources and support they need to meet customer needs. She shares stories from her work that show how a lack of support for account managers can directly impact customer satisfaction and retention.    They also touch on survey fatigue and the value of a smarter approach to customer feedback. Are we measuring what matters most? Annette suggests customer effort scores and lifetime value over traditional metrics like NPS, which often miss the bigger picture of loyalty and engagement. By centering on the employee journey as much as the customer’s, this episode sheds light on how a collaborative, well-supported employee experience can elevate customer satisfaction and drive long-term growth.   Quotes “I strongly believe that there’s a strong connection between employee experience and customer experience. Employee experience drives the customer experience. If we don’t have employees to design, build, service, install, implement, and deliver all of these things, then who’s going to do it? And who are we doing it for? We’re doing it for the customer.” (04:48 | Annette Franz) “Customer experience is not technology. Technology is a tool; it supports and facilitates. The experience that customers have is very much human. And this feeling’s part of it. It really puts the human into the experience. And I think that’s an important thing.” (07:13 | Annette Franz) “You’re not customer-centric just because you’ve got a slogan on your website that says you are. You’re customer-centric when you truly understand who your customer is, what they need and want, and where they’re going.” (08:03 | Alex Raymond) “One of the questions I ask during interviews, and I think it’s fair for leaders to ask too, is: do you have what you need to do your job? That is the bottom line.” (12:29 | Annette Franz) “I’m not a fan of NPS for a variety of reasons... It’s just a metric... And to me, NPS only makes sense if your business is truly 100% driven by referrals... So for me, things like customer effort score, customer lifetime value, those kinds of things. Let’s talk about those kinds of things.” (25:09 | Annette Franz)    Links Connect with Annette Franz: Website: https://annettefranz.com/   Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/ Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

“When we try to get customers to do something, if we ourselves don’t know what the path to success looks like and how to measure that path to success, how do we get them to do what we want them to do?” says Kia Puhm, CEO of DesiredPath. In this episode, Kia shares her insights on customer journey mapping, making the case that businesses need to understand their customer’s true needs—not just follow their own process maps.   Kia introduces the idea of an intelligent framework, a flexible system that adapts as customer behaviors evolve. What if your business could actually predict what customers need before they even ask? This framework makes that possible by guiding teams to better align their efforts with real customer journeys. And how do playbooks fit in? Kia explains that they’re the practical guides that ensure each department understands its role in driving customer success. That way, it’ll keep everyone on the same page.   The impact is huge—companies that focus on mapping the customer’s desired path and using agile playbooks see higher customer retention, faster adoption rates, and fewer escalations. By asking the right questions and designing journeys that truly reflect the customer’s perspective, businesses can unlock real results.    Quotes “It’s this marriage of us understanding the customer from their vantage point, walking in their shoes in that desired path, and then understanding how to, in the most effective and efficient manner, allow them to leverage things really successfully, our products and services, to achieve their desired path. It’s about tapping into that wisdom that customers know and of what they need and then guiding it and bringing in your products and services in alignment to that.” (04:04 | Kia Puhm) “My philosophy is on this notion of the intelligent framework, this customer-centric model that needs to keep evolving. We need to keep observing what the customer’s patterns of their success are and keep being organizationally agile. Take those insights, put those into the operational model, and keep evolving how we are making customers successful.” (10:02 | Kia Puhm) “I don’t think that if you have created a customer-centric model and you understand what your journey is, and the whole organization is aligned to it, we need to be talking about who owns the journey. Instead, we will be discussing what each function and each role needs to do in order to make the customer successful.” (15:49 | Kia Puhm) “When we try to get customers to do something, if we ourselves don’t know what the path to success looks like and how to measure that path to success, how do we get them to do what we want them to do?” (31:50 | Kia Puhm)   Links Connect with Kia Puhm: Website: https://www.thedesiredpath.com/   Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/ Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

“You’ve got to move your customers to be a partner. Your aim is to get larger revenues, have partnership relationships with your key customers, so that you have a much bigger share of the purse going forward,” says Janice Gordon, a renowned account management strategist. She joins Alex Raymond in this episode to talk about the importance of account managers shifting from transactional to more buyer-focused relationships. But what does this really mean for companies today? It starts with understanding your customers on a deeper level—not just what they need right now, but where they’re headed and the larger business landscape they operate in.    Janice also talks about the value of creating a frictionless selling environment, one where internal barriers are removed so account managers can focus on forging strong, strategic partnerships. How could this kind of shift impact the way your team builds client relationships?    Janice’s insights offer a reminder for account managers to embrace a customer-centric approach. It’s all about leveraging deeper knowledge and working collaboratively to keep pace with the evolving demands of today’s market, all while driving sustainable, long-term revenue growth.   Quotes “Every aspect that a key account manager needs to deal with internally creates a block, creates a problem. It’s possible, but actually it’s not probable. The problem is that we don’t have customer-centric organizations, so all aligned for the customer. We have sales processes, which means it’s internally focused. As soon as we talk about sales, it’s all about us. When we talk about buying processes, it’s all about the customer.” (10:55 | Janice B. Gordon) “You’ve got to move your customers to be a partner… Your aim is to get larger revenues, have partnership relationships with your key customers, so that you have a much bigger share of the purse going forward. That’s your aim.” (23:39 | Janice B. Gordon) “You want to work in partnership with a few niches so that you’re spreading your risk, and you want to understand how that’s going to happen. But you’re not going to do that if you have a poor product. So, that’s why you do need to understand your own product base, first of all, your own products and services, and where you have the competitive advantage and leading edge in order to appeal to the key customers. (24:08 | Janice B. Gordon) “One thing that may not surprise you, but certainly surprises a lot of people, is that active listening is 375% more important to sales success than any other trait. Active listening is key. There are many other factors—21 sales-specific competencies that make a difference—but this one stands out. When someone is really good at active listening, they ensure the person in front of them knows they are the most important, and that understanding makes all the difference.” (31:49 | Janice B. Gordon)    Links Connect with Janice B. Gordon: Website: https://scaleyoursales.co.uk/ Website: https://janicebgordon.com/   Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/ Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

“Winning somebody back who had experiences with you is easier than taking net new share. You need to understand why they left because certain reasons for leaving are more likely to result in a potential opportunity for a win back than others,” says Tim Riesterer, Chief Strategy Officer at Corporate Visions. He sits down with Alex Raymond in this episode to talk about the expansion sale and the nuances of customer recovery, stressing the importance of understanding why clients leave in the first place. So, why do customers actually walk away? In Tim’s experience, clients who leave over service issues are often more open to coming back than those who switch to a competitor. This makes a well-thought-out recovery plan crucial to winning them back.   Tim introduces “strategic altitude,” which is all about maintaining a big-picture view that aligns with your clients’ broader business objectives. How can account managers handle tough conversations after a service failure? Tim advises focusing on restoring value and demonstrating a commitment to improvement. In fact, these challenges can actually become opportunities to build stronger relationships. By communicating proactively and keeping long-term partnership goals in sight, account managers can position themselves as strategic advisors—helping drive both retention and growth in a competitive market.   Quotes “Winning somebody back who had experiences with you is easier than taking net new share. You need to understand why they left because certain reasons for leaving are more likely to result in a potential opportunity for a win back than others.” (04:25 | Tim Riesterer)  “I think the one thing we always see lacking is just sort of the general agreement that here’s what we’re all working towards. And it isn’t just, ‘here’s the project goals,’ but what were the business goals that caused everybody to decide to take this journey? And what are the corporate impacts of that if we do this right? We call it a triple metric. Project goals. Measure those. But how do those translate to the business outcomes that people wanted? And how does that then impact the ultimate strategic direction impact of the business? Like, daisy chain that thing up. One, two, three, triple metric. And that becomes your guiding story.” (19:50 | Tim Riesterer) “The problem is we always say you get delegated to who you sound like. Too many project plans and too many account management strategies do not sound like the people with strategic altitude. So, what kind of business acumen or what kind of financial acumen are you bringing to the table that surrounds the project?” (27:10 | Tim Riesterer) “The good news is there’s a concept called the ‘service recovery paradox.’ It’s a paradox for the very reason that you’re experiencing a service problem. But if you recover well, you can achieve greater awareness, advocacy, and loyalty after the problem is rectified than if you had never had a problem in the first place.” (32:00 | Tim Riesterer)   Links Connect with Tim Riesterer: Website: https://corporatevisions.com/ Website: https://emblazegrowth.com/   Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/ Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

“Happy customers stay, and unhappy customers leave”—or at least that’s what we’ve always believed. But Greg Daines, a customer retention expert, sits down with Alex Raymond to challenge that assumption. Are metrics like net promoter score really reliable indicators of loyalty? According to Greg’s extensive research, retention has more to do with delivering measurable results than simply keeping customers happy. It turns out, customers who see clear, tangible outcomes are far more likely to stay—regardless of whether they’re fully satisfied.   Greg encourages account managers to rethink their approach and shift from focusing on customer happiness to ensuring that clients achieve real, measurable success. What happens when businesses prioritize progress over satisfaction? This results-driven mindset fosters stronger, longer-lasting relationships, as clients who see results are much more likely to stick around. By focusing on outcomes rather than satisfaction scores, companies can boost retention and create a foundation for sustainable growth.   Quotes “It turns out there’s just one factor that by far is the best predictor of long-term retention. Nothing even comes close, and that is customers who get results. In the data, customers who get measurable results stay six times longer on average than those who don’t. And the irony is that the measurable part is critical. If they’re not measuring, they might actually be getting results, but they just aren’t tracking it. It turns out that measuring their results makes all the difference. (06:47 | Greg Daines)  “I’m not saying we shouldn’t make our customers happy—of course, we should. And shame on us if we don’t. The point is, it has nothing to do with whether they stay or how much they pay. It’s irrelevant.” (08:56 | Greg Daines)  “The other way to think about this is, look, we provide the same product or service to all our accounts, and we treat them as similarly as possible. So, how do we explain the fact that their results vary so much—from incredible to terrible and everything in between? The answer is that there’s a variable we don’t control, which is them, their behavior.” (11:16 | Greg Daines) “Renewal is about convincing them they should continue. So you have to approach the renewal not just with evidence of past results, but with a vision of where things can go next. By tracking results, you’ll see opportunities for improvement or growth—whether that’s through change or buying more from you. Either way, it’s about showing forward progress that’s worth their continued investment.” (37:06 | Greg Daines)   Links Connect with Greg Daines: Website: https://www.gregdaines.com/   Connect with Alex Raymond: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/afraymond/ Website: https://amplifyam.com/ Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm