Shows
Account Management SecretsHow to Build a Voice of Customer Program That Drives Retention and Growth | EP113Your customers are polite to your face. That politeness can hide the churn risk you need to hear about months before renewal. Too often, teams only ask questions when a renewal or upsell is on the line, and customers can tell. Learning how to build a voice of the customer program can help account managers identify churn risks earlier, understand what customers actually value, and find opportunities to improve.
Alex Raymond sits down with Joey Yagoda, CEO of Westing Ventures, on Account Management Secrets. Joey runs hundreds of customer feedback interviews every year for companies a...
2026-10-3042 minAccount Management SecretsCuriosity Is a Superpower: Questions to Ask Clients as an Account Manager to Grow Existing Accounts | EP112Most account managers open with the same question their customers have heard a hundred times. “What are your goals?” gets a polite, forgettable answer and rarely earns a second meeting. The best questions to ask clients as an account manager show you did your homework before you walked in the door.
Alex Raymond sits down with Jubal Sarvis, Relationship Development Manager at Granite Telecommunications, on this week’s Account Management Secrets. Jubal’s department was built after one of Granite’s biggest customers said they only heard from the company at renewal time. His job now is to s...
2026-10-2337 minAccount Management SecretsWhat Churned Customers Say When You’re Not in the Room | EP111Your customer may have decided to leave six to 18 months before the renewal quote ever went out. By the time the 60-day playbook starts, some have already switched to a competitor. That gap explains why customers churn so often without warning.
Natasha Narayan, CEO and Co-Founder of IcebergIQ, has conducted more than 3,300 customer and buyer interviews for B2B companies, uncovering what drives churn, renewals, and buying decisions. Her career runs from Xerox sales training to the first Canadian hire at Gainsight. On Account Management Secrets, she tells Alex Raymond what customers say to a n...
2026-10-1639 minAccount Management SecretsThere’s a Difference Between Successful and Happy - Customer Success at SambaSafety | EP110AI is already drafting your emails and building your QBR decks in twenty minutes flat. So what happens to the CSM role once the busywork disappears? That question sits at the center of this episode of Account Management Secrets, where host Alex Raymond sits down with John Conley, Senior Vice President of Customer Success at SambaSafety, to talk about how AI in customer success is reshaping his team of 40.
John explains why he believes the customer success playbook is losing its grip. He built an AI coach instead, one that asks CSMs discovery questions rather t...
2026-10-0948 minAccount Management SecretsHow to Get Hired and Promoted as an Account Manager | EP109Every account manager job posting pulls in a flood of applicants. So what makes a hiring manager stop scrolling? Knowing what hiring managers look for in account managers can change how you apply, interview, and grow once you land the role.
On Account Management Secrets, Alex Raymond talks with Grace Knapp, Senior Manager of the Account Management Team at AdRoll. Grace has spent more than 15 years in customer success and account management leadership. She shares the six traits she screens for and the account manager interview questions she relies on to see past a resume. O...
2026-10-0243 minAccount Management SecretsHow to Lead a Customer Success Team and Earn CFO Trust | EP108How to lead a customer success team gets complicated when nobody agrees on what the team is responsible for. Sales has a clear job. Post-sale teams are often expected to handle whatever comes their way, yet customer success still takes the blame when a customer churns.
Host Alex Raymond talks with Beth Laplante, SVP of Customer Success at Adara, about what strong customer success leadership looks like inside a messy post-sale organization. Beth shares how she approaches her first 90 days as a leader, what she listens for before making changes, and why clarity around the t...
2026-09-2545 minAccount Management SecretsPartner, Not a Cost Center: Account Management at Mastercard | EP107Most account managers wonder what it takes to move from managing a book of business to leading one. George Siter has made that climb, going from director to VP and then into two different SVP roles at Mastercard, and he has real answers for anyone mapping their own account management career path.
In this episode of Account Management Secrets, host Alex Raymond talks with George Siter, Senior Vice President, Regional Financial Institutions at Mastercard, about what he had to learn and unlearn at each step up. George explains why the jump from director to VP i...
2026-09-1848 minAccount Management SecretsHow to Build a Customer Relationship Map: Grow Revenue and Have Fun Doing It | EP106Most account managers know they're supposed to "know their customer." Few have an actual system for what that means or how to prove it.
Dan Horowitz, Head of US Sales & Account Management at Taboola, joins Alex Raymond to break down how to build a customer relationship map that protects revenue instead of just decorating a slide. Dan explains that strong account management starts with the fundamentals, including a red-yellow-green heat map of the relationships across an account, not just the one champion who takes your calls. He uses the example of "Susie," where an entire r...
2026-09-1154 minAccount Management SecretsWhy Customer Satisfaction Doesn’t Predict Retention | EP105Your happiest customers might be the first ones to leave. That is the uncomfortable finding behind why customer satisfaction doesn't predict retention, and new data makes it even stronger. Some of the most demanding, hardest to please customers turn out to be the ones who never walk away.
Greg Daines, founder and CEO of ChurnRx, returns to Account Management Secrets for his second appearance with host Alex Raymond. Their first conversation ran back in episode five, and the pattern they found then has only gotten stronger since. Daines now calls the strongest version of it c...
2026-09-0455 minAccount Management SecretsHow to Prevent “Green-to-Gone” Accounts | EP104Most account teams don't lose customers overnight. They lose them slowly, through signals nobody caught in time. Knowing how to identify at-risk customers before they churn is the difference between a controlled loss and a surprise that blindsides the whole business.
On Account Management Secrets, host Alex Raymond talks with Daniel Santiago, Senior Vice President of Customer Success at OrthoFi, about the net revenue retention strategy that took his team from 85% to 108% net revenue retention. Daniel explains the watch list system he built to catch what he calls "green-to-gone" accounts before they slip away.
2026-08-2846 minAccount Management SecretsHow Account Managers Keep Losing Executive Access (And How to Stop) | EP103Most account managers can quote the theory on building relationships with executives, but the real test starts after the deal closes. That's when the senior sponsor hands you off to someone three levels down. Jamal Reimer has lived that handoff from both sides. He spent 26 years in enterprise software sales, including a $53 million deal while at Oracle, and he learned exactly how to build executive relationships in account management once the introductions end.
On this episode of Account Management Secrets, host Alex Raymond talks with Jamal Reimer about strategic selling vs transactional selling, and how t...
2026-08-2139 minAccount Management SecretsGRR vs NRR: What Private Equity Firms Really Evaluate in Customer Success | EP102Private equity firms don't care about your health scores or QBRs. They care about one question: what makes this business worth more tomorrow than it is today.
Carlos Granda spent 30 years running post-sales at Google Cloud, Salesforce, SAP, and Oracle before he started advising the private equity firms buying up software companies. That vantage point gave him a name for a problem most executives never see coming: the GRR time bomb. A healthy net revenue retention number can hide real churn underneath it, and by the time anyone notices, the damage is already baked into t...
2026-08-1448 minAccount Management SecretsAccount Manager vs Project Manager: Why Smashing the Roles Together Backfires | EP101Account manager vs project manager isn't just a title swap. Smash the two roles together, and you get the worst of both worlds, with no time to do either job well.
On Account Management Secrets, Alex Raymond talks with Stephan Schroeder, Vice President of Global Sales and Client Services for the Automotive and Mobility Practice at Escalent. Escalent works with almost all major global automotive manufacturers, from Ford and GM to Toyota and Honda, as well as global suppliers like Lear and Magna. It is account management inside a concentrated industry, where the traditional pool o...
2026-08-0751 minAccount Management SecretsWhat 100 Conversations Taught Me About Post-Sale | EP100Most account managers can’t clearly explain what their job is, and that gap costs them money, energy, and career momentum. This episode of Account Management Secrets delivers the account management career advice Alex Raymond has collected across 100 episodes and two years of conversations with account managers and customer success leaders around the world.
Alex breaks down the five lessons that mattered most. He explains why post-sales work still lacks a shared definition and how that gap leaves teams recreating systems and processes that should already exist. He also tackles the account management vs. sales min...
2026-07-3135 minAccount Management SecretsThe Customer Success Competencies That Made the Relationship-Only CSM Obsolete | EP99Keeping customers happy no longer protects your job. Buyers want measurable business outcomes, and the customer success competencies you leaned on in the last decade will not carry you forward.
Host Alex Raymond sits down with Bradley Lawrence, former Global Head of Customer Experience at Coursera, who has led customer teams for more than fifteen years. Bradley names the five customer success competencies every CSM needs now, from a revenue-aligned commercial mindset to executive influence. He also draws a hard line on AI in customer success and identifies the three parts of the job humans s...
2026-07-2439 minAccount Management SecretsPrivate Equity Due Diligence and the 20% Nobody Sees Coming From Customer Churn After Acquisition | EP98Private equity due diligence rarely accounts for the customer base itself, even though it may be the asset most likely to drive an acquisition’s success.
On this episode of Account Management Secrets, host Alex Raymond sits down with James Lawson, a veteran of PE-backed software companies, to unpack why so many deals underperform after the ink dries. James has spent over two decades cleaning up the aftermath of buyouts where customer churn after acquisition quietly erodes the numbers everyone celebrated at close.
James explains how a single missing relationship, often the...
2026-07-1747 minAccount Management SecretsFrom High-Volume to High-Stakes: The Enterprise Customer Success Manager Career Path | EP97Running one global enterprise account is nothing like running 120 small ones, and the enterprise customer success manager career path proves it.
Josh Chapman is a Principal Customer Success Manager for Global Strategic Enterprise at Adobe, where he runs one of the company’s largest accounts. On this episode of Account Management Secrets, host Alex Raymond traces Josh's career from Ticketmaster to Salesforce to Adobe, and what the evolution of his portfolio reveals about the CSM career progression most people never plan for.
Josh's portfolio shrank with every move he made. He went...
2026-07-1045 minAccount Management SecretsYour QBR Is Probably Killing Your Client Relationship: How to Run a Better QBR | EP96Most QBRs are slow, forgettable, and quietly kill your client relationships.
That's the uncomfortable truth Jason Scott sat with after watching a major enterprise account stagnate for over 12 months. As a seasoned account manager with experience managing portfolios worth more than $100 million across healthcare, insurance, and technology, Jason realized the problem wasn't the account. It was the meeting.
On this episode of Account Management Secrets, host Alex Raymond and Jason Scott dig into how to run a better QBR by throwing out the old playbook entirely. Jason shares how ditching the sl...
2026-07-0341 minAccount Management SecretsAccount Management in Private Equity: How to Grow the Customer Base as an Asset and Win in the Boardroom | EP95Most account managers at PE-backed companies are playing by the wrong rules and don't even know it.
Alex Raymond and guest Alan Gonsenhauser, an 11-time CMO and private equity advisor who calls himself a "customer capitalist," reframe what account management in private equity means and why the way most post-sale leaders talk about their work is costing them credibility in the boardroom.
Alan breaks down how PE sponsors think about the customer base as an asset with a five- to seven-year window to grow its value before a sale or IPO. Re...
2026-06-2638 minAccount Management SecretsThe Customer Success Credibility Problem Every Customer Success Leader Must Fix | EP94Customer success credibility is in trouble, and the profession earned much of the blame.
On Account Management Secrets, host Alex Raymond sits down with Jenny Anderson, VP of Customer Experience at Sovra, to unpack why so many CS teams struggle to prove their value in revenue terms. Jenny recently gave a talk on customer success credibility at the Customer Success Collective's Denver Summit, and this conversation expands her argument into practical guidance for every account professional.
The problem is plain. CS teams are held to a growth standard without the training or...
2026-06-1949 minAccount Management SecretsDigital Customer Success at Scale: How a Small Team Supports 10,000 Customers | EP9310,000 customers. One small team. A retention strategy strong enough to make sales rethink account coverage.
Andrew Carothers has built digital customer success at enterprise scale, first at Cisco across hundreds of thousands of accounts, and now at Proofpoint as Global Head of Digital Customer Success. On Account Management Secrets with host Alex Raymond, he makes the case that the way teams think about coverage, touch, and retention needs to evolve.
The accounts you're not calling aren't automatically lost causes. With the right scaled customer success program, digital-first customer segments can produce fa...
2026-06-1243 minAccount Management SecretsThe QBR Test: Why Your Customer Success Renewal Forecast Starts With Who Shows Up | EP92The QBR you think went fine might be the clearest sign your account is at risk.
On Account Management Secrets, host Alex Raymond makes a case that the quarterly business review for account managers is the single most important strategic meeting in your toolkit. More important than health scores, dashboards, or AI tools. And yet, most account managers are running through QBRs like a checklist and missing the one signal that tells them everything.
That signal is attendance. Getting C-suite in the room is not a bonus, it is the whole ga...
2026-06-0537 minAccount Management SecretsAccount Management Team Charter: Why Your Framework Keeps Failing and How to Fix It | EP91The problem is not that account management leaders lack strategy. The problem is getting that strategy out of the document and into the rhythm of the team.
On Account Management Secrets, host Alex Raymond is joined by Jennifer Pinter to recap Building the Growth Department, a program inside Amplify. Together, they get honest about why so many account management leaders know what they should be doing and still struggle to get traction.
The conversation pulls from a real cohort of leaders across industries and company sizes, and the pattern was hard to...
2026-05-2942 minAccount Management SecretsAI-Powered Customer Success: What Changes When Your Team Is the Product | EP90When the team is the product, AI-powered customer success stops being a support function and starts being the entire business.
That's the reality Melissa McMillan stepped into when she joined Virio as Head of Customer Success in January. Three months later, she was General Manager. On Account Management Secrets, host Alex Raymond sits down with Melissa to unpack what that shift means for how post-sales teams operate, hire, and measure success in a services as software world.
Virio produces LinkedIn content for B2B brands using a Neo Services Model, where th...
2026-05-2235 minAccount Management SecretsRevenue Leakage Prevention: What Goes Wrong Between Sales and Account Management and How to Fix It | EP89The sales to account management handoff is where client relationships are won or lost before the real work even begins.
On Account Management Secrets, host Alex Raymond sits down with Karen Loiterstein, a revenue leadership veteran with experience at TierPoint, Equifax, and Express Scripts, to dig into one of the most costly and overlooked problems in B2B. A deal closes, everyone celebrates, and then the account manager walks into the kickoff meeting and asks the client to explain goals they already covered during the sales cycle. Trust erodes. The client stops feeling like a p...
2026-05-1539 minAccount Management SecretsHow to Sell to a CFO: A Former Charles Schwab CFO Reveals What Works | EP88The CFO is not who you think they are, and that misunderstanding is costing account managers deals.
On Account Management Secrets, host Alex Raymond sits down with Jacques Sciammas, a former CFO at Charles Schwab, McGraw-Hill, and Standard & Poor's, to break down how to sell to a CFO and what it takes to build a lasting executive relationship. Jacques is now the President at Selling to Executives, where he coaches B2B sales teams on C-suite engagement, and he brings a perspective most account managers never get access to.
The CFO is...
2026-05-0840 minAccount Management SecretsCustomer Churn Prevention Starts Before the Renewal Is at Risk | EP87Customer churn usually starts long before renewal, and strong account managers know how to spot the risk before the customer walks.
On this episode of Account Management Secrets, customer churn prevention takes center stage with Alex Raymond and Chris Rauch, an experienced Chief Customer Officer who has led post-sales teams at Salesforce, Sage, and Supermetrics. Chris calls out a common problem in post-sales work. Too many teams rely on simple CRM churn reasons that make the board deck look clean, but fail to explain why the customer really left.
Real churn ra...
2026-05-0140 minAccount Management SecretsExpansion Revenue Strategy Built on Systems Instead of Heroics | EP86Revenue stalls when companies treat growth like a handoff instead of a system, and this conversation shows why expansion revenue strategy lives or dies in the customer journey.
On Account Management Secrets, Alex Raymond talks with Nate Skinner, Chief Revenue Officer at 8am about what separates random wins from repeatable growth. The heart of the discussion is expansion revenue strategy and the idea that post sale revenue gets stronger when marketing and sales and customer experience all move in the same direction. Nate brings an unusual lens to the CRO role because his path ran t...
2026-04-2444 minAccount Management SecretsQuantifying Customer Value to Prevent Surprise Churn | EP85Why do “healthy” accounts still churn? Because sentiment is not the same as quantifying customer value.
On Account Management Secrets, Alex Raymond speaks with Nakul Kadaba, Manager, Technical Account Management and Head of Retention at ServiceNow, about a problem many account teams know too well. A customer seems happy, the dashboard looks strong, and the business still slips away. This conversation explains why quantifying customer value matters more than positive sentiment when retention and growth are at stake.
Nakul breaks down how strong post sales teams connect their work to customer busine...
2026-04-1740 minAccount Management SecretsTo Grow the Business, You Have to Know the Business | EP84Account leadership is at the center of this episode, and that matters for any agency trying to build stronger client partnerships and create more value from the account role. On Account Management Secrets, host Alex Raymond talks with Lori Bartle, author and advisor at Cultivagency, about why agency account management needs a clearer mandate and why account leadership should be treated as a growth function, not a coordination function. This is a useful listen for people who know the role can do more than manage timelines and keep projects moving.
Alex and Lori unpack the t...
2026-04-1048 minAccount Management SecretsProactive Account Management: The Post-Sale Strategy That Turns Reactive Teams Into Growth Teams | EP83Proactive account management sounds simple until you are leading a team under constant renewal pressure, support issues, weak handoffs, and last minute surprises. On Account Management Secrets, host Alex Raymond sits down with Jennifer Pinter, Fractional Customer Success Leader and Expert in Account Management to break down what proactive account management actually requires when you want stronger retention, cleaner expansion paths, and more credibility inside the business. This conversation is for leaders who know reactive service is no longer enough and need a smarter post-sale strategy that gives account managers more clarity and more control.
Y...
2026-04-0338 minAccount Management SecretsGovernment Account Management and Why Total Account Ownership Matters in GovTech | EP82What does government account management look like when your customer is a city, county, or state agency? In this episode of Account Management Secrets, Alex Raymond sits down with Benjamin Stidham, VP of Account Management at CivicPlus, to unpack why government account management requires a different mindset than traditional SaaS roles and what it takes to succeed in this environment.
Benjamin shares how govtech account management is shaped by structure rather than urgency. Success depends on understanding public sector buying cycles, aligning to long-term initiatives, and working within procurement systems that move at their own p...
2026-03-2741 minAccount Management SecretsAccount Management Strategy: The 4 Things Customers Actually Care About | EP81Most account teams get rewarded for being responsive, but the teams that actually grow revenue follow a sharper account management strategy. In this episode, Alex Raymond talks with Julio Franco of Zappi about how strong account teams stop acting like vendors and start acting like business partners. This conversation is useful for anyone who wants an account management strategy that ties day-to-day client work to real outcomes, clearer priorities, and stronger commercial results.
Julio breaks down why a smart voice of the customer strategy starts with understanding what the customer is trying to achieve, not j...
2026-03-2040 minAccount Management SecretsWhy Most Pharmaceutical Key Account Management Programs Fail (And How to Fix Them) | EP80Pharmaceutical key account management can make or break growth in complex health systems, and this episode shows why so many teams still get it wrong. Alex Raymond talks with Chris Deren, Founder and CEO at ClarityCX1, about what pharmaceutical key account management requires inside large organizations where short-term sales pressure often works against long-term account growth. If you work in key account management in pharma, this conversation offers a sharper view of what large customers expect and what pharma teams need to change.
The episode looks at why a strong pharma account management strategy needs m...
2026-03-1339 minAccount Management SecretsChief Customer Officer Role And Net Revenue Retention Strategy For B2B SaaS Growth | EP79Most SaaS companies obsess over new revenue but underestimate what it takes to keep it. The Chief Customer Officer role becomes essential once a company moves beyond early traction and into real scale. In this episode, Alex Raymond and Gillian Core, Global Chief Customer Officer at 360Learning, examine what the Chief Customer Officer role actually demands when B2B SaaS revenue growth is on the line.
If you lead post-sales or own expansion targets, this episode will change how you measure success. The Chief Customer Officer role is not about reporting churn. It is about b...
2026-03-0636 minAccount Management SecretsHow to Improve Forecast Accuracy for Renewals: The 4 Questions to Ask | EP78Forecast accuracy is the fastest way for a post-sales team to earn trust or lose it with leadership. In this episode, Alex Raymond sits down with John Huber, Founder and Principal CS Consultant at Customer Success Architects, to break down what drives forecast accuracy when executives expect predictable revenue from existing accounts.
John shares the story of a renewal that looked safe at 94% and closed at 78%, creating a seven-figure gap. Instead of treating it as bad luck, he turns it into a framework any team can apply. You will learn how renewal forecasting improves when t...
2026-02-2744 minAccount Management SecretsValue Before Revenue: The Post-Sales Mindset Shift | EP77The recurring revenue model is comforting. Contracts renew. Revenue repeats. Forecasts look stable. But that assumption hides risk. When renewals are treated as automatic rather than earned, blind spots form. A strong customer retention strategy requires more than waiting for renewal dates. It demands clarity around outcomes, proactive engagement, and a disciplined post-sales process that makes value visible long before a contract is up.
That is where the idea of value before revenue becomes transformative. In his book, The Growth Department, Alex Raymond explains that revenue is not something you chase. It is something that f...
2026-02-2033 minAccount Management SecretsHow Advertising Agencies Grow Revenue Through Account Management | EP76Why do advertising agencies keep adding account roles, yet revenue growth is hard to account for?
In this episode of Account Management Secrets, Alex Raymond talks with Chantal Sagnes, founder of Chantal Sagnes Consulting, about what actually happens after an agency wins the work. Chantal has spent years on both the business development and account leadership sides, and she shares what she has seen play out inside agencies when revenue growth stalls, even though everyone is busy and the work is getting done.
They get into the tension most account teams fe...
2026-02-1334 minAccount Management SecretsAccount Management in the Music Industry: Client Retention, Revenue Growth, and Operating with Discipline | EP75Account management changes when your clients are artists, creators, and public figures. There are no predictable renewals. Attention fades quickly, and relevance is earned every day.
In this episode of Account Management Secrets, Alex Raymond sits down with Niko Ivanov, Partner and Head of Account Management at NOX Media, to explore how account management works when traditional SaaS metrics fall short. NOX supports artists and creators whose success plays out publicly, where timing, trust, and proactive leadership matter more than dashboards.
This conversation makes the case for account management as an of...
2026-02-0637 minAccount Management SecretsThe Growth Department: Why Post-Sale Has to Change | EP74Post-sales teams generate most of the revenue and nearly all of the profit, so why are they still treated like a support function instead of a growth driver?
Alex Raymond shares the thinking behind his new book, The Growth Department, and names a reality many account management and customer success teams live every day. They carry responsibility for renewals, expansion, and retention, yet often lack the systems, authority, and recognition that match the role. When things go right, it is quiet. When something goes wrong, all eyes turn their way.
Alex ex...
2026-01-3033 minAccount Management SecretsThe CCO Playbook for Durable Customer Growth | EP73What does it take to lead customer teams in 2026 when value creation matters more than renewals and curiosity separates trusted guides from replaceable vendors?
That question drives Alex Raymond’s conversation with Jim Richmond, Chief Customer Officer at Smartling, and it frames a grounded look at modern customer leadership. Jim shares a clear belief that last year’s success expires quickly. Teams have to keep earning trust through sharper skills, better discovery, and more honest conversations. Why did a customer buy in the first place? What are they trying to accomplish now? How do you know...
2026-01-2336 minAccount Management SecretsHow to Spot a Growth Stall Early | EP72Growth stalls rarely announce themselves. It usually starts with hesitation, mixed signals, and decisions that keep getting pushed to the next quarter.
In How to Spot a Growth Stall Early, Alex Raymond sits down with Ellie Wu, Founder and Executive Advisor of CSuiteCX, to talk about what post-sales leaders are quietly dealing with right now. From her vantage point across entrepreneurship and business, Ellie sees the same early warning signs repeat. Teams have tools, data, and ideas, but leadership struggles to choose a direction and commit to it. That indecision shows up long before revenue d...
2026-01-1638 minAccount Management SecretsHow a Chief Client Officer Leads | EP71Long-lasting client partnerships are built through disciplined fit, visible value, and the conviction to say no to the wrong work even when the revenue looks tempting.
Joel Sylvester, Chief Client Officer at Five Star Call Centers, shares a grounded perspective on client leadership that blends entrepreneurship, business discipline, and wellbeing. Rather than chasing every opportunity, Joel argues that sustainable growth comes from clarity about what works and the willingness to protect it. Client service, in his view, means bringing perspective and structure clients do not always have internally, then making clear decisions when cost pressure, g...
2026-01-0934 minAccount Management SecretsFlip the QBR | EP70If your QBRs keep getting ghosted or quietly deprioritized, the problem is not the calendar invite but the way those meetings are framed and led.
Alex Raymond challenges the default way most account managers think about quarterly business reviews. In a market where portfolios are growing, resources are tighter, and customer attention is harder to earn, QBRs reveal how your customer truly sees you. Are you a strategic partner with a point of view or a vendor reporting activity? The difference shows up quickly in who attends, how engaged they are, and what happens next i...
2026-01-0236 minAccount Management SecretsThe Win-Win-Win: Building Sustainable Partnerships That Serve Business and Community | EP69Account management can drive renewals, reduce risk, and expand real career access when corporate partnerships are treated as long-term commitments rather than short-term transactions.
This conversation with Liz Jones of Genesis Works Chicago, reframes account management through a nonprofit lens and shows how the core principles still hold. She explains what changes when corporate partners are treated as long-term customers rather than one-year commitments, and why understanding a partner’s motivation matters as much as delivering outcomes. How do you show value when success includes both ROI and human impact? What does trust look like whe...
2025-12-2636 minAccount Management SecretsHow to Make Key Account Management Work | EP68Most key account programs collapse because companies treat a strategic discipline like a standard sales motion, and this conversation reveals what it actually takes to build one that works.
Alex Raymond and Mark Davies examine why so many organizations invest in key account management yet struggle to see meaningful impact. Mark argues that KAM only succeeds when the company recognizes it as a different business model with a longer horizon and deeper expectations. Without cultural alignment, even the most capable account managers slip back into transactional patterns that limit growth and dilute the value customers c...
2025-12-1944 minAccount Management SecretsHow Account Managers Can Beat Imposter Syndrome and Build Executive Presence | EP67High performers don’t grow out of imposter syndrome. They just learn how to hide it better.
Executive coach and imposter syndrome specialist Dr. Tara Halliday joins the show to unpack why so many accomplished people still feel like they don’t belong and how that belief quietly shapes confidence, performance, and presence at work. She explains how the nervous system hijacks clear thinking in high-pressure moments and why so many account managers slip into over-preparing, perfectionism, or self-doubt even with a strong track record behind them. What shifts when your worth no longer hinges on ev...
2025-12-1239 minAccount Management SecretsHow Great Account Managers Spot and Manage Risk Before It’s Too Late | EP66The biggest threat to your revenue often isn’t churn, it’s the blind spots you never realized were there.
Alex sits down with Lisa Honaker, a seasoned account management leader who has coached teams across fast-moving entrepreneurship and high-stakes business environments. They get into why so many AMs misread early risk signals and how a narrow set of contacts can leave even strong accounts vulnerable. Lisa shares her three-wide, three-deep relationship model and explains why the people who enjoy working with you aren’t always the ones who can move deals forward.
Th...
2025-12-0541 minAccount Management SecretsWhy NRR Matters to Every CEO Right Now | EP65NRR has become the pressure test for every account management leader who wants to prove they can drive real, sustainable growth.
Alex Raymond is joined by Jennifer Pinter, a longtime operator and advisor who works closely with account management and CS leaders navigating today’s retention-driven market. Together they dig into why net revenue retention now sits at the center of every strategic conversation and why so many teams feel unprepared for the weight it carries. With new logos slowing and early contracts shrinking, companies can’t rely on acquisition to cover weak retention, which pushe...
2025-11-2836 minAccount Management SecretsFix What’s Really Broken | EP64Most companies don’t have a revenue problem, they have a process problem hidden in plain sight.
Alex sits down with Eddie Reynolds, CEO of Union Square Consulting, to unpack why growth so often stalls even when sales are strong. Through the lens of entrepreneurship and business strategy, Eddie explains how broken go-to-market systems, unclear ownership, and neglected post-sales
processes quietly drain both revenue and team wellbeing. Together, they explore why customer success teams drive the majority of profit yet rarely get the resources or recognition they deserve.
They dig i...
2025-11-2140 minAccount Management SecretsWhy RevOps Should Scare You Less | EP63Mallory Lee proves that simplifying your systems can be the smartest growth strategy a company ever makes.
Alex Raymond sits down with Mallory Lee, VP of Revenue Operations at PhoneBurner, about how tearing out a decade of legacy systems and moving from Salesforce to HubSpot unlocked faster growth, cleaner data, and stronger alignment across the company. Guided by her “SEC” framework—simple, effective, confident—Mallory shares how she rebuilt the company’s go-to-market motion to unify sales, RevOps, and account management under one streamlined system that actually helps people do their jobs instead of getting in their wa...
2025-11-1436 minAccount Management SecretsQBRs on a Cocktail Napkin: The Art of Executive Simplicity | EP62Ultra accounts demand a no-deck QBR playbook built on senior trust, steakhouse conversations, and concrete commitments.
Carl Lenocker, Senior Customer Success Executive at Splunk (now Cisco), joins Alex Raymond to talk about managing $10M+ enterprise accounts through clarity, preparation, and authentic relationship-building. He shares how the best account managers operate more like entrepreneurs than employees, balancing business rigor with genuine human connection, and why “promises made, promises kept” is the mindset that sustains both growth and wellbeing. His approach to executive simplicity proves that true expertise means knowing what to say, when to say it, and w...
2025-11-0742 minAccount Management SecretsAccount Managers are Fixers | EP61What if the key to explosive growth isn’t chasing new customers but treating expansion as an act of service to the ones you already have?
Alex Raymond sits down with Amanda Edington, VP of Account Management at Payscale, to unpack how a mindset shift toward service transformed her team’s approach to growth and retention. Amanda shares how curiosity and trust drive meaningful expansion, why the best account managers see every conversation as discovery, and how one question, “How can we be a better partner for you?”, can turn a renewal risk into a long-term...
2025-10-3143 minAccount Management SecretsConsistency Beats Heroics: Shep Hyken on Building B2B Customer Loyalty | EP60Satisfied customers leave, but loyal ones stay because great account managers turn every interaction into consistency, trust, and genuine partnership.
Alex Raymond sits down with customer experience expert and New York Times bestselling author Shep Hyken to explore how account managers can move beyond customer satisfaction and build true loyalty that lasts. Shep explains why “satisfied” is the most dangerous word in business and reveals how small shifts in behavior, like proactive communication, reliable follow-through, and fast problem resolution, create long-term retention and growth.
Drawing on decades of research and stories from t...
2025-10-2439 minAccount Management SecretsValue Is the New Contract: Anthony DeShazor on Outcome-Based Account Management | EP59When contracts disappear and only value keeps customers loyal, the real work of account management begins.
Alex Raymond talks with Anthony DeShazor, the founder and chief architect of Protia Revenue Systems, about building customer relationships that last when “value is the contract.” Drawing from his experience leading customer success at Givelify, Anthony shares how operating without renewals or lock-ins pushed his team to deliver measurable outcomes every day and redefine what success really means. He explains how taking ownership of value, rather than letting customers define it, turns account managers into strategic partners who drive growt...
2025-10-1741 minAccount Management SecretsThe MBA Account Managers Never Got | EP58Revenue is more concentrated than ever, with a handful of accounts driving the majority of growth. That reality makes account management both the biggest risk and the biggest lever in business today.
In this episode, Frank Cespedes—senior lecturer at Harvard Business School and author of Sales Management That Works—joins Alex Raymond to talk about why most companies are still scandalously sloppy with account planning, why account managers can no longer afford to be financially illiterate, and what it takes to be taken seriously in the C-suite.
They discuss how higher interest rates are chan...
2025-10-1041 minAccount Management SecretsWhy Revenue is the Critical Customer Success KPI | EP56Customer success used to thrive on easy capital and organic expansion. But in today’s market, that model is running out of runway. If CS isn’t tied to revenue, it’s on borrowed time. In this episode, Justin Strackany - employee #1 at SecureLink who scaled the company to $50M ARR and three exits - makes the case for why post-sales must evolve into a true growth function. He and Alex Raymond discuss what it means to measure CS on NRR, how to split roles between AMs and CSMs, and why strategic account management is the skill that will separa...
2025-09-2640 minAccount Management SecretsNegotiating Renewals Without Giving Away the Farm: Todd Caponi’s Four Levers | EP55Negotiation doesn’t have to feel like a hostage scene. In this episode, Alex Raymond sits down with Todd Caponi, sales expert and author of the upcoming book “Four Levers Negotiating,” to reframe how account managers approach renewals and upsells. Introducing his “Four Levers” framework (volume, timing of cash, length of commitment, and deal predictability), Todd explains how anchoring conversations on these drivers creates a sound basis for pricing. The result: fewer discounts, stronger margins, and more trust with customers.
This episode touches on the mindset shifts account managers need to make, from avoiding “easy gives” that e...
2025-09-1939 minAccount Management SecretsThe Red Renewals System: How Asana Flags Enterprise Churn 12 Months Out | EP54Utilization numbers may look like the problem. But as Josh Abdulla, the Chief Customer Officer at Asana, points out, low usage is usually just the symptom, not the cause.
In this episode, Josh shares how he manages a global portfolio of 170,000 customers by combining data-driven rigor with clear-eyed coaching. He unpacks Asana’s Red Renewals System, a process that flags enterprise churn risk up to a year in advance, giving teams the runway to act before it’s too late.
From the real reasons SMB customers cancel, to the role of vertica...
2025-09-1245 minAccount Management SecretsHelp Customers Build Confidence in Saying YES | EP53Customer deals often stall not because the product is weak but because buyers doubt their own ability to make the right choice.
Alex Raymond is joined by Brent Adamson, the co-author of The Challenger Sale, The Challenger Customer, and The Framemaking Sale, and the co-founder of A to B Insight, to discuss why decision confidence drives stronger outcomes than product features or supplier claims. Brent lays out the four forces that undermine confidence inside organizations: decision complexity, information overload, objective misalignment, and outcome uncertainty.
The discussion shows how account managers can st...
2025-09-0545 minAccount Management SecretsTools & Processes for Account Management and Client Success Teams | EP52Too many account management teams invest in software before they’re ready, and end up automating the wrong things.
Alex Raymond sits down with Jennifer Pinter, a seasoned expert in account management software, to talk about what separates successful tech stacks from the ones that never gain traction. Jennifer has helped dozens of companies implement tools for AM and CS teams, and she’s seen how often things go sideways when there’s no clear strategy behind the purchase.
Alex and Jennifer discuss the most common missteps, like skipping role clarity, chasing...
2025-08-2944 minAccount Management SecretsDeliver Bad News Early: Tips from a CRO | EP51Bad forecasts don’t just miss targets. They influence hiring plans, budgets, and boardroom confidence. Former Chief Revenue Officer Cliff Unger joins Alex Raymond to share how account managers can build the accuracy and credibility that drive both company growth and personal career impact.
Drawing from his journey from hardware account management to SaaS leadership, Cliff reveals how forecasting, renewals, and expansions shape business strategy at the highest levels. He explains why “job number one” for revenue leaders is hitting the number, but why accuracy in forecasting is just as critical for winning trust with executi...
2025-08-2245 minAccount Management SecretsThe Playbook for Clients Who Stay & Grow with You | EP50Most account managers get stuck in the middle, passing information back and forth, but the ones who rise are curators who build trust, shape strategy, and drive real business growth.
Alex Raymond is joined by Carl Smith, the founder of The Bureau, to explore how the account management role has evolved from being a reactive liaison into one of the most strategic positions inside an agency. Carl shares lessons from his journey as an agency owner and community leader, calling out the industry’s outdated view of account managers as conduits and advocating for a future where AM...
2025-08-1548 minAccount Management SecretsServe, Retain, Sell: How Account Management Builds Revenue Leaders | EP49Account managers who want a seat at the executive table need to master the art of growing revenue by owning client relationships, not just managing them. Alex Raymond and Mike Rapp, Chief Revenue Officer at IntelePeer, talk through what it takes to make that leap. Mike shares how his early career in project management shaped the way he builds trust with customers and why that perspective became a cornerstone of his leadership. He explains how account managers are often the ones closest to the reality of a customer’s experience and how that proximity is a strategic advantage if yo...
2025-08-0841 minAccount Management SecretsQBRs, Retention, and Role Clarity with Kristy Devantier | EP48Kristy Devantier, the Managing Director at TaleWind Digital (formerly WorkerBee.TV), joins Alex Raymond for a conversation about what really changes when account managers have the right structure and clarity in their role. How do you move beyond check-the-box QBRs and start having client conversations that actually lead to growth? How do you build a team that isn’t just managing projects but actively deepening relationships and uncovering opportunities? Kristy walks through the shifts she made, from renaming and reshaping QBRs to introducing account plans and segmenting clients more intentionally, all grounded in what she learned through AMplify.
...
2025-08-0139 minAccount Management SecretsWhy Post-Sale Is Still Broken (And What to Do About It) | EP47Most companies have no real strategy for what happens after the deal closes, and this episode makes it clear why post-sales growth is still the most underutilized advantage in B2B.
Alex Raymond is joined by Craig Rosenberg, the Chief Platform Officer at Scale Venture Partners and the co-host of The Transaction, for a conversation about why account management continues to be under-resourced, undertrained, and underleveraged despite its direct impact on retention, expansion, and long-term revenue. Drawing from decades of experience at TOPO, Gartner, and Scale, Craig argues that account managers are often better at i...
2025-07-2548 minAccount Management SecretsDon't Confuse Being Liked with Being Effective | EP46Too many account managers confuse being liked with being effective and it’s costing them renewals, influence, and growth. Chad Horenfeldt, the VP of Customer Success at Siena AI and author of “The Strategic Customer Success Manager,” joins Alex Raymond to talk about the people-pleaser trap and how to break out of it. They unpack the four identity traps that keep account managers stuck in reactive mode: the firefighter, entertainer, fixer, and waiter, and why those well-meaning habits quietly erode trust and impact.
Chad shares tactical frameworks like motivational interviewing and radical customer candor, showing how cur...
2025-07-1842 minAccount Management SecretsStuck in the Reactive Admin Zone? Get Strategic and Grow Revenue! | EP45Too many account managers are stuck in reactive mode—waiting on problems, answering tickets, and playing support—while the real opportunity sits untapped: driving strategic growth.
In this episode, Alex Raymond is joined by author and sales strategist Anthony Iannarino to unpack what’s broken in post-sales and what needs to change. Their conversation challenges the status quo of account management and lays out a new path, one where AMs act less like order takers and more like strategic guides who know how to lead.
Anthony introduces the concept of being “one-up”, b...
2025-07-1138 minAccount Management SecretsProve Clear ROI in 15 Minutes Flat | EP44Most account managers talk about value but Robert Sproule shows you how to prove it in fifteen minutes flat. Alex Raymond sits down with Robert, the VP of Account Management at SafetyChain, to discuss what it really looks like to show measurable impact in industries where the stakes are high and the paperwork never ends.
Robert explains how his team uses short, focused executive results reviews to help clients surface clear ROI and make stronger business cases with their leadership. He talks about how AI is helping his team cut back on busywork, sharpen their ac...
2025-07-0439 minAccount Management Secrets4 Moves That Unlock $$$ After the Sale | EP43Most account managers are playing too small and leaving millions in growth potential untouched inside their current client base.
Alex Raymond challenges the idea that retention should be the finish line. He invites us to take a closer look at the mindset and habits that keep teams stuck in incremental growth and asks something many of us don’t pause to consider: Are we thinking big enough when it comes to the accounts we already have?
Drawing from his own client work and insights from Ben Hardy’s 10X Is Easier Than 2X...
2025-06-2736 minAccount Management SecretsHeroes, Villains, and the Power of Story in Account Management | EP42Most account managers think they’re here to sell solutions. But the real opportunity might be helping your client see themselves differently, like the hero of their own story.
Alex Raymond talks with Adrian Davis, the President and CEO of Whetstone Inc. and author of “Heroes, Villains, and the Thrill of Professional Selling.” Adrian shares a storytelling framework that redefines the role of the account manager, not as the hero, but as the guide. What happens when you stop pitching and start helping your client rewrite their script?
They get into what it m...
2025-06-2047 minAccount Management SecretsBuild Influence to Drive Renewals and Growth in Your Accounts | EP41Most account managers think influence is a soft skill until it costs them the renewal.
Brad Englert has been on both sides of the table. As a former Accenture partner and CIO at the University of Texas, he’s worked with account managers who earned his trust and others who landed on his “most hated vendor” list. In this episode, Brad joins Alex Raymond to discuss why influence is a skill that deserves more respect, especially for account managers working with complex clients and high-stakes decisions.
How do you build trust with an...
2025-06-1337 minAccount Management SecretsWorld Class Account Management Skills The Sandler Way | EP40The best account managers build their book like it’s their business, and that mindset changes everything.
Alex Raymond is joined by Todd O’Donnell, who went from tech sales at IBM and Oracle to leading one of Canada’s top-performing insurance agencies. Todd shares how blitz days, cold calling, and world-class training shaped his early career, and why those habits still influence how he runs his agency today.
They talk about the shift from chasing leads to building a referral-driven business, the hiring principle Todd swears by (“Can I trust this perso...
2025-06-0640 minAccount Management SecretsCutting Back on Account Management (Jess Manganelli Thinks It's a Terrible Idea) | EP39Account managers who lead with business acumen, creative insight and clear boundaries are the ones who drive real growth.
What happens when agencies start questioning whether account management still matters? Jess Manganelli has seen it firsthand, and she’s got strong opinions. As the founder of Betts & Betz, she works with creative agencies to build high-performing account teams that don’t just keep the trains running but move the business forward.
Jess and Alex discuss why some agencies are scaling back on account roles, and why that decision often backfires. They talk a...
2025-05-3044 minAccount Management SecretsThe Challenger Sale, Customer Confidence, and Growing Key Accounts with Brent Adamson | EP38Most account managers are stuck chasing satisfaction when they should be driving change.
Alex Raymond is joined by Brent Adamson, the co-founder of A to B Insight and Qoos and the author of “The Challenger Sale,” for a discussion that challenges the way most teams think about account growth. If happy customers aren’t growing their accounts, what’s missing? And what does it actually take to move from retention to expansion?
Brent shares research that calls out a common trap: overdelivering on service without helping clients rethink their business. He introduces...
2025-05-2350 minAccount Management SecretsThis Question Drove a 200x Increase in Client Revenue | EP37Asking one bold question turned a $50K client into a $10M account and reshaped how account managers think about trust, strategy and growth.
Account management leader Joanna Hagelberger joins Alex Raymond to talk about what account management looks like when it’s done right, from building the function from scratch at high-growth InsurTech companies to leading with curiosity instead of a script. What happens when you stop asking surface-level questions and start inviting your clients to think bigger? Joanna shares how one conversation sparked a 200x expansion and why most account managers don’t realize they...
2025-05-1644 minAccount Management Secrets2025 GTM Benchmark Report (& what it means for AMs now) | EP36Most of your revenue probably came from existing customers last year, and if your QBRs don’t include the C-suite, you’re at serious risk of churn.
Alex Raymond sits down with Guy Rubin, the founder and CEO of Ebsta, to unpack the 2025 GTM Benchmark Report and what it means for account managers right now. The data is clear: 52% of new revenue last year came from existing accounts, not new logos. That shift isn’t just interesting as it should completely change how teams think about growth, customer relationships, and where to invest their time and res...
2025-05-0943 minAccount Management SecretsTips for Account Managers Navigating The Job Market | EP35Spray-and-pray job applications aren’t getting anyone hired. So what actually works when the competition is this intense?
In this episode, Alex Raymond is joined by Carly Agar, the founder and CEO of Carly Agar Training, to talk about how account managers can navigate the current job market with more clarity and control. What do hiring managers really care about? How do you stand out when hundreds of people are applying for the same role? Carly shares why intention matters more than volume, and how treating your job search like a high-value client strategy changes eve...
2025-05-0246 minAccount Management SecretsAI Is Reshaping Customer Value | EP34AI isn’t just changing the tools we use, it’s reshaping the entire conversation around business value, accountability, and risk.
In this episode, Alex Raymond sits down with Mark Stouse, the CEO of ProofAnalytics.ai, to talk about how AI is driving a seismic shift in how companies operate. The core message: transparency and accountability are no longer optional, and gut instinct won’t cut it.
Mark explains how AI is collapsing the “gray zone” of ambiguity in business, forcing teams to prove value with hard data. He also shares a critical le...
2025-04-2544 minAccount Management SecretsCustomer Success is Dead as We Know It | EP33Customer success was supposed to be the future. So why are so many CS teams under-resourced, misunderstood, and fighting to stay relevant?
Alex Raymond sits down with Parker Chase-Corwin, the CEO and principal consultant of Xperience Alchemy who’s helped dozens of B2B companies rethink how they approach retention, risk, and long-term value. They unpack why CS never quite delivered on its promise, why the function has become a catch-all for upstream problems, and what needs to change if companies want better outcomes and fewer surprises.
Is customer success really one...
2025-04-1843 minAccount Management SecretsA 90-Day Account Plan Level Up | EP32Most account plans feel like busywork. Why? Because they’re built in a broken system that rewards documentation over results.
In this episode, Alex Raymond explains why so many account plans fail to drive real impact and what to do instead. He introduces a framework: three customer goals, three key contacts, and three specific actions for the next 90 days. No fluff. No filler. Just a clear plan you can actually use.
Are you building your plan to impress your boss, or to deliver value your client will notice? Are you tracking assu...
2025-04-1137 minAccount Management SecretsThe Account Manager Career Path: What Hiring Managers Really Want | EP31Most account managers are chasing career growth, but few stop to ask whether their next opportunity might already be within reach.
Alex Raymond talks with Swati Garg, the founder and CEO of Melo Associates, about what hiring managers are prioritizing right now, and what many candidates are getting wrong. What skills actually stand out in a crowded field? How do you show you’re ready for more responsibility? And why are so many companies missing the mark by defaulting to external hires?
Swati shares what’s shifting in the job market, includ...
2025-04-0440 minAccount Management SecretsThe Megadeals Mindset | EP30Securing Megadeals requires more than just a strong pitch. It demands a deep understanding of deal orchestration and stakeholder management.
In this episode, Bora Brännström, the co-founder of Megadeals Advisory, joins Alex Raymond to share insights on navigating the complexities of large, multi-million dollar contracts. Bora breaks down what makes a deal truly complex, from influencing decision-makers at every level to managing a web of cross-functional relationships. He points out a common challenge many companies face—rainmaker dependency—and how relying too heavily on a few key individuals can hinder growth, especially for scale-u...
2025-03-2850 minAccount Management SecretsClient Onboarding: Don't Declare Victory Too Soon | EP29Most companies treat onboarding like a finish line, but it’s the starting gate for retention, customer success, and long-term revenue.
Alex Raymond welcomes onboarding expert Donna Weber, the author of “Onboarding Matters,” to challenge the idea that implementation equals success. If a customer isn’t using a product in a meaningful way, does it even matter that they have access to it? Donna explains why the first 90 days determine whether a customer sticks around or drifts away, and how her orchestrated onboarding framework helps companies guide customers to real value, not just a completed setup.
2025-03-2146 minAccount Management SecretsDeveloping a Client Health Score with Katherine Nino | EP28RevOps is more than a back-office function. It is a game-changer for sales operations, account management, and long-term revenue growth.
Alex Raymond sits down with Katherine Nino, the head of global revenue operations at Makosi, to talk about how RevOps goes beyond traditional sales enablement and shapes the entire customer lifecycle. They discuss the power of client health scores, how data-driven insights help account managers stay ahead of churn, and why a culture shift around risk and collaboration is essential.
Katherine shares her approach to building a health score model that cu...
2025-03-1450 minAccount Management SecretsHigh Churn Signals A Deeper Problem | EP27Most companies chase new customers without realizing retention is where real growth happens. Bob Mathers joins Alex Raymond to share why the smartest businesses focus on keeping customers for five years and how the right strategy can turn retention into a competitive advantage.
In this episode, Bob breaks down the 5-Year Customer Model and explains why high churn is often a sign of deeper problems. Are companies setting themselves up for long-term success, or are they still stuck in outdated sales-driven models? Bob challenges leaders to rethink how they structure teams, run QBRs, and measure s...
2025-03-0742 minAccount Management SecretsWhen Sales & Customer Success Work Together, Revenue Follows | EP26Customer success is at a crossroads. Does it need a complete rebrand? A new strategy? A bigger role in driving revenue?
In this episode, Alex Raymond talks with Rav Dhaliwal, a veteran in customer success and account management, about what’s working, what’s broken, and what needs to change. Rav shares why customer success teams struggle to define their own value and how that disconnect affects both customers and company growth.
One of the biggest challenges? The divide between sales and customer success. Both teams focus on helping customers see value...
2025-02-2847 minAccount Management SecretsTips to Thrive as an Account Manager | EP25Drowning in unrealistic expectations? If “hero mode” feels like your default setting, it’s time for a reset.
Rachel Provan, a customer success leader turned coach, joins Alex Raymond to discuss why so many account managers are expected to operate at peak performance with fewer resources and more demands. She breaks down how to push back effectively, set real priorities, and communicate workload challenges without feeling like you’re making excuses.
This episode digs into the mindset shifts that help account managers move from constantly defending their role to confidently leading client con...
2025-02-2141 minAccount Management SecretsThe Respect Contract: How to Keep Clients from Ghosting | EP24Most 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 i...
2025-02-1444 minAccount Management SecretsWhy “Everyone Owns CS” Is a Leadership Cop-Out | EP23Most 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 witho...
2025-02-0749 minAccount Management SecretsFrom Key Account Manager to Chief Customer Officer | EP22Account 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 hand...
2025-01-3144 minAccount Management SecretsThe Truth About Customer-Led Growth | EP21“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 share...
2025-01-2439 minAccount Management SecretsStop the Churn: How to Retain Customers and Drive Growth | EP20Retention 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.
...
2025-01-1745 minAccount Management SecretsWhy Do Some Customers Leave While Others Stay? | EP19Customer 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 b...
2025-01-1043 minAccount Management SecretsBeyond NPS: Why Modern CS Teams Have to Own a Number | EP18“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 leade...
2025-01-0336 minAccount Management SecretsExpanding Existing Accounts with the REACH Framework | EP17How 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 manag...
2024-12-2742 minAccount Management SecretsThird Box Thinking: Redefining Customer-Centricity in Key Account Management | EP16“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, S...
2024-12-2039 minAccount Management SecretsThe Dark Arts of Creative Agency Account Management | EP15“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 outwei...
2024-12-1339 minAccount Management SecretsThe Most Common Mistakes In Account Plans | EP14Most 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 sho...
2024-12-0626 min