By Durand Vadnais
I’m thrilled to see the many Customer Success focused talks, partners, solutions and a dedicated Happy Hour this year at SaaStr. They even had a spot for Customer Success under job function while plugging in my badge info!
Here is a quick guide to help you maximize Customer Success value at SaaStr:
Not-to-miss sessions:
5 Things You Need to Do to Create a Category (and What Makes Them Super Hard) with Gainsight
Tue Feb 05/ 10:45 Am – 11:15 Am ( 30 Min )
Building a company is hard enough, but what if there’s no clear market to launch into? That’s the situation Gainsight CEO Nick Mehta and CMO Anthony Kennada found themselves in when they joined the company that would become Gainsight in 2013. There was no playbook for category creation, so they built their own—and catapulted Gainsight into one of the fastest growing private companies in the world. Join Nick and Anthony for an open and honest look into their playbook for building the Customer Success category: the needle movers, the mistakes, and everything in between.
How to Build a CSM Team that Generates 130% Net Retention with Talkdesk
Tue Feb 05/ 1:45 Pm – 2:15 Pm ( 30 Min )
Gillian Heltai oversees Talkdesk’s Customer Success and Technical Support teams, partnering closely with customers to achieve their CX vision. In this session Gillian will walk you through how to build a high performing CSM Team.
Lessons from Survey Monkey: 7 Tips For Using Customer Feedback To Build Rabid Fans And Make More Money
Tue Feb 05/ 3:30 Pm – 4:00 Pm ( 30 Min )
Consistently ramping your ARR is a whole lot harder if your customers don’t stick around. In an age where earning customer loyalty and trust is harder than ever, the road to lifetime value is paved with customer feedback. If you take the time to listen, understand and act on what your customers are thinking and feeling, you’ll create an army of advocates and drive topline revenue growth for good measure. SurveyMonkey CMO Leela Srinivasan will outline seven tips for driving business impact through customer feedback. Expect real-world examples from businesses that are listening and acting on a daily basis.
How to Do Customer Success at Scale with Amazon Web Services
Wed Feb 06/ 9:00 Am – 9:30 Am ( 30 Min )
We live in a Shark Tank world: competition is fierce, talent is better than ever, and we’re all striving to come out on top. CEOs everywhere are seeking to innovate, but 81% say their teams are not equipped to meet the challenges needed to compete in today’s marketplace. Innovation is about empathy with your customers. It’s all about customer obsession! In this session, I (Or should you say Sandy Carter, AWS Vice President) will hone your superpower – not of customer focus, or customer driven, but customer obsessed.
How to Take Customer Success from Idea to Action from Gainsight, Xactly, Navex and Glint
Thu Feb 07/ 3:30 Pm – 4:00 Pm ( 30 Min )
At this point, everyone knows they need to nurture and protect their customer base—they’re your most precious and valuable assets. They create the vast majority of your revenue, they’re an incredible resource for feedback and advocacy, and they’re the reason you do everything you do! In other words, everyone knows they need Customer Success. But it’s a long way from knowing something is a business imperative to implementing it operationally and organizationally. Led by Allison Pickens COO, Gainsight, each of our panelists knows what it takes to go from idea to action in Customer Success, and they’ll share candid stories and winning strategies from their journeys in this can’t-miss session.
Solutions and Partners (you should visit to hear the latest)
These are few of the top companies you should see, there are over 200 exhibitors so be sure to block some time to walk around a bit.
Gainsight
ClientSuccess
ChurnZero
Pendo.io (in-product analytics & survey)
Happy Hours/Parties (Yes!)
SaaStr Nights Block Party (Tuesday)
Gainsight HappyHour (Tuesday)
Night at the Museum (Wednesday)
Out of Towners Party (Thursday)
As I’m writing this, many of the sessions are filling-up fast! You can read more of the details and sign-up on the SaaStr Annual Site
For loyal readers who made it to the bottom of this article and still need a pass to the event – please ping me for a discount code.
Comment and let me know if I’ve missed anything interesting and I’ll put it on the list. See you there!
