SaaStr Annual 2024: Customer Success Proactively Sells with Notion's CRO and GitHub's VP CS

In this session, Notion's CRO, Erica Anderson, and GitHub's VP of Customer Success, Abbas Haider Ali, discuss how customer success teams can take a proactive approach to drive sales. They'll explore strategies for using customer success not just as a support function but as a powerful engine for revenue growth. The conversation will emphasize the importance of being on the offensive and aligning customer success with sales objectives to unlock new opportunities. Learn how to enhance both customer retention and business expansion by leveraging customer success.

1. Customer Success Proactively Sells with Notion's CRO and GitHub's VP CS Abbas Haider Ali VP Customer Success Erica Anderson Chief Revenue Officer

2. 8 Essential Post-Sales Teams for Scalable Growth Reactive Support: Comprehensive technical support tailored to customer needs. Professional Services: Expert consulting offered through paid investment. Training & Education: Standard content, custom solutions for additional cost. Customer Success Managers: Seamlessly manage risk and growth opportunities. Technical Account Managers: Essential for complex, technical product support. Renewals: Manage contracts, flat renewals, and drive organic growth. Account Managers: Lead new business and product expansion. Customer Experience Engineering: Full-stack engineering —scaling superpower!

3. “10% of Revenue is the Gold Standard for Customer Success Investment.”

4. “Customer Success teams that rely on lagging indicators are setting themselves up for failure.”

5. 6 Signs of Seamless Customer Success and Revenue Alignment Clarity of Roles: Swimlanes and rules of engagement are clear and feel natural. Accountability: Every team in revenue has unique responsibilities and is accountable for them. Recognition: Cross-team celebrations and shout-outs happen organically. Mutual Respect: No pre-sales vs. post-sales grumblings—“same team” is the lived reality. Common Language: No separate sales or post-sales framework, just one unified revenue framework. Leadership Interchangeability: CS leaders lead forecast calls, and sales leaders lead risk reviews.

6. UP NEXT: AMA: Customer Success Ishmeet Singh Chief Success Officer and Head of Customer Success Americas Vanessa Gatihi GTM, Head of Strategic & Majors Customer Success Matthew O'Connor SVP, Global Head of Customer Success Abbas Haider Ali VP Customer Success