Pylon

Get ready for... AI demo night 🐦🔥 Join us and friends from incident.io, Nooks, Expo, and Nozomio for some live demos and conversation about building AI workflows at scale. You'll get to see Nikolaj Pedersen show how Pylon's support team is slashing issue handling and resolution times with AI. 5 demos, 5 cool teams, 5 different approaches. 🗓️ Thursday, April 23 ⏰️ 5:30 – 8:00 PM 🕺 Food, drinks, and demos Register at the link in the comments!

We’re putting the spotlight on 🔆 Jamie Apsey-Brown 🔆 this morning! Jamie brings over 8 years of customer success experience in SaaS. At Gorilla, he partners with energy retailers to unify pricing, forecasting, hedging, billing, and finance into a single source of margin truth through Gorilla’s Energy Margin Intelligence platform. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿? When I first started in customer success, the role felt largely reactive. A lot of the focus was on resolving issues, managing escalations, and stepping in once something had already gone wrong. Today, customer success is far more proactive. It is about identifying risks before they surface, understanding customer goals ahead of time, and creating value long before a renewal conversation begins. The role has shifted from being purely relationship-focused to being strategically aligned with business outcomes. Customer Success Managers are now expected to influence stakeholders, drive adoption, support expansion, and contribute directly to revenue growth. The function has evolved from a support role into a key commercial driver, and with that comes higher expectations and greater impact. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗶𝘁? Early in my career, I treated every customer the same. I gave every account the same level of time and attention, whether they were contributing £100k in ARR or £1m in ARR. While the intention was positive, it was not strategic. I learned that segmentation is critical. Not all customers require the same engagement model, and not all accounts have the same level of impact on the business. Understanding account value, growth potential, and strategic importance allows you to prioritize effectively and focus your energy where it will drive the greatest return. Customer success is not just about being supportive. It is about being intentional with your time and effort. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀? At its core, customer success comes down to two things: organization and people skills. If you do not enjoy speaking to people, building relationships, and having meaningful conversations, this probably is not the right career path for you. Equally, if you struggle with structure and time management, you will quickly feel overwhelmed. You are balancing multiple stakeholders, renewal cycles, internal collaboration, and customer expectations all at once. Without systems and structure, it becomes difficult to stay ahead. My advice is to build strong organisational habits early, stay curious, and genuinely care about the outcomes your customers are trying to achieve. Skills can be developed, but mindset and discipline make the biggest difference. (continued in the comments!)

Hitting the SaaStock stage in 2 hours 🎤 Our CEO Marty Kausas will share all the unconventional strategies we've used to take on a crowded market. From founder-led marketing to bold product positioning, he'll cover what worked for Pylon and how we're scaling it. See you on the Founderpath Center Stage. 2:20 PM CT.

The spotlight is on 🔆 Jennifer Garzinski 🔆 today! Jennifer has over 8 years of experience across SaaS and education, focused on driving retention and building scalable processes. At Conversica, she supports the automotive vertical, where AI agents automate conversations to engage buyers and deliver more personalized car-buying experiences. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀? I was just at the NADA conference in Las Vegas, and I had the privilege of listening to Lindsay Shookus speak at the Women Driving Vehicle Retail event. She reminded me of something my parents instilled in me at a young age, and that is to “be coachable”. I have been in several industries throughout my career, most of which have always been a version of customer support or success, and the ability to be coachable has helped me to grow exponentially, learn expansively, and achieve my wildest goals. Additionally, I would advise those who are starting in the CSM industry to truly listen to those around you, and don’t be afraid of change. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀? Truly, the client-partner conversations. I have had amazing connections with my customers over the years, and that's what motivates and drives me forward. The automotive industry is one I am honored to be a part of! 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁-𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗜? From my experience working directly for a conversational AI company, I have been able to see first hand how our intelligence has helped with pre and post sales outreach, campaigns, and follow up. In the future, I could see a lot of first touch emails or texts from CSM’s being sent from an agent initially. This adjustment can help teams evolve from being reactive, to ensuring they are proactive. Instead of manually chasing follow-ups and managing inboxes, AI can handle consistent, personalized outreach at scale. From there, the CSM’s or post sales teams can focus on high value conversations and relationship building. Over time, I can see that AI also provides insight into churn risk, missed outreach, and engagement trends, making post-sales teams more strategic and impactful in driving retention and lifetime value. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀? Communication, honesty, and the ability to be open-minded are key to fostering a strong culture within a team. Those values are cornerstones in building strong relationships where everyone can trust each other and push to be the best version of themselves. Taking the time to understand your team and care about who they are outside of work should be prioritized.

Enough talk about AI. On April 23, we'll show you how our customer success team is actually leveraging it to grow thousands of scaled and enterprise accounts. Join our CEO Marty to learn... 💥 How to identify what's not working in your CS motion and find ways to fix it using AI 💥 How to integrate all your customer data sources so AI is useful and accurate 💥 Where to implement AI across account-level, book-level, and company-level workflows April 23. 10 AM PT. Save your spot: https://lnkd.in/gMwb6Act

This morning we have 🔆 Estrellita (Star) Longoria M.Ed. 🔆 in the spotlight! Star spent over 8 years in higher education before pivoting to client success. Now at Watermark, she helps universities track, analyze, and manage data like student feedback and accreditation requirements. 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘆𝗲 𝗼𝗻? I’m paying close attention to the rise of AI in client success and outcome-led journeys. Like my client partners, I’m considering ways that AI can help me with day to day functions like summarizing interactions and note taking. This really helps me with the second trend I'm following - outcome-led customer journeys. In higher ed tech, we approach each client partner as individuals since a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. Each institution has different needs, priorities, and challenges. I create a tailored approach centered around a strategic relationship that meets them where they are. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀? When I first started in this role, I viewed my work as very reactive or responsive to what I heard from my client partners. As I’ve grown, I appreciate how proactive the role is. During meetings with my client partners, I share best practices or strategies for using the solutions. I even created a product strategy calendar to help client partners look at their year at a glance to know what they should be doing within each solution at any given time. I also emphasize new ways they can use our products to anticipate any new needs or initiatives they may be tasked with as the higher education landscape changes. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀? Familiarize yourself with the product solutions and resources available. You don’t have to know everything about the company you work for or the products your company sells, but you do need to know how to get your clients to who/what they need. Clients need a partner they can trust; being personable on calls and interactions with clients really goes a long way. Technology and AI can replace a lot of manual work that we do, but as people we will always gravitate towards a person we can develop a connection with. (continued in comments!)

I am 1,000% Pylon’s biggest fan. Account Intelligence is becoming a total game changer for our Ops team at Osmind. After 6 years working mostly with Intercom, I don’t say that lightly. Pylon is on another level. We’re now going to be walking into every customer interaction with full context, no digging, no guesswork. Who else is using Pylon right now? What’s been the most impactful feature for you?

I am 1,000% Pylon’s biggest fan. Account Intelligence is becoming a total game changer for our Ops team at Osmind. After 6 years working mostly with Intercom, I don’t say that lightly. Pylon is on another level. We’re now going to be walking into every customer interaction with full context, no digging, no guesswork. Who else is using Pylon right now? What’s been the most impactful feature for you?

Together AI partnered with Pylon to deliver world-class customer support for the best AI infrastructure teams. After Sarung Tripathi (VP of Customer Experience) and his team consolidated both support and customer success in Pylon, they saw... → 5x faster response times → 10 hours saved per week on context gathering → 90% less time spent on support <> CS hand-offs ...and with Account Intelligence, they're able to identify ways to improve customer satisfaction and deploy technical enhancements within 24 hours. Sarung sat down with us to share more of their story.