Jan Young, MBA, CSPO, CSM

Project Manager

I help Heads of CS become VPs and get a seat at the Executive Table | Customer-Led Growth Advisor | 2X Top 25 CS Influencer | Top 50 CS Influencer | Top 50 Women Leaders in CS | Top 100 CS Strategist | Investor

Why do some CS leaders command executive respect, while others, despite strong results, keep fighting to be heard?

I've been in Tech for 20+ years and been through two exits as VP Client Services. Here's what I've learned:

✨ EVERYTHING has changed.

The speed. The AI transformation. The business models. The way we need to lead.

I see CS leaders working until midnight, delivering great results... and still getting told "we need to cut CS headcount."

Sound familiar?

The old playbooks stopped working.

AI is reshaping how we work, how we go to market, how we serve customers. Your 2023 playbook is irrelevant.

Today, you need SYSTEMS.

Here's what I know from coaching hundreds of CS leaders:

Those who break through have mastered The Modern CS Growth System, 4 pillars of executive impact:

💡 Modern Management & Change Leadership - Lead in the AI era  
💡 AI Fluency, Automation & Autonomy - Transform operations, pricing, GTM
💡 Business & Customer Economics - Speak profitability, not just retention  
💡 Repeatable Customer Revenue & Team Systems - Build scalable frameworks, not heroic firefighting  

This is a systematic approach to demonstrating executive-level impact in the language your fellow executives understand.

👉👉 This is what CS Business Leaders master. Not pieces. The whole system.

-----
WHO I WORK WITH

CS leaders who've built a department but aren't getting traction:

✔  You deliver strong results, but executives still see CS as a cost center
✔  You're excluded from strategic decisions where your insights would be valuable
✔  You’re told "do more with less" instead of getting resources
✔  You know modern CS should look different, but you're stuck in outdated frameworks

-----
HOW WE WORK TOGETHER

⚡️ CS BUSINESS LEADERSHIP ACCELERATOR - Master the 4 pillars and build the Modern CS Growth System specific to your goals/challenges through executive peer community + project-based frameworks + personalized coaching.  

🔗 https://go.stepupxchange.com/csbl-accelerator

📬 NEWSLETTER:  I publish a weekly newsletter on modern CS strategies

📧 DM me and I'll share which resources fit you

-----
RESULTS

✅ Become an award-winning executive
✅ Reposition your team as a strategic revenue driver
✅ Transition from firefighting to repeatable, scalable systems
✅ Innovate with AI to drive profitable customer revenue growth

The modern CS leaders who succeed aren't keeping up with change: They're leading it. 

-----
📬 Newsletter: janyoungcx.com/#newsletter  
📧 DM me: discuss your challenges  
🎯 Follow for daily insights

Founding Member

RevRoom is a trusted space where curious revenue leaders are collaborating on the future of B2B Go to Market alignment and GTM-Led-Growth.

I've been this CS leader. Sitting on the side of the road, looking at a map, trying to figure out where I went wrong.

Not because I didn't have data. Because I was watching for the wrong things.

I had NRR. Churn rate. Ticket deflection and resolution. "Health score."

But all of those metrics told me where I'd been. None of them told me where my customers were going.

And by the time I saw it, it was too late to change anything.

I was working with a CS leader recently who had the same problem. 
She knew every account's story. 
And that was the issue.

Everything felt like an anecdote. No pattern emerged. Just a series of one-offs.

The problem isn't the data. 
It's that we measure what's available instead of what actually matters.

Without knowing which stops matter and when you should get there, you won't know you're off track until you've arrived somewhere you didn't intend to go.

What most dashboards show:
→ NRR, churn rate, ticket volume, "health score"

What actually tells you if a customer is on track:
→ Are they doing what your best customers do at this stage?
→ Are they hitting the moments that move them toward their goal?
→ Are they progressing on time, or quietly falling behind?
→ Have they actually achieved what they came for?

Once you've defined those milestones, AI does the watching for you. It surfaces who's falling behind early, so you can act while there's still time.

Without that foundation, you're just watching the gas gauge on a car with no map.

Do you know what "on track" looks like for your customers at each stage?

📝 This week's newsletter walks through how to build the map.
🔗 [https://lnkd.in/gBrhN3As

 Want faster results and a room full of CS leaders building alongside you? 
🚀  Doors are open for the StepUpXchange CS Business Leadership Accelerator through the end of this week. 

→ It's a guided, project-based community where we build these systems together. 

→ DM me if that's your kind of room.

StepUpXchange
JanYoungCX

Customer Success Leadership Coach | Transforming CS Leaders into AI-First Business Leaders | Modern CS Strategy + AI + Systems | 3X Top 25 CS Influencer | Get weekly CS strategies: Subscribe to my newsletter

What if Preventing Churn is the Wrong Goal?

The idea that the primary job of Customer Success is to prevent churn is the single biggest reason why most CS teams are treated like a cost center.
 
It's a fundamentally reactive and flawed way to view your customers.

Look, I completely understand why this belief is so common. Churn is a terrifying, revenue-killing metric. 

Every executive and board member is watching it, so it makes perfect sense to build your entire strategy around stopping the bleeding.

But "preventing churn" is just playing defense. 

It defines success by the absence of a negative. 

True Customer Success isn't about preventing failure; it's about actively engineering your customer's victory. 

When you become essential to their business outcomes, churn becomes an afterthought because successful partners don't leave.

Instead of playing defense, you go on offense by architecting customer growth with a proven system. 

It's about defining what “success” means for your customer and then using leading indicators to guide them there, turning their progress into your revenue.

So let me ask you... do you want to continue playing defense, constantly fighting to justify your team's existence by pointing to the disasters you prevented? 

Or are you ready to go on offense, becoming a proven revenue driver by architecting the growth you actively create?

If you’re ready to transform your CS team from a defensive cost center into a proactive growth engine, come learn the systems that make it possible.

👉  Comment “Modern CS Growth System” or DM me and I’ll share the info.

StepUpXchange
JanYoungCX

We're at a crossroads in CS and most leaders don't see it yet.

AI has changed what's possible. We can analyze data we couldn't touch before. Automate work that used to take hours. See patterns we used to miss.

But when it's time to scale? Most CS leaders still go back to the same place: "I need to hire another person."

That instinct made sense in the old era. It's a trap in this one.

Because the leaders pulling ahead aren't asking for more headcount. 
👉  They're redesigning how their teams create value.

I've seen it firsthand. Accelerator members have had their teams cut by 60 to 75% and still scaled their programs with better results. 
Not by working harder. 
By building differently.

Here's the thing: 
Depending on your business stage, your CS team is contributing 70 to 95% of your company's bottom line.

But most CS leaders are still acting like they're in the engine room. 
 - Burnt out. 
 - Stretched thin. 
Working overtime on a function that drives the business without claiming the influence to match.

The ones in strategic conversations? 
--> They've moved to the captain's deck. 
-->  Not because they asked for a seat. 
Because they own the metric that matters most: Customer Revenue.

The gap isn't experience. It's a model.

In the StepUpXchange CS Business Leadership Accelerator, we build that model: the Modern CS Growth System.

It has three parts:

👉  Customer Revenue Expertise. 
Stop hoping customers renew. Build a system that earns it.

👉  Business Expertise. 
Walk into executive conversations without needing a translator.

👉  AI Fluency. 
Not another tool to figure out alone. A strategic layer that multiplies what your team already does.

When these three come together, you stop being a cost center and start doing what CS was always built to do: 
🚀  Drive the revenue that grows the business.

You've heard "stop being a cost center" before. What you haven't had is a system to make it real.

Will you keep negotiating for budget to execute your vision?
Or build a model that earns you the influence you've already worked for?

Join us for the next StepUpXchange NexGen CS Leadership Masterclass:
📌  How You Can Drive Growth & Exec Impact 
       Even if You're Not in the Boardroom
📆  Tuesday, Feb 24
🕘  9am PT / 12pm ET / 5pm UK

StepUpXchange
JanYoungCX

If you've ever had a great idea for a CS tool and watched it die in a backlog, you know the feeling.

😣 That slow frustration of seeing exactly what your customers need, and having zero path to build it.

A renewal risk dashboard that updates in real time. An onboarding flow that adapts to each customer's tech stack. A health score calculator built around the metrics you actually care about.

All sitting in a ticket queue. Waiting on engineering. Going nowhere.

👉 Here's what most CS leaders don't realize yet:

💡 You already have everything you need to build those tools yourself.

Not because you've learned to code. Because you're closer to the customer than anyone else in your organization. You know which problems are worth solving and which ones are noise.

You know what customers actually struggle with. Which interventions move the needle. The gap between what executives say they want and what actually drives retention.

🧠 That knowledge is the strategy. AI is just the builder.

If you're a CS leader watching AI evolve and wondering how it actually applies to your work and your role, this is where it clicks.

I built an interactive CS assessment app in 4 hours with no coding background. Here's exactly how I did it, why building with AI is simpler than you think, and why your domain expertise is the unfair advantage that makes all of it work.

🗞️ Read it below 👇

If you want strategies like this hot off the press, join thousands of CS leaders at JanYoungCX.com/#newsletter - If you've ever had a great idea for a

Open article: That CS Tool You Wanted to Buy? How CS Leaders Are Building Them With AI Instead by Jan Young, MBA, CSPO, CSM • 7 min read

That CS Tool You Wanted to Buy? How CS Leaders Are Building Them With AI Instead

The best conferences don't just inform you. They change what you do on Monday morning.

I'm speaking at CS Summit NYC on March 10, and in my session we're going to reflect and take action. 
👉 CS Confessions: Vent, Share, Solve

Here's how it works...

By the time you get to me, you'll have spent the morning absorbing some seriously good content:
🔸  Customer data as strategy, 
🔸  Scaling CS without losing trust, 
🔸  Cross-functional alignment...

My session is where we stop, surface what hit home, and turn insight into ACTION.

We'll bring the real challenges to the table.  
Share with each other. 
And together we build an Action plan. 

Not "notes to revisit someday," but focused priorities you can act on now.

Then the afternoon shifts to AI in CS, and we'll go in primed. 

Because knowing WHAT to solve makes it a lot easier to figure out HOW AI can help you act faster and smarter.

Day Two continues that momentum. 
Every session, every conversation, every hallway connection becomes material for what you'll act on when you get back to your desk.

That's the point. 
Not just learning. 
Taking ACTION.

If you're in the NYC area, there's still time to register.
👉 https://lnkd.in/gpM7p6jA

What's one insight from your last conference that you actually turned into ACTION, and what made it stick?

Drop it in the comments. 
Let's build a resource thread right here.

So excited to partner with Customer Success Collective and Liza Shtilbans! 🚀

StepUpXchange
JanYoungCX

The Real Customer Success

As a Customer Success Advisor, I provide strategic guidance to help startups build scalable Customer Success (CS) practices that drive retention, growth, and long-term customer satisfaction. 

My expertise supports early-stage companies in designing and refining their CS playbooks, defining key customer health metrics, and implementing processes that can grow with the company.

Startup Advisor

Two millennials obsessed with Customer Success sharing their experiences and knowledge in Spanglish.

Podcast Co-Host

Stealth

Working on a new startup in the Customer Success space

Co-Founder

Peninsula - Corporate Innovation

I spearheaded the planning, execution, and management of comprehensive acceleration programs for early-stage startups, facilitating collaboration between mentors, industry experts, and investors to drive growth. I oversaw program progress, identifying improvement opportunities and implementing strategies to optimize outcomes. Additionally, I ensured seamless execution of workshops, training sessions, and pitch events, while providing tailored guidance to startups, helping them refine business models, secure funding, and scale operations effectively.

Senior Innovation Consultant

SalesMatch.Ai

Product Owner

Twenix

Twenix is ​​a B2B e-learning startup that helps corporate teams master English through daily 26′ online conversation sessions with teachers from all over the world.

People Manager collaborating cros-functionally, establishing and leading Twenix's Customer Success team, integrated by 5 professionals in charge of the Enterprise & SMB portfolios. Creating processes of the department from the ground.

Head of Customer Success

Signaturit

Self-service, business process, automation & data insight.   
Management of the CS Growth Team focused on accelerated account expansion and retention cycles (low-touch/tech-touch) & product discovery in collaboration with the product team. 
Building the customer's journey and business strategy for the SMB customers segment.
Ensure customers' growth, and retention through product adoption, process creation, workflow automation, and scalability.
Analysis of data on customer behavior to improve expansion opportunities, increase retention and enhance the customer experience.
Developing and implementing customers' health scoring (NPS, and others key metrics) model to improve ARPA.
Liaison with key people from other departments to coordinate cross-functional projects (product, marketing, data, sales, and finance).

CS Operations Manager

Business-oriented, product adoption, and product update email marketing.
Design and constant improvement of system reporting, dashboards, and KPIs related to customer base.
Identify opportunities to improve internal processes in the CS department and drive workflow design, system implementation, and enablement to achieve efficiencies and increase productivity.
Develop and improve systems and processes to accelerate time to value and product usage.

CS Operations

Photoslurp (merged with Flowbox)

SaaS Digital marketing platform for Visual UGC & Social Commerce. Responsible for client's brand consultation, customer onboarding, product adoption, and success. Close collaboration with product marketing. Creation and leading the Customer Success Department from the
ground, engaging in producto strategy and producto discovery, reporting directly to the CTO.

Head of Customer Success 

SYNERGIE ESPAÑA

Helping consulting companies find the right candidates for their talent acquisition strategy.

Talent Acquisition Specialist

Moment Magazine

Assisting in the preparation of marketing materials.
Pitching article and assisting in the development of social networks.

Marketing Analyst

UNELLEZ

I was invited by a professor to be the speaker of the "Self-esteem Workshop" for a group of accounting's students at the University.

Motivational Speaker

I am a psychologist trained to recognise behavior patterns, needs, and opportunities with a background in business projects development. I am good at integrating and collaborating effectively with cross-functional teams. My focus is on adding value to the companies through understanding customer needs, building processes, product discovery and keeping scalability as a premise.

María Isabel  Bechara

No necesitas gastar $50k al año en una plataforma especializada para gestionar bien Customer Success; solo necesitas HubSpot configurado de la manera adecuada.

Mientras construíamos Panora vimos un patrón que se repetía constantemente: muchas startups y empresas SaaS ya pagan por HubSpot y lo aprovechan muy bien para ventas pero siguen gestionando las renovaciones en hojas de cálculo, el onboarding en hilos de Slack y su health score simplemente no existe.

Las herramientas dedicadas a CS prometen resolverlo todo, pero en la práctica solo añaden otro login, un nuevo silo de datos y una plataforma extra que tu equipo debe configurar y mantener.

La ironía de todo esto es que HubSpot ya es capaz de hacer la mayor parte de lo que necesitas, el problema es que no viene preparado para ello por defecto. 

Para ahorrarte todo ese trabajo de configuración, hemos decidido documentar todo el proceso y compartirlo de forma gratuita, detallando cada workflow, pipeline y automatización.

El resultado es la guía más completa para gestionar Customer Success en HubSpot. Son más de 120 páginas donde explicamos cómo montar:
→ La automatización del traspaso de Ventas a Customer Success 
→ Pipelines de onboarding con alertas automáticas para clientes bloqueados 
→ Sistemas de health scoring (desde modelos simples hasta avanzados) 
→ El seguimiento y gestión de renovaciones multianuales 
→ Snapshots de previsión y análisis de precisión del forecast
→ Procesos para expansión de cuentas, recuperación de churn y recogida de NPS
→ Dashboards que realmente te indican dónde poner el foco cada día

Todas estas configuraciones están diseñadas utilizando únicamente funcionalidades nativas de los planes Starter y Pro de HubSpot. Cero objetos personalizados y cero necesidad de involucrar a un equipo de desarrollo.

🤖 Además, hemos creado un GPT personalizado entrenado con toda la guía. Así puedes preguntarle directamente cómo adaptar cada configuración a la realidad específica de tu empresa.

Escribe "CS" en los comentarios, dale like a este post y te lo envío por DM.👇

María Isabel  Bechara Febres

Innovation & Product Strategy | Behavioral Psychology × SaaS | Bridging Tech, AI & Retention

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