Anika Zubair (00:00.652)
You're not losing customers because your product isn't good enough. You're losing customers because your customer doesn't feel heard. If you ever left a call thinking, answered every question and still that call went nowhere, then today's episode is for you. Hello everyone. I'm your host, Anika Zuber and welcome to the Customer Success Pro Podcast, your go-to space for real talk.

expert advice and actual insights in the world of customer success. I'm a CS executive leader, award-winning strategist, CS coach and customer success fanatic. I help CSMs and CS leaders build the skills and the confidence to become revenue driving pros and scale world-class CS teams. So whether you're brand new to CS or a seasoned leader, this podcast is here to support your growth because customer success isn't a destination.

It's a journey and I'm here to be your guide and navigate every step of your journey. So join me every Wednesday where you'll get fresh CS tips, tricks and strategies you can actually use. Some weeks I'll share my own insights and best practices from working in CS over the last 13 years. And once a month, I'll bring on expert guests to dive into the most relevant and pressing topics in customer success today. So if you're ready to level up,

hit subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you tune in. And let's make your CS journey a little bit easier together.

Anika Zubair (01:40.13)
Right, let's talk about the most underrated commercial skill in customer success, active listening. Because if you master this, your renewals, upsells, and custom relationships will never look the same again. Okay, here's the problem I see too often. Most customer sales professionals think they're good listeners, but there's a huge difference between hearing and listening.

And when a customer says we're not seeing the value or it's not a priority right now, that's not the end of the conversation. That's actually the beginning. If you don't know how to listen beneath the surface, you are going to miss the real reasons behind stall renewals or ghosting or churn. And if you're constantly getting surprised by customer decisions, this is probably why.

Here are some of the mistakes that I hear that are happening in customer success. And this is happening way too often. And I've made these mistakes early on in my career as well. And I thought I was actively listening. But honestly, looking back and reflecting, I really wasn't. First of all, listening to reply and not to understand. This is a mistake that is so easily done. And I bet you, I actually bet you $100 that you're probably doing this today.

And it's not necessarily your fault, but it is just how we listen. And you're probably already thinking about your customer success plan or the perfect slide to show in a quarterly business review, but you're missing the subtext. When you are listening and you're actually listening and waiting to reply, you are missing so much that your customer is probably telling you because we're already thinking about the next thing we're going to say instead of.

properly listening to our customer. And this is natural. A conversation is a back and forth. We want to say something insightful or meaningful back to our customer. But just listening to reply is not going to unlock any further revenue with your customer. The second mistake that I've done too many times and I see still happening with a lot of customer success pros is not noticing tone.

Anika Zubair (03:54.154)
or the body language of someone, especially when you're on video or in person with them. If someone goes quiet or crosses their arms or avoids eye contact, or maybe they're looking distracted on Zoom or looking at a different screen, that is a clear sign. And ignoring it can cost you trust. You need to read the room, as many people say.

And the third mistake that we all do, and I know I'm still guilty of this, although I think I've gotten better over the years, is filling silence too quickly. For some reason, CS pros think that they need to know all, meaning that they have to talk for the full 30, 45 minutes or hour of a customer meeting. Now, that is so incorrect. Silence is super powerful.

but many CS pros rush to fill it with more words, more slides, more data, more, more, more, more, more. But let me tell you, silence often invites a bigger conversation. But if you don't allow for silence in a conversation, the conversation is going to not be a conversation at all, and it's gonna be a lecture from yourself because you are gonna be doing all the talking.

So when you share a very impactful data point or a new slide or customer roadmap that you want to show with your customers, just wait, give it a few seconds. I actually say silence on my slides. Okay, I don't put it on the slide, but I put it into the speaker notes of my slides so I can remind myself to really just take a pause, take a breather because pausing and actually listening to your customers invites truth.

invites an open conversation, invites understanding why they want to renew or maybe why they don't want to renew. But if you don't invite silence into a conversation, you are basically railroading your customer and they're not going to be interested in that conversation. All right, one other thing that I see happen too often and I know I did this as well in my first role as a CSM is you never confirm what you've heard.

Anika Zubair (06:06.15)
I see this too often. Again, when we're in a conversation, it's almost like we want to reply, but instead of just jumping in with a reply, you just nod and move on. But did you actually capture what matters most to them? If not, your action plan might solve the wrong problem. Too many times have I seen it where CS pros hear a customer say, okay, our goals have shifted and changed, and then they just

go on to their next slide, or they go into their customer success plan and start talking about their previous goals. Did you actually hear that your customer is changing priority? If you did, acknowledge it. Let them know that you've heard it, and even repeat it back to them, because that can be super powerful as well. But make sure you are actually acknowledging it, and make sure that you then go into what's next for them, and not necessarily what's next for you.

Too often in my career and too often with customer success pros do I see people just saying, okay, that sounds great. And then going on to the next slide. Remember, we're not slide monkeys. We're not here to be AI robots. We're here to be strategic and have a conversation with your customer. If your customer wants to give you more acknowledgement or share something that's changed, don't just nod and move on. Actually acknowledge it, capture it.

share with them that you've heard it. And my favorite way of doing this actually is bringing up a Google note or a Google sheet, a brand new one, and just taking notes as they share whatever's changing because it really shows you are actually actively listening. Now, I've already started to share a few of the things that I've changed over the years when it comes to becoming a better active listener, but

I need you to start to shift because becoming an active listener isn't just listening more or speaking less. You really do need to make a shift in how you work as a customer success professional. And you need to now turn passive listening into strategic customer success because that will be a superpower for you to unlock more revenue and to actually make it easier to have tougher conversations with your customers.

Anika Zubair (08:29.87)
So the first thing that I want you to start doing is I want you to start to use the power of reflection. So after a customer shares something that's super important, like I said, maybe they've had a shift in strategy or they actually have a totally new team using your product, I want you to pause and say, just so I understand you correctly, you're saying X, Y, Z. Just repeat back what they said. And then,

I want you to make sure that you say it in that way and ask them, did I summarize this correctly? This will confirm your alignment and that you've actually listened to them. And when you use this sort of strategy of communication, it builds trust instantly. Suddenly your customer's like, wow, my CSM actually heard me and actually understands. And the...

The way to build that level of trust is repeating things back in their own words, by the way. Don't use your own company jargon or your product features or how your company works. Use their language and repeat it back to them. Okay, coming back to silence, this is another tip that I'm going to recommend you take on because silence is super powerful. So the second thing I want you to start to do when it comes to really working on your active listening,

is let silence do the work. After you ask a powerful question like what's blocking you from getting full value from our product or tool, just wait. Just wait. I didn't add anything more to that question. I need you to wait. I don't need you to give them the answer. I don't need you to jump ahead and say,

is it this feature or is it the lack of support or is it because the roadmap is in a line? Don't give them the answers. Just ask the question and then let the silence stretch. This is honestly where you do your best discovery as a customer success pro. And this is where you are going to be able to uncover if this account is at risk or if it says potential to grow or if the renewal is going to be easy or tough.

Anika Zubair (10:48.502)
You need to let the silence do the work and you need to ask a good question and let the silence do the work. Okay, another tip I have to share that I also coach all my CSM RevUp Academy students on is layering questioning or layering discovery. You don't stop at the first answer. What I want you to say is, okay,

That makes sense. Can you tell me more about why that's a challenge right now? Dig deeper. You'll find expansion opportunities, potential risk, and hidden champions when you actually dig deeper. You need to do layered discovery and you need to ask follow-up questions. So when you ask a customer a question saying, why aren't you seeing value from our product this week or this year?

Don't just end with, okay, I understand and now let me go get our product or marketing or sales team involved. Don't jump to conclusions. I need you to ask two to three follow-up questions to dig a little bit deeper. Because when you start asking the right questions, your customers will tell you exactly what the renewal is gonna look like or exactly the upsell opportunity that is there.

But if you do not ask the follow-up questions, you're never going to get the right answers. So make sure you're layering your questions. I'm just jumping in here to tell you a little bit more about how you can drive revenue in a quarterly business review. Do you ever feel like your QBRs are falling flat or you're spending hours building decks, but your customers still say they're not seeing the value?

and your renewals feel shaky and the execs don't show up and you're left wondering if all of that QBR prep was even worth it. Now imagine this, you run your next quarterly business view and your customer leans in and says, this is exactly what we needed. They see the value, they stay engaged, and by the end of the meeting, they're already talking about what's next. The renewal, the expansion, the extended partnership.

Anika Zubair (13:02.284)
That's exactly what a revenue-focused quarterly business review can do. And I want to help you make that happen. All you have to do is download my free guide, Revenue in QBRs, and you'll be able to do that. This isn't your average template, by the way. It's the actual framework I've used to close six-figure renewals as a customer success manager. And because you're a loyal podcast listener, you're getting free access to it. So go to

thecustomersuccesspro.com forward slash resources and download it now. It's absolutely free and it might just be the thing that changes your next renewal conversation. Go to thecustomersuccesspro.com forward slash resources and download your guide today. All right, back to the episode.

Okay, another and my final active listening tip is I want you to start to reflect their emotional language. So if they say something like, we're frustrated with the reporting, don't just gloss over it. Say something like, I hear that it's been frustrating. Can you share more about when that started? This is empathy that's going to build trust and build buy-in. And I want you to use their exact

words. A lot of times we end up missing our customers' and emotions because we then tie our feelings and emotion into the conversation and we don't use their exact words. Instead of using frustrated, maybe someone says, I hear that it's not working. Don't say that. Use their exact words because when you use their exact words in active listening, it really shows

that you understand and that you are empathetic to what they're going through. And whenever we use the technique of mirroring in a conversation, people are more receptive. Your customers will be more receptive to hearing exactly what you have to do to fix their frustration if you're able to mirror their words and their emotions. I almost forgot. I have one last tip for you, but I want to make sure that as you're having these

Anika Zubair (15:19.71)
active conversations. said it earlier, but I want you to take structured notes and recap. Listen, we all have AI tools that are in our meetings and that are taking notes for us. But if you are having a strategic conversation with your customer or a tough one for that matter, I want you to pull up your notes app. It can be the notes app on your computer. It can be a new Google sheet or a word doc. Doesn't matter. I want you to pull up a blank document, share your screen,

and start typing everything up as they're saying it. Now you don't need to be a typewriter and write every single word exactly as they say it, but just write some outline notes and a recap. And at the end of that meeting, I always send a short summary of the email and the exact doc that we're working on. Because again, when you're able to show them that you are actually actively listening, they will be so much more receptive to you.

and so much more open to the strategic advice you have to give. And when I do follow up in an email, I always use the language, here's what I heard, here's what we're doing, and here's what success looks like based on what you said in today's call. This builds a level of credibility, but also it makes you look like a pro. You are suddenly listening to exactly what your customer cares about. And that is where active listening

really unlocks revenue and customer success because when you actively listening, it is actively making your customers want to trust you more, see you as a strategic advisor, and when you are seen in that way, you ultimately are able to unlock revenue opportunities. Okay, let me tell you a quick story. Early on in my customer success career when I was a CSM, I was on a renewal call with a big customer, like one of our biggest logos.

I had my QBR deck ready. I had practiced it a million times. I had rehearsed it until my face turned blue. I was so ready to show them value and to get an upsell out of this conversation. But halfway through the meeting, their VP of operations said, we're not sure we need this anymore. It's just not working for us. And instead of defending or diving into a new feature or going into all of my

Anika Zubair (17:46.39)
remaining slides of the quarterly business review, I paused and said, I'd love to understand what's changed since the last time we spoke. Can you walk me through that? And I just listened and I actually closed my slides and I picked up a brand new empty slide deck and I listened and I took notes. There was no more QBR slides, no filler words, no data charts, just listening.

And what came out was a misalignment between teams, a lack of internal enablement, and a new priority from their board. Now, if I had just kept going through the slides and said, okay, we can pick this up or let's go into churn mitigation mode, then I would have probably just been stressed and I would have caused my customer even more stressed. But that moment where I was able to pivot,

and that conversation that I started in the middle of a quarterly business review actually saved the renewal. Not because I prepared a QBR better or I pitched an upsell or I shared the roadmap earlier, but just because I listened better to the customer. And that is why active listening is such a strategic skill in customer success. All right, we're at that point of the podcast where I wanna challenge you and I wanna make sure that

you become a better active listener after listening to this episode. So in your next three customer calls, I want you to do just one thing. I promise it's simple, but I am challenging you to try it, okay? I want you to pause for three full seconds after your customer finished speaking. I want you to count silently in your head if you have to. Just say one, two, three. Notice what comes next.

It might be the truth you've been missing. It might be your customer answering a question you've been asking time and time again. And if you're feeling brave, try reflecting back what they said to you back to them. It'll change the tone of the call, I promise. So please go out there and try it on your next three customer calls. pause, let the silence do the work for you.

Anika Zubair (20:07.796)
Okay, we covered a lot in today's episode and I want to recap quickly everything that we did cover. So first of all, I talked about how active listening is the most powerful skill in your CS toolkit. So do not forget it, but also know that like any other skill in your CS toolkit, you need to practice it. It's a muscle that you need to work out. I also covered some

early mistakes that I made as a CSM in my career and that I still see happening today when it comes to active listening. And I know it's super easy to make these mistakes and not to understand, but remember, you've got to practice in order to become better at active listening. I also gave you five insider tips on how you can fix these mistakes by using reflection, practice, silence,

asking layered discovery questions, and confirming alignment after every call. These are the tips that make you a better active listener. And I promise if you just start doing one of them, you will build more credibility and more trust with your customer. And when you build that trust, it is going to reduce churn and it uncovers revenue opportunities without ever feeling salesy.

All right, if this episode helped you rethink how you show up in customer meetings, then why don't you share it with a teammate? Listening is a team sport and I want to help as many customer success pros out there. And don't forget, download your free Revenue in Quarterly Business Reviews guide and it's waiting for you at thecustomersuccesspro.com forward slash resources. Again, thecustomersuccesspro.com

I promise you this guide will give you the exact structure to make sure your quarterly business reviews unlock more revenue with your customers. Alright, until next time, I'm Anika Zuber, and remember, it's not about saying more. It's about listening better. I'll catch you next week for our next episode, and keep on listening to practice your active listening skills.

Anika Zubair (22:25.451)
Thanks for tuning in to the Customer Success Pro Podcast. I hope you picked up something valuable to take back to your team. If you enjoyed this episode, it would mean the world to me if you took just 10 seconds to leave a review on Apple or Spotify. It helps more CS pros like yourself discover the show. And creating new episodes takes a lot of work, so leaving a nice review keeps me motivated to keep creating. And don't forget to hit subscribe on Apple, Spotify,

YouTube or wherever you listen to podcast episodes. I drop a new episode every Wednesday packed with practical tips. And if you've got a topic you'd love for me to cover or want to be a guest on my show, send me a message. All the details are in the show notes. I'd love to hear from you. And hey, if this episode helped you share it with a fellow CSM or CS leader. Remember sharing is caring. Cheers to your CS journey and I'll catch you next week for our next episode.