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John Brunkard

AMA: Adobe Head of Customer Success (Asia), John Brunkard on Customer Success / Sales Alignment

December 10 @ 10:00AM PT

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  1. What change management practices have worked when shifting responsibilities between Sales and CS (e.g., moving renewals to CS)?

    John Brunkard
    John Brunkard

    Salamander Advisory Customer Success Advisor | Formerly Adobe, Sitecore, Red Hat, Symantec, Blue Coat, Intel, Dell, Dialogic • 6mo

    My core belief: Renewals are a shared outcome, but negotiation is a specialist skill. CS should make renewal a complete non-event through value delivery and risk removal. The final negotiation (pricing, concessions, legal) is still best led by a Renewals Manager or Sales rep. Successful change management recipe (never skipped a step and never failed): Rational of the change : Crystal-clear “Why” + shared Decision MatrixEveryone must understand and stae in one sentence why the change is happening ...Read More

    447 Views
    1 request

  2. Which tools or integrations best support Sales–CS alignment (CRM, CPQ, success plan templates, handoff forms)?

    John Brunkard
    John Brunkard

    Salamander Advisory Customer Success Advisor | Formerly Adobe, Sitecore, Red Hat, Symantec, Blue Coat, Intel, Dell, Dialogic • 6mo

    I’m probably going to disappoint the tool junkies, but after 15+ years fixing broken Sales–CS alignment at dozens of companies, my strong opinion is this: The highest-leverage “tools” are not software — they’re two disciplined documents: The Sales-to-CS Handover Document (the single biggest predictor of Day-30 health)If this is sloppy, no amount of Gainsight rules or Salesforce automation will save you.A great handover must ensure that the sales rep captures: Exact business problem the customer ...Read More

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    2 requests

  3. How early do you involve Customer Success in the sales cycle, and for which deal types or segments?

    John Brunkard
    John Brunkard

    Salamander Advisory Customer Success Advisor | Formerly Adobe, Sitecore, Red Hat, Symantec, Blue Coat, Intel, Dell, Dialogic • 6mo

    I suggest that there are two completely different playbooks depending on whether it’s an existing customer or a new logo. Existing customers (expansion / upsell / cross-sell) The CSM owns discovery and qualification – they are closest to the account and surface the majority of the best opportunities. Once the opportunity is qualified, the CSM hands it to Sales to run and close. The CSM stays actively involved (attends key calls, advises on use cases, pricing objections, stakeholder map, required ...Read More

    433 Views
    1 request

  4. How do you split ownership of upsell vs. cross-sell opportunities, and what triggers route opportunities to Sales vs. CS?

    John Brunkard
    John Brunkard

    Salamander Advisory Customer Success Advisor | Formerly Adobe, Sitecore, Red Hat, Symantec, Blue Coat, Intel, Dell, Dialogic • 6mo

    Simple, repeatable model I’ve used in the past. CS owns discovery & qualificationThe CSM is closest to the customer every day → they surface 70-80 % of the best upsell/cross-sell opportunities anyway.They run discovery, confirm budget/authority/need/timeline, and create a CSQL (Customer Success Qualified Lead). Sales owns execution & closeAs soon as it’s a qualified CSQL, it instantly routes to Sales.Sales runs the deal exactly like a new-logo opportunity (demos, pricing, negotiation, le ...Read More

    392 Views
    1 request

  5. How do you keep Sales and CS narratives (decks, ROI models, value hypotheses) consistent across the customer journey?

    John Brunkard
    John Brunkard

    Salamander Advisory Customer Success Advisor | Formerly Adobe, Sitecore, Red Hat, Symantec, Blue Coat, Intel, Dell, Dialogic • 6mo

    This is an interesting questions. Here some ideas to consider. Consistency starts with one rule: one single, shared, always-up-to-date library that everyone actually uses. Here are some suggestions on how it could be implemented: Central “Source of Truth” LibraryOne place (Google Drive/SharePoint etc) with only the current approved versions of: Value/ROI decks & calculators (by segment/industry) Success stories & reference library Mutual Success Plan template Standard EBR/QBR skeletonsOl ...Read More

    371 Views
    1 request

  6. How do you define and enforce a clean handoff from Sales to CS, and what artifacts are required?

    John Brunkard
    John Brunkard

    Salamander Advisory Customer Success Advisor | Formerly Adobe, Sitecore, Red Hat, Symantec, Blue Coat, Intel, Dell, Dialogic • 6mo

    In my experience a clean handoff is non-negotiable. It is the single biggest predictor of Day-30 health, time-to-value, and eventual expansion.My definition of “clean”:The CSM can run their first customer meeting without ever needing to ask Sales a single question.Below are some ideas on how this could be enforced and the exact required artifacts: A mandatory Handover Document (most critical)This is a structured, templated document that must be completed and approved by the CSM (ideally) before ...Read More

    398 Views
    1 request