Keeping customers happy no longer protects your job. Buyers want measurable business outcomes, and the customer success competencies you leaned on in the last decade will not carry you forward.

Host Alex Raymond sits down with Bradley Lawrence, former Global Head of Customer Experience at Coursera, who has led customer teams for more than fifteen years. Bradley names the five customer success competencies every CSM needs now, from a revenue-aligned commercial mindset to executive influence. He also draws a hard line on AI in customer success and identifies the three parts of the job humans should never hand over.

Alex shares a stat you will remember. Bring the C-suite to your QBRs, and you create significantly more expansion opportunities. Leave the meeting to junior contacts, and churn risk climbs. Bradley turns this into QBR best practices and a coaching move for reaching decision-makers you have never met. He rolled out an AI layer built for a thirty percent productivity lift, then explained why the win goes to your team, not your headcount. You will also hear why the relationship-only CSM is running out of road, and which customer success manager skills matter more than pure rapport.

Bradley also examines customer success leadership, why humility beats seniority, and how leaders can replace the customer happiness myth with a focus on business outcomes. Press play to learn the five competencies your career needs as AI reshapes post-sales work.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Alex Raymond Opens Account Management Secrets

02:20 The Biggest Misconception About Customer Success

03:46 Building Customer Success Competencies Through Strategic Priorities

06:37 Why Most QBR Training Falls Short

08:05 The Relationship-Only CSM Is Becoming Obsolete

11:14 What It Really Means to Be Strategic

15:14 Coaching CSMs to Reach the C-Suite

17:53 The Data Behind C-Suite Engagement and Churn

20:09 Evaluating and Investing in AI Tools for Customer Success

22:38 What Humans Should Never Outsource to AI

25:55 Rolling Out Cora.ai and Measuring Productivity Gains

31:25 The Five Competencies Shaping Customer Success

34:56 Leading with Humility in Customer Experience

36:58 Replacing Customer Happiness with Business Outcomes

Connect with Bradley Lawrence:

Connect with Bradley on LinkedIn

Connect with Alex Raymond:

Connect with Alex on LinkedIn

Visit the AMplify website

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Most account managers can’t clearly explain what their job is, and that gap costs them money, energy, and career momentum. This episode of Account Management Secrets delivers the account management career advice Alex Raymond has collected across 100 episodes and two years of conversations with account managers and customer success leaders around the world.

Alex breaks down the five lessons that mattered most. He explains why post-sales work still lacks a shared definition and how that gap leaves teams recreating systems and processes that should already exist. He also tackles the account management vs. sales mindset head-on. By reframing selling as delivering value before revenue is earned, Alex offers a different perspective on how to grow in account management without losing the trust customers depend on.

Alex makes the case for net revenue as the single metric worth rallying an account management team around instead of chasing a dozen scattered KPIs. He shares why no one is coming to save your career and what that means for anyone serious about post-sales career growth. The episode also includes the story of one account manager who grew a single account from $50,000 to $10 million, proof that the growth department account management movement is real and already changing how the role gets measured.

Press play and walk away with account management career advice you can use this week, not someday.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Celebrating 100 Episodes and Two Years of Lessons

02:25 Guests Spanning Every Industry and Account Size

04:51 Why Post-Sales Still Has No Standard Definition

09:43 Reframing Selling as Value Before Revenue

19:29 Making Net Revenue Retention the North Star

24:15 No One Is Coming to Save Your Career

29:00 The Growth Department and Joanna's 200x Account

33:54 Closing Thoughts and Thanks to the Community

Connect with Alex Raymond:

Connect with Alex on LinkedIn

Visit the AMplify website

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Account manager vs project manager isn't just a title swap. Smash the two roles together, and you get the worst of both worlds, with no time to do either job well.

On Account Management Secrets, Alex Raymond talks with Stephan Schroeder, Vice President of Global Sales and Client Services for the Automotive and Mobility Practice at Escalent. Escalent works with almost all major global automotive manufacturers, from Ford and GM to Toyota and Honda, as well as global suppliers like Lear and Magna. It is account management inside a concentrated industry, where the traditional pool of potential clients is finite and every relationship needs to generate business for years, not just months.

Stephan lays out the account manager career path as a fork in the road. One track leans into client relationship management and sales, eventually taking responsibility for larger books of business. The other builds solutions, project delivery, and subject-matter expertise. He walks through the triangle every account manager has to manage at once: the client, the team, and the boss above them. Get that balance wrong, and the pressure quickly compounds.

Stephan also explains why account managers are often the first to recognize emerging client needs. He describes account management as the canary in the coal mine when it comes to identifying what customers may need next. He also shares a tiered system he used earlier in his career to move new account managers onto larger clients without setting them up to fail. Listen to the whole episode to hear why separating account management from project management can create clearer career paths, stronger client relationships, and better results

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Meet Stephan Schroeder and Escalent's Automotive Practice

02:44 Working With Global Automakers and Major Suppliers

05:15 Revenue Goals, Retention, and Client Satisfaction Scores

11:41 Account Management Inside a Concentrated Industry

14:41 Growing the Business Through Innovation and New Markets

18:38 How Account Managers Surface New Product Ideas

25:51 Choosing a Sales Track or a Delivery Track

31:58 Account Manager vs Project Manager: Why the Roles Get Confused

41:16 The Client, Team, and Boss Triangle

47:49 Advice for Breaking Into Account Management

Connect with Stephan Schroeder: Connect with Stephan on LinkedIn

Visit the Escalent website

Connect with Alex Raymond:

Connect with Alex on LinkedIn

Visit the AMplify website

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm