Customer journey orchestration is everywhere right now. Slides. Demos. Board decks. But most CS teams are trying to force customers through a neat journey that doesn’t exist.

In this Growth Pill, I break down:

• Why rigid customer journeys fail in the real world
• What “journey orchestration” actually means in practice
• Why AI is exciting, but also dangerous, without the right data
• Why you need both structured and unstructured data
• And the one move CS leaders should make in 2026 if they want to move fast

If you’re a Customer Success leader experimenting with AI, journeys, or orchestration, this is a reality check worth watching.

When a customer complains, most people rush to explain, defend, or panic.

That’s how small issues turn into big frustrations and even churn.

Here’s the framework I teach every customer-facing professional to turn these situations around: L.A.Y.E.R.

- Listen (don’t interrupt)

- Acknowledge (name the pain and the impact)

- Explore (ask what “success” looks like)

- Respond (take ownership, set an update time, and advocate internally)

Next time a customer is in front of you and things have gone wrong: use L.A.Y.E.R. and watch the whole conversation change.

In this episode of Growth Pills, I unpack three shifts that are quietly breaking the old CS model.1 - Products are no longer selling features. They are delivering outcomes, fast. AI sets a new bar for time-to-value and customers expect results, not potential.2- Pricing is moving from access to usage. Consumption models force proof, not promises, and make renewals evidence-led in a world where switching is easy.3- And customers are no longer learning from your team. They are learning from AI, arriving smarter, faster, and expecting deeply relevant guidance.Ignore these shifts and CS becomes irrelevant.Master them and it becomes your strongest growth engine.