Why CS Keeps Underselling Itself

This week on Doing it For Retention, Luke is joined by Anika Zubair, Founder and CEO of The Customer Success Pro, former VP of CS, keynote speaker, podcast host, and one of the most recognised voices in the CS community. Anika spent many years as a B2B SaaS operator before breaking out on her own to help CS professionals do what the function has always struggled with: articulating commercial value and owning revenue outcomes. In this episode, Luke and Anika get into why CS still shies away from the revenue conversation, why so many CSMs write CVs full of activities but no outcomes, and what candidates are doing right now that is actively harming their chances in the job market. AI comments on LinkedIn. Blanket cold DMs. Applying for 17 different roles at the same company. All of it. And yes, someone ate chips during a QBR presentation. That gets covered too. Useful Links Check out: ‪@TheCustomerSuccessPro‬ 🔗 Anika Zubair on LinkedIn:   / anikazubair   🔗 The Customer Success Pro: https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com 🎙️ The Customer Success Pro Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2IVZCeB... 🔗 Luke Bartram on LinkedIn:   / lukebartram   🔗 ABR Talent: https://www.abrtalent.com 🎙️ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0rWFNvv... CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction — Anika Zubair & Luke Bartram 02:00 Anika's background — SDR to VP of CS to Founder 04:00 Why CS still hates being associated with revenue 05:30 A renewal is a sale. No one has to stay in your contract forever. 07:00 Domain experience, empathy, and thinking like your customers 09:00 The evolution of the CSM role — from CSAT to revenue ownership 11:00 AI investment, funding pressure, and what it means for CS teams 13:00 Why CS hasn't taken enough credit for the revenue it drives 15:30 How CS articulates value vs how sales and marketing do it 17:00 NRR — most CSMs don't know how to calculate it 19:00 The pressure on CS leaders to do more with less 21:00 How to articulate commercial outcomes on your CV 23:00 What hiring managers are actually looking for in an interview 25:00 Three things candidates are doing right now that don't work 28:00 AI LinkedIn comments — CS leaders have group chats about them 30:00 The problem with blanket networking and cold DMs 32:00 Job hunting is prospecting. CS is bad at both for the same reason. 35:00 Building something with AI instead of spamming hiring managers 38:00 The interview is the first test of how you'll sit in front of a customer 40:00 How to use your network without burning it 43:00 Vish — the candidate who built a project plan mid-process and got hired 46:00 Knowing within 10 minutes — what gives it away 48:00 The worst interview moment Anika has ever seen (chips were involved) 51:00 The candidate who appeared on Naked Attraction 53:00 Quickfire — books, advice, superpowers, and what kindness is worth