The best podcasts for customer success: onboarding, churn and retention, renewals and expansion, health scores and building a CS team. Ranked for what a CSM or CS leader can apply.
Josh Schachter (SVP of Atlas at Gainsight; the show is published by Gainsight, a customer success software company)
interviews with customer success and retention leaders · 25-45 min · weekly · since 2022
Why it is #1: It is the most consistent weekly show on retention, with guests who run real renewal and churn numbers at known software companies. You get specific changes to try, not general talk about customer centricity.
What it is like: Focused talks on renewals, churn, expansion and how AI is changing post-sale teams. Guests are CS and revenue leaders at software companies, often with named numbers from their own teams.
What should my CSMs ask customers instead of 'would you renew?'
Can AI agents handle part of my renewal book, and which part?
How do I standardize CS across teams that came from different acquisitions?
How do I prove to the CFO that our CS spend pays off?
Start with
Stop Asking "Would You Renew?" Ask This Instead ft. Bob London.A specific change to the questions CSMs ask before a renewal.
Owning Retention & Standardizing CS Across 17 Acquisitions ft. Rebecca Nerad (Advantive).How one leader built a single retention process across many merged teams.
Best for: CS managers, VPs of CS and chief customer officers
Skip it if: You want vendor-neutral content only; it is a Gainsight show and Gainsight staff appear as guests.
Anika Zubair (founder and CEO of The Customer Success Pro, a CS coaching and education company; former Head of Customer Success at Griffin)
solo episodes and interviews with CS leaders · 35-60 min · weekly · since 2024
Why it is #2: It treats CS as a revenue job and gives step-by-step plans for renewals, expansion and NRR forecasting. The solo episodes are close to a training session you can reuse with your team.
What it is like: Practical CS operating topics: owning NRR, renewals, expansion, price increases, QBRs. Solo episodes often walk through a plan step by step.
Jay Nathan (co-founder of ChiefCustomerOfficer.io, a newsletter and paid community for CS leaders). Jeff Breunsbach (co-founder of ChiefCustomerOfficer.io)
two-host conversations, with occasional guests · 35-50 min · weekly · since 2026
Why it is #3: It is the show most focused on how CS leaders are rebuilding their teams around AI tools, from people building those tools themselves. The framework episodes on segmentation and capabilities are useful even if you skip the AI ones.
What it is like: Two CS operators talk through how they run customer teams, with a strong focus on AI agents and internal tools in 2026. Some episodes are CS strategy frameworks, such as segmentation and core team capabilities.
Kristi Faltorusso (customer revenue advisor; ran CS at five companies over 15+ years, from CSM to chief customer officer)
solo episodes, plus guest episodes where a leader walks through a hard decision · 25-50 min · irregular; weekly at launch, then a gap from June to November 2026 · since 2026
Why it is #4: A former CCO explains post-sale decisions from the leader's seat, including the mistakes she made. Each episode aims at one move you can use that week and how to explain it to your CEO.
What it is like: Plain talk about running post-sale teams: renewals, expansion, onboarding, governance and working with sales. The host says what worked and what did not at her own companies.
Bring it questions like
What does weak CSM onboarding cost us, and how do I fix it?
How do I hand over accounts between CSMs without losing them?
Why do customer executives stop showing up, and what do I do about it?
How do I get sales and CS aligned on who owns what?
Start with
EPS 8: Survive or Thrive: The Real Cost of Lazy CSM Onboarding.What a new CSM needs in their first weeks and what skipping it costs.
EPS 5: Account Transitions: What could possibly go wrong?.How to move accounts between CSMs without hurting the relationship.
Best for: CS directors and VPs who own retention revenue
Skip it if: You need a steady weekly show; releases paused for five months in 2026.
Angeline Gavino (founder of CS RevSpeak; built and scaled CS teams at four startups over 17+ years in B2B SaaS)
solo episodes, short guest spotlights and client stories · 15-30 min · every two weeks · since 2024
Why it is #5: Short, focused episodes on the management side of CS: comp plans, coaching and influence. Few other CS shows cover these topics directly.
What it is like: Short episodes on leading a CS function: coaching CSMs, compensation, influence with executives, owning revenue. Mostly the host alone.
Bring it questions like
How do I design a CSM compensation plan that still works as we grow?
How do I coach CSMs to act as advisors, not coordinators?
How does consumption-based pricing change the CS job?
How do I manage CSM performance before problems show up?
Start with
The CS Leader's Guide to Designing Compensation Plans That Scale.How to set CSM pay tied to retention and expansion.
From Coordinators to Trusted Advisors: How to Coach Your CSMs Through This Shift.A coaching plan for moving CSMs into more strategic work.
Best for: New heads of CS and CS directors
Skip it if: You want guest-heavy interviews or long discussions.
Alex Turkovic (founder of digitalcustomersuccess.com; has spent a decade building digital CS programs)
solo episodes and interviews on digital and scaled CS · 15-50 min · irregular; weekly runs with gaps of a few months · since 2023
Why it is #6: It is the main show on one-to-many CS for teams that cannot assign a CSM to every account. The solo episodes show the actual workflow, not only the idea.
What it is like: Scaled and digital customer success: health scores, churn analysis, moving customers to self-serve, and using AI tools in CS operations. Solo episodes are often hands-on walkthroughs.
Why do customers with green health scores still churn?
How do I run a churn analysis with AI tools?
How do I move low-touch customers from CSMs to self-serve?
Which CS operations tasks can I automate with AI agents?
Start with
Your Health Score Is Green But They Are Gone - The Silent Segment of Customers | Episode 109.Why health scores miss a group of quiet customers who leave.
The Digital Divorce: Moving Customers from CSMs to Self-Serve | Episode 102.How to shift accounts to a digital motion without losing them.
Customer Success Talks: Real Challenges, Experts' Advice
Bayron Toruño (CS practitioner and co-organizer of the PxA CS Summit)
interviews with CS practitioners, plus short lessons · 40-60 min · every two weeks · since 2023
Why it is #7: It is written for individual CSMs rather than leaders, and covers the daily job in detail. Good for building skills that most CS shows assume you already have.
What it is like: Conversations aimed at CSMs in their first years: QBRs, adoption, churn, workload and working with product. Guests are mostly working CSMs and CS leaders.
Bring it questions like
How do I run a QBR that customers actually find useful?
How do I cope when my book of accounts doubles?
How do I work with product so customer requests get built?
What financial skills does a CSM need?
Start with
Why Most QBRs Fail And the 15-Minute QBR That Fixes Them.A shorter QBR format you can use with your next customer.
CSM vs. Product: How to Build a Real Partnership for Better Features.How to bring customer feedback to product so it gets acted on.
Best for: CSMs in their first few years
Skip it if: You lead a CS org and want strategy; the focus is the individual contributor.
interviews with product, growth and retention leaders · 30-45 min · irregular (every few weeks to few months) · since 2019
Why it is #8: A large archive on churn that covers the product, pricing and data side CS teams often miss. Useful context when retention depends on more than CSM work.
What it is like: Retention from the subscription business side: churn analysis, onboarding, payment recovery, pricing. Guests often come from product-led companies.
Irina Cismas (head of Marketing at Custify, a customer success software company that publishes the show)
short interviews with CSMs and CS leaders · 15-25 min · about twice a week · since 2024
Why it is #9: The episodes are short and come from people doing the CSM job today, so you hear how peers handle the same work. Easy to fit into a commute.
What it is like: Short interviews, each with one working CSM or CS leader describing how they handle their book, onboarding or AI workflows. Many guests are senior CSMs, not only executives.
Bring it questions like
How do I segment a large book of inherited accounts?
How do I research a customer before a call?
What AI workflows are other CSMs building for their own work?
What does building a CS team look like at a growing company?
Start with
Ep 98 | Melanie Faye.How a senior CSM at Vidyard segments a book of 140 inherited accounts.
Ep 97 | Justin Camarata.How a principal CSM at Invoca researches a customer before engaging.
Best for: CSMs who want short peer examples
Skip it if: You want depth on one topic; episodes are short and cover a guest's whole role.
Churn Flags: Real time retention experiments with SaaS growth leaders
Nikki Elbaz (retention and expansion strategist for mature SaaS companies)
one guest per episode builds a retention experiment from a real piece of customer feedback · 15-30 min · every two weeks · since 2026
Why it is #10: Each episode ends with a concrete experiment you could copy. It focuses on the early moments before an account looks at risk, which most CS shows skip.
What it is like: Each episode takes one review, survey answer or forum complaint and turns it into a retention or adoption experiment with a SaaS leader. Short and specific.
Bring it questions like
How do I spot a customer starting to reconsider before the health score drops?
How do I raise adoption of a feature almost nobody uses?
Which retention emails should already be running but are not?
Why do accounts churn even after we ship what they asked for?
Start with
The 9 moments that decide churn or expansion | Special: the whole Change Flags framework.The host's full list of moments when customers reconsider staying.
The 51% churn risk nobody owns - and all it takes is sending a sequence you already wrote | ft. Jane Portman, co-founder of Userlist.A retention email sequence that covers a gap no team owns.
Best for: CS and growth leads at self-serve or mid-market SaaS
Skip it if: You want enterprise account management; guests are mostly product and growth people.
Irit Eizips (founder and CEO of CSM Practice, a post-sale revenue consulting firm founded in 2014; has worked with 100+ SaaS companies)
*Seems to be not active anymore
interviews with CS leaders · 25-40 min · weekly until June 2025, no new episodes since · since 2022
Why it is #11: A 135-episode archive of tactical CS episodes from a long-time CS consultant. The topics map closely to the core CS job and still hold up.
What it is like: Tactical interviews on renewals, onboarding, success plans, health scores and scaled CS. Guests often come from large enterprise software companies.
Bring it questions like
Should CSMs own renewals?
How do I tailor onboarding to different customer segments?
How do I build success plans customers actually use?
How do I build a CS team from scratch?
Start with
Why Giving Renewals to CSMs Works (and How It Can for You Too).The case and process for moving renewals to CSMs.
How To Personalize The Onboarding Experience For Different Customer Segments.How to design separate onboarding paths by segment.
Best for: CS leaders building or fixing core processes
Skip it if: You want current episodes; the show has not published since June 2025.
solo episodes and occasional interviews · 25-45 min · irregular; a few episodes a year since late 2024 · since 2023
Why it is #12: It covers the human side of CS, how people decide and change, which process-focused shows leave out. The 2024 archive is the strongest part.
What it is like: Applies psychology to CS work: influencing customers, getting executive buy-in, managing up, career moves. Mostly the host alone.
Marija Skobe-Pilley (creator of the Women in Customer Success community and podcast)
*Seems to be not active anymore
interviews with women in customer success, plus masterclass recordings · 30-55 min · every two to three weeks until March 2026 · since 2020
Why it is #13: A long archive of CS practitioners talking about how they built their careers and skills. The masterclass episodes are the most practical part.
What it is like: Interviews with CS professionals about their careers and the skills they use, with some masterclass sessions on topics like AI and hiring. More career stories than playbooks.
Practical depth first: does an episode leave you with something you can use at work on Monday? Then the quality of the hosts and guests, whether the show is still publishing, and how consistent it is. Fame counts for little. Listener numbers are shown only when the show or a credible source has published them, with a link to where; we never estimate them. Facts were checked in November 2026.
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