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<rss version="2.0"><channel><title>Greg Daines — Newsletter</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/newsletter/</link><description>Essays on why customers actually stay — the evidence behind the work.</description><language>en-us</language><item><title>Why Customer Happiness Is Not a Strategy (and what actually drives retention)</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/why-customer-happiness-is-not-a-strategy-and-what-actually-drives-retention</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/why-customer-happiness-is-not-a-strategy-and-what-actually-drives-retention</guid><pubDate>Wed, 06 May 2026 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[I'm excited to invite you to a webinar I'm co-presenting next week with Dave Blake, CEO of ClientSuccess. We'll be diving deep into a topic that's central to everything I have learned crushing churn with many of the best companies in the world: Customer Happiness Is Not a Strategy.]]></description></item><item><title>My 5-Point Emergency Churn Strategy</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/my-5-point-emergency-churn-strategy</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/my-5-point-emergency-churn-strategy</guid><pubDate>Tue, 01 Oct 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[There appear to be dark clouds looming on the economic horizon. Here are my five key things you need to be doing right now to stabilize your ship.]]></description></item><item><title>Stop telling people what you DO, and tell them what you are FOR!</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/stop-telling-people-what-you-do-and-tell-them-what-you-are-for</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/stop-telling-people-what-you-do-and-tell-them-what-you-are-for</guid><pubDate>Fri, 09 Aug 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[🏛️ Aristotle taught that everything has a specific purpose or final end, which he called "telos." He believed the only way to truly understand something is by discovering its telos.]]></description></item><item><title>Business Expertise is the Secret Weapon of Customer Success</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/business-expertise-is-the-secret-weapon-of-customer-success</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/business-expertise-is-the-secret-weapon-of-customer-success</guid><pubDate>Wed, 17 Jul 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[I recently presented at an event entitled, "Revolutionizing Customer Revenue:How to Increase NRR at Scale"hosted by Mayple along with fellow presenters Jay Nathan and Irit Eizips.]]></description></item><item><title>Satisfaction and Results Are Not the Same</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/satisfaction-and-results-are-not-the-same</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/satisfaction-and-results-are-not-the-same</guid><pubDate>Fri, 05 Jul 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[I often get asked the following question...]]></description></item><item><title>Why do small customers churn more?</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/why-do-small-customers-churn-more</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/why-do-small-customers-churn-more</guid><pubDate>Fri, 21 Jun 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[📈 The latest research reveals churn is a BIG problem for SMALL customers⤵]]></description></item><item><title>How to know a customer will churn on the first call</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/how-to-know-a-customer-will-churn-on-the-first-call</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/how-to-know-a-customer-will-churn-on-the-first-call</guid><pubDate>Fri, 14 Jun 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Here are the signals and why we ignore them⤵]]></description></item><item><title>The Cost of Discounting</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/the-cost-of-discounting</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/the-cost-of-discounting</guid><pubDate>Fri, 07 Jun 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[It's an almost irresistible path to hitting that elusive quota. But it comes with a hidden cost: higher customer churn! Here's why⤵]]></description></item><item><title>You can only pick one</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/you-can-only-pick-one</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/you-can-only-pick-one</guid><pubDate>Fri, 31 May 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Conventional wisdom says that we should make our customers both successful AND happy. The assumption is that these always go together. Successful customers are happy customers, right?]]></description></item><item><title>Your customers don&#x27;t want your product</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/your-customers-don-t-want-your-product</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/your-customers-don-t-want-your-product</guid><pubDate>Fri, 24 May 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[60 years ago, legendary business genius Peter Drucker made a radical and prophetic statement...]]></description></item><item><title>Why Customers Avoid You</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/why-customers-avoid-you</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/why-customers-avoid-you</guid><pubDate>Fri, 17 May 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Why your key customer leaders are avoiding you, and what to do about it ⤵]]></description></item><item><title>Customer Success Plans Don&#x27;t Work At Scale</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/customer-success-plans-don-t-work-at-scale</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/customer-success-plans-don-t-work-at-scale</guid><pubDate>Fri, 03 May 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[I'm a HUGE fan of success plans because they address the most fundamental obstacle to success: customers don't achieve results unless they know what they are aiming for.]]></description></item><item><title>Stop Talking about \&quot;Unavoidable Churn\&quot;!</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/stop-talking-about-unavoidable-churn</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/stop-talking-about-unavoidable-churn</guid><pubDate>Fri, 03 May 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[I do not allow this toxic term in my work with customer success teams.]]></description></item><item><title>5 Eye-Opening Lessons From Analyzing 1.8 Million SaaS Customers</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/5-eye-opening-lessons-from-analyzing-1-8-million-saas-customers</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/5-eye-opening-lessons-from-analyzing-1-8-million-saas-customers</guid><pubDate>Fri, 12 Apr 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Back in my college economics days, I stumbled upon a gem called "revealed preferences." This is the idea that what people actually buy tells us much more about their desires than what they claim.]]></description></item><item><title>What about the Customer Satisfaction Paradox?</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/what-about-the-customer-satisfaction-paradox</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/what-about-the-customer-satisfaction-paradox</guid><pubDate>Mon, 08 Apr 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Past research consistently shows that companies with high overall NPS scores tend to have higher customer retention. Does this contradict our finding that satisfaction does not drive retention? No, and here's why...]]></description></item><item><title>The Worst Customer I Ever Had</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/the-worst-customer-i-ever-had</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/the-worst-customer-i-ever-had</guid><pubDate>Fri, 05 Apr 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Many years ago, I led customer success at a tech company in the Bay Area, regularly meeting with the most important customers. One of these (a world-famous tech company) became the worst customer I ever had!]]></description></item><item><title>Blaming the Customer</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/blaming-the-customer</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/blaming-the-customer</guid><pubDate>Fri, 29 Mar 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[I've been writing recently about the toxic excuses for customer churn and how we blame the product, sales, and a lack of resources. But one excuse is more insidious than all the others: blaming the customer.]]></description></item><item><title>The Toxic CS Blame Game</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/the-toxic-cs-blame-game</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/the-toxic-cs-blame-game</guid><pubDate>Fri, 22 Mar 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Last week, I wrote about how blaming the product is a destructive excuse we use in customer success. (link below)]]></description></item><item><title>How Pricing Drives Churn</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/how-pricing-drives-churn</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/how-pricing-drives-churn</guid><pubDate>Fri, 08 Mar 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[🏢 Every company is a complex "system" in which nearly everything is interconnected. Make a change in one area, only to see an effect pop up later elsewhere.]]></description></item><item><title>ClientSuccess.com Summer Webinar Series: \&quot;23 Ways to Reduce Churn\&quot; with Greg Daines</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/clientsuccess-com-summer-webinar-series-23-ways-to-reduce-churn-with-greg-daines</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/clientsuccess-com-summer-webinar-series-23-ways-to-reduce-churn-with-greg-daines</guid><pubDate>Wed, 06 Mar 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[In this webinar hosted by ClientSuccess, Greg Daines (Founder/CEO of ChurnRX) shares 23 Ways to Reduce Churn in 2023. Hear impactful insights and practical advice on how to reduce churn at your company.]]></description></item><item><title>Expert Chats: Greg Daines and Dave Jackson</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/expert-chats-greg-daines-and-dave-jackson</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/expert-chats-greg-daines-and-dave-jackson</guid><pubDate>Wed, 06 Mar 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Is your company really Customer Centric? Come and learn from Dave Jackson (Founder and CEO of TheCustomer.Co) and Greg Daines (Founder and CEO of ChurnRX) as they discuss why your company is NOT customer-centric, and exactly what you can start doing to make it customer-centric.]]></description></item><item><title>IAM CX Podcast - The 4 Playbooks of Customer Loyalty, It’s Simpler than you think!</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/iam-cx-podcast-the-4-playbooks-of-customer-loyalty-it-s-simpler-than-you-think</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/iam-cx-podcast-the-4-playbooks-of-customer-loyalty-it-s-simpler-than-you-think</guid><pubDate>Wed, 06 Mar 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Dive Into SaaS Mastery with Greg Daines on the IAM CX Podcast!]]></description></item><item><title>The Churn Doctor&#x27;s AI Prescription w/ Greg Daines, CEO of ChurnRX</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/the-churn-doctor-s-ai-prescription-w-greg-daines-ceo-of-churnrx</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/the-churn-doctor-s-ai-prescription-w-greg-daines-ceo-of-churnrx</guid><pubDate>Wed, 06 Mar 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[In this episode of Video Voyagers, Greg Daines, CEO of ChurnRX, also known as the "Churn Doctor," joins host Audrey Lecker to explore the power of AI in predicting churn and retention, enhancing customer experience, and its impact on customer behavior change.]]></description></item><item><title>Stop Blaming the Product</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/stop-blaming-the-product</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/stop-blaming-the-product</guid><pubDate>Fri, 01 Mar 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Customer Success leaders too often rely on excuses to deal with our challenges. The problem is that blaming blocks our ability to see the full scope of opportunities we actually have to gain control of our world.]]></description></item><item><title>Afraid to Measure Results?</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/afraid-to-measure-results</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/afraid-to-measure-results</guid><pubDate>Fri, 23 Feb 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Last week, I posted my top 3 reasons companies don't measure customer results, and the brilliant Jeff Breunsbach replied with an insightful addition to the list ↓]]></description></item><item><title>Why Measure Customer Results</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/why-measure-customer-results</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/why-measure-customer-results</guid><pubDate>Fri, 16 Feb 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[📶 Our research shows that customers who achieve measurable results stay 6 TIMES LONGER than customers who don't, and for customers who get good results it's 10 TIMES!]]></description></item><item><title>Customer Success Is Not For All Customers</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/customer-success-is-not-for-all-customers</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/customer-success-is-not-for-all-customers</guid><pubDate>Fri, 26 Jan 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[You've heard versions of these endlessly...]]></description></item><item><title>Customer Bonding is the new Loyalty</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/customer-bonding-is-the-new-loyalty</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/customer-bonding-is-the-new-loyalty</guid><pubDate>Fri, 19 Jan 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[The results published recently in the 2023 Customer Loyalty Index are sobering...]]></description></item><item><title>3 Business Ideas That Died in 2023</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/3-business-ideas-that-died-in-2023</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/3-business-ideas-that-died-in-2023</guid><pubDate>Fri, 12 Jan 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Death is hard. It isn't easy to move on when you lose someone close to you. This is one reason we have funerals: they help us come to terms with death so we can move forward with living.]]></description></item><item><title>THE RESULTS-LED GROWTH ERA IS HERE</title><link>https://gregdaines.com/post/the-results-led-growth-era-is-here</link><guid isPermaLink="true">https://gregdaines.com/post/the-results-led-growth-era-is-here</guid><pubDate>Mon, 08 Jan 2024 09:00:00 +0000</pubDate><description><![CDATA[The concept of "Business Strategy" is not very old. It emerged after World War II and predictably drew most of its inspiration from military strategy.]]></description></item></channel></rss>