Are you the only one fighting for the customer?

Hey CS Pro,

Ever feel like you’re the only one who cares about the customer?

If your company says it’s customer first but acts like it’s internal process first, this episode is for you.

Let’s break down what it really takes to build a customer-centric culture that goes beyond surveys and surface-level values.

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The Real Cost of “Customer First” Talk (Without the Walk)

You’ve seen it happen.

Sales overpromises. Product builds what no one asked for. Marketing crafts messaging that doesn’t match reality.

And CS? We’re left cleaning it all up.

The gap between what companies say and what they do when it comes to customers is costing more than just internal frustration. It’s killing renewals, product adoption, and morale.

One of the biggest mistakes is assuming CS owns the full customer experience. We’re at the center of the relationship, yes, but we can’t be the only ones responsible for outcomes.

If Finance, Product, and Marketing aren’t bought in, customer success becomes customer cleanup.

Another common trap? Using NPS and CSAT as a checkbox. Collecting feedback is easy. Acting on it is what moves the needle. And most companies don’t.

Let’s not forget internal KPIs. If teams are only measured on ticket volume or speed, they’ll never prioritize outcomes. You can’t build a customer-first business with back-end metrics that reward internal busywork.

Shift Into True Customer Centricity

So, how do you actually shift the culture?

Start with these three moves:

1. Make customer outcomes everyone’s job

Not just CS. Set shared KPIs like NRR or TTV and embed them across go-to-market, product, and even finance. CS should have a seat at the strategic table. And even if you’re not exec level yet, that visibility changes how the business values customer outcomes.

2. Operationalize the voice of the customer

This means turning feedback into a full loop. Collect it, analyze it, share it internally, then close the loop externally with customers. Even when you can’t act on feedback, telling them why builds trust. It’s not about always saying yes. It’s about being transparent.

3. Scale customer empathy

Invite product managers, engineers, and non-customer-facing teams to join customer calls. Even the hard ones. Share real quotes at all-hands meetings. Better yet, bring customers into those all-hands when you can. It gets everyone out of the bubble and into the reality of customer experience.

Bonus tip: Create a Slack channel with live customer feedback. Tie it to NPS, CSAT, or support reviews. Make it a channel everyone sees. It keeps the voice of the customer front and center.

Culture Change Doesn’t Need Permission

You don’t need a title to lead this shift.

If you’re in CS and feel like you don’t have a seat at the table, create one. Start small. Share insights in Slack. Highlight wins from other teams that championed the customer. Recognize those moments publicly.

Recognition builds momentum. Celebrate the sales rep who set the right expectation, the product team who prioritized a customer need, or the marketer who rewrote messaging with real customer quotes.

And here’s my favorite metaphor:

The baton? That’s the customer journey. And it gets handed from sales to onboarding to product to support to CS.

Customer centricity means every runner is aligned. Dropped handoffs, wrong directions, or unclear ownership cost the whole team the race. Winning is only possible when everyone is sprinting toward the same outcome: real customer success.

Challenge of the Week

Ready to put this into practice?

This week, I want you to step up as the customer voice inside your organization (no matter your title).

Here’s how:

1. Stop doing it all alone

Pick one cross-functional teammate outside of CS and book a 30-minute chat. Ask them, “What’s one way we can improve the customer experience together?” Then, actually follow through with one action from that conversation.

2. Don’t let feedback die in a spreadsheet

If your team is collecting NPS, CSAT, or product feedback, take the lead in sharing a key insight this week. Post it in Slack. Bring it to your next team meeting. Or better yet, close the loop with a customer directly.

3. Recognize a non-CS teammate who advocated for the customer

Maybe they fixed a product issue, rewrote messaging, or managed expectations like a pro. Give them a public shoutout and start building that customer-centric culture one win at a time.

That’s it for this week!

Have a listen to the latest podcast:

I hope you enjoyed this week’s newsletter.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact us.

Cheers to your CS success,

Anika

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