Curious CS leaders build better teams

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Hey CS Pro,

If your team still runs customer conversations by reading a script, you are not alone. This week we are chatting with Courtney Balban all about building a high-performing CS team without leaning on playbooks for safety and why curiosity is the real engine behind strategic customer success.

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Why playbooks alone will never build a strategic CS team

Courtney spent a decade as a therapist before she ever stepped into tech. Her work was rooted in human potential, and when she moved into customer success, she noticed the same patterns. Success comes from understanding people, not following scripts.

At Leadr, she now owns everything post sales. Her team handles implementation, adoption, retention, and expansion. Early on, she inherited a team of high achievers who wanted structure for every scenario. They wanted scripts, detailed steps, and pre built decks for every meeting.

Structure is useful, but it can also make CSMs robotic. Courtney noticed the team was busy but not always impactful. They were:

• Checking tasks because they were easy

• Defaulting to pre made decks instead of thinking

• Reacting to internal asks that did not move the business forward

• Treating activity as progress

Her core message was simple. Activity is not impact.

If a task does not meaningfully move retention, expansion, or customer outcomes, it is noise.

That shift required a mindset reset. Playbooks can support great work. They should never replace the thinking that makes work great.

Building curiosity and comfort with ambiguity

Instead of layering on more structure, Courtney pulled some of it away. She wanted the team to build the thinking skills that make CSMs strategic in the first place. That meant learning to sit in discomfort.

She started small. First, she normalised ambiguity. In meetings she would say things like, I do not know yet, let us figure this out. That showed the team uncertainty is part of the job, not a sign of weakness.

Second, she modelled curiosity. When a CSM came with a challenge, she asked:

• What is the real problem underneath?

• Is this a root cause or a symptom?

• What outcome actually matters here?

And then she paused and let them think.

Third, she removed crutches. For a while, the team stopped using pre built QBR decks. Instead, they prepped around a few core questions:

• What outcome does this customer really care about?

• How will this call move them closer?

• What do I need to learn from them?

Only after that thinking work was done could slides be created.

It was uncomfortable, but it worked. The team became sharper, more strategic, and more confident. And this shift changed how the business saw CS. Once CSMs consistently brought value focused insights instead of a list of tasks, CS started being viewed as a growth engine, not a catch all team.

Right in the middle of this journey, Courtney shared my favorite line from the episode:

That is exactly what curiosity unlocks.

Example of curiosity creating expansion

One of Leadr’s top ten customers wanted a specific new feature for their performance review process. The standard CS move would be to say, Great feedback, I will pass it to product, then hope it gets prioritised.

Instead, this CSM got curious. She asked:

• Why is this method important to you?

• What insight does it give your team?

• What happens with that information?

Those questions revealed that the customer did not actually need that specific feature. They needed a particular outcome. Leadr already solved most of that outcome with existing functionality. The rest could be addressed with a small, high impact enhancement that product was eager to fast track.

The result

• The customer felt understood

• Adoption increased

• The account expanded

• Product received clear, outcome tied feedback, not noise

This is what curiosity creates. A better customer experience and a stronger business outcome.

Weekly Challenge

For your next customer call this week, try this.

1. Prep with outcomes: Before you touch a deck, write down the customer’s top outcome in their own words and one clear win they should leave the call with.

2. Ask permission to dig deeper: When a customer hints at something important, say, I would love to explore that a bit more if you are open to it. Then follow the thread.

3. Label your notes: After the call, mark each note as symptom or root cause. If most are symptoms, you know exactly where to focus next time.

Curiosity builds strategic teams. Playbooks only work when the thinking comes first.

The step by step guide to handling objections with confidence

Struggling to respond when a customer pushes back.

Want clearer language, stronger framing, and scripts you can actually use on real calls? The Objection Handling Guide for Customer Success gives you practical, plug and play tools you can use immediately.

Inside this high impact guide, you will:

• Learn the simple framework for breaking down any objection and uncovering the real blocker

• Respond confidently to tough moments like no budget, need more time, or silent stakeholders

• Redirect conversations without sounding defensive or salesy

• Use ready to go scripts, examples, and prompts you can copy into your next customer call

Handle objections with clarity, not panic.

The biggest takeaway from Courtney’s episode

Playbooks do not create strategic teams. Curiosity does.

So slow down. Ask the extra question. Sit in the discomfort long enough to understand what is really going on.

Because the CSM who thinks better, not faster, is the one who drives real outcomes.

Have a listen to the full 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

PS - CSM RevUP Academy is currently full. Don't miss your shot at next time! Get the strategies, playbooks, and build your confidence into a revenue-generating CS Pro. Join the VIP Waitlist today to be first notified when the doors open again.