93% of Companies Aren’t Confident in Their Customer Success Model

In this episode of Mostly Growth, the number one podcast in product monetization, CJ and Kyle unpack one of the most confusing functions in SaaS: customer success. Based on a survey of 132 GTM leaders, they break down how CS teams are staffed, compensated, and structured — and why 93% of companies still aren’t confident they’ve gotten the model right. From P&L placement to comp plans to expansion ownership, they explore whether customer success is actually driving revenue or just absorbing budget.—SPONSORS:HockeyStack is an AI platform for modern go-to-market teams that unifies sales, marketing, and customer data into a single system of action. With AI agents that prospect accounts, support reps, improve forecasting, and automate what’s already working, HockeyStack helps teams move faster without guessing. Trusted by companies like RingCentral, Outreach, ActiveCampaign, and Fortune 100 teams—learn more at https://www.hockeystack.comRightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for modern pricing models like usage-based pricing, bundles, and mid-cycle upgrades. RightRev lets companies scale monetization without slowing down close or compliance. For RevRec that keeps growth moving, visit https://www.rightrev.comTropic is an intelligent spend management solution that consolidates your spend data and processes into one unified offering, enabling insights and decisive action. From spotting hidden optimization opportunities to automating painful procurement workflows and giving you the best market data to turn vendor negotiations in your favor, Tropic combines smart insights with real human expertise to keep you ahead of the curve. Visit https://www.tropicapp.io/mostlymetrics to learn how.—LINKS: Mostly Metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.comCJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/Growth Unhinged: https://www.growthunhinged.com/Kyle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-poyar/Slacker Stuff: https://www.slackerstuff.com/Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/slackerstuff/—TIMESTAMPS:0:00 Intro banter3:24 CS team size benchmarks5:13 93% lack confidence in their CS model6:36 Renewal rates are solid8:10 CS identity crisis9:12 Where CS reports11:44 CS on the P&L10:02 Sponsors — Hockey Stack | RightRev | Tropic13:41 P&L placement results15:51 Staffing by count vs. revenue17:44 CS as a coverage problem18:28 CS is not paid like sales20:14 MBO vs. commission vs. hybrid22:01 Why commission is hard23:13 Hybrid comp gets diluted24:30 What CS is actually paid on25:19 Pay on adoption, not NPS27:26 NPS is not predictive29:26 Who owns expansion revenue?32:12 Should you charge for CS?34:09 Takeaways36:48 Credits#MostlyGrowthPodcast #CustomerSuccess #SaaS #RevOps #ProductMonetization