Customer success skills, career advice and real CSM conversations. Customer Success Talks is for CSMs in their first years and anyone breaking into customer success. We cover what the job actually demands: onboarding, adoption, churn, and expansion, plus the skills nobody trains you on, like communication, negotiation and reading human behavior. No theory for its own sake. Conversations with people who have done it, and things you can try this week. Hosted by Bayron Toruño, CS practitioner and co-organizer of the PxA CS Summit. New episodes every two weeks. Give it a try :)
CSM Survival Guide: When Your Workload Doubles (And You're Alone)
How do you handle CSM burnout when your company is in crisis? Antonio García Hernández shares how to survive the chaos.
Everything around you feels like it is falling apart, and your workload is doubling. In this episode, we sit down with Antonio García Hernández, author of the Anti-CSM Playbook, for a frank discussion on what it actually takes to maintain your performance when the pressure is high. We cover the early warning signs of CSM burnout and how to catch them before they impact your mental health or career trajectory.
Beyond just surviving, we look at the tactical side of protecting your energy. Learn how to set boundaries without saying no, when to advocate for firing toxic accounts, and why effective time management is the only way to avoid the reactive firefighting trap. If you are feeling the weight of your current role, this conversation provides the perspective needed to reset.
Subscribe for weekly customer success breakdowns, and let us know in the comments: what is the biggest challenge you are facing in your current role?
0:00 El perfil ideal en Customer Success
1:24 Señales tempranas de agotamiento profesional
2:14 ¿Cuándo despedir a un cliente tóxico?
3:44 Sobrevivir cuando la carga de trabajo se duplica
6:21 La pasión detrás de la comunidad Gen CS
11:01 El Anti-CSM Playbook: Rompiendo el azúcar
18:05 Documentar: Tu arma secreta en tiempos de crisis
34:09 El arte de establecer límites y expectativas
Follow us on:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cstalkspodcast/
Tik-Tok @customer.success6
Explore Our Podcast
Website - https://cstalkspodcast.com/
Anti-CSM Playbook (free) → https://anticsmplaybook.carrd.co/
GenCS Community → https://www.linkedin.com/company/gencs/posts/?feedView=all
7 Oct 2026
Stop Treating Customers Like Accounts | CS Strategy with Emilia D'Anzica
Every customer success manager knows the trap: reactive firefighting instead of proactive growth. Executive coach & former CCO Emilia D'Anzica reveals why most CSMs stay stuck, how to use AI to get ahead, and why your check-in meetings are costing you client retention.
Every customer success manager knows the trap: reactive firefighting instead of proactive growth. Executive coach & former CCO Emilia D'Anzica reveals why most CSMs stay stuck, how to use AI to get ahead, and why your check-in meetings are costing you client retention.In this episode we cover:
→ Why AI adoption in CS is a mindset problem, not a resource problem
→ How to stop scheduling "check-in" meetings and make every touchpoint count
→ Starting renewal conversations 6 months early, before you're in save mode
→ The one thing to say when your boss keeps piling work on your plate
→ Why "soft skills" are now essential skills (EQ, time management, Radical Candor)
→ Stop calling customers accounts and what changes when you do
Emilia Danzica: https://emiliadanzica.com/Radical Candor by Kim Scott: https://www.radicalcandor.com/Emilia's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emiliadanzica/
Follow us on:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cstalkspodcast/TikTok: @customer.success6Podcast Website - https://cstalkspodcast.com/
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
02:51 Meet Emilia Danzica
03:02 Reinventing yourself after being fired
05:27 The Olympian father who inspired her
06:30 Non-negotiables: exercise and self-care
08:17 Avoiding burnout as a podcast host (and CSM)
09:22 Weekly reflection habits for high performance
10:11 AI in CS: the Gainsight 2025 report
11:18 Where AI resistance really comes from
13:13 What CSMs are missing by not using AI
14:13 Is resistance coming from ICs or leadership?
17:28 Slack vs email: how the new workforce communicates
19:41 How AI helps you build better customer relationships
22:59 Mindset vs resources — and why time management is the real gap
24:45 Why "soft skills" should be called essential skills
25:33 The damage micromanagement does
26:57 Why "check-in" subject lines kill your attendance
29:53 Removing customer success fatigue
30:41 Start renewals 6 months early — or you're already in save mode
32:02 AI as your proactive assistant, not just a writing tool
33:10 What a truly proactive CS day-to-day looks like
35:29 How to push back on your boss without burning bridges
36:39 Emilia's personal breakdown as an early-career CSM
38:46 Radical Candor: the book that changed how she communicates
41:00 What new CSMs actually need to succeed
42:49 Stop calling your customers "accounts"
44:06 Closing thoughts
23 Sept 2026
VP of CS Reveals the The Biggest AI Mistake CSMs Make (And What to Do Instead)
Are CSMs making AI harder than it needs to be? Yes, and it's costing us time, revenue, and customer relationships.In this episode, I sit down with Lukas Alexander, VP of Customer Success, to break down exactly where CS teams go wrong with AI and the step-by-step approach that actually works.Lukas has spent over a decade building and scaling global CS teams, driving NRR growth, and coaching CSMs to grow their impact. His customers? Other customer success managers. So when he talks about AI in CS, he speaks from both sides of the table.What you'll learn in this episode:- The #1 AI mistake CSMs and CS leaders make (and why it backfires)- Why you should automate ONE admin task before touching anything else- How signal-based AI agents protect revenue and surface expansion opportunities- Why you don't need clean data to get started with AI in customer success- What no AI tool will ever replace in the CSM role Episode Highlights:00:00 – Welcome & intro02:15 – Lukas's journey from PR to VP of CS11:30 – Why operations exposure sharpens business acumen15:40 – The biggest AI mistake in customer success20:25 – How to start with AI: one task at a time23:12 – AI fluency, revenue mindset & business acumen32:00 – Using AI agents for churn signals and expansion revenue38:20 – Do you need perfect data to start? (Spoiler: No)41:45 – What to do when you have zero AI tools43:43 – Why the human side of CS still wins About Lukas AlexanderLukas is the VP of Customer Success at ChurnZero, one of the leading AI-powered customer success platforms in the industry. He has spent over a decade building global CS teams, leading RevOps functions, and helping organizations drive net revenue retention through outcome-focused customer success. Connect with Lukas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukas-alexander-3b827280/Follow Bayron Toruno on LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/bayron-toru%C3%B1o-solano-3a9408113/Follow us on:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cstalkspodcast/Tik-Tok @customer.success6Explore Our PodcastWebsite - https://cstalkspodcast.com/🔔 Subscribe so you never miss an episode👍 Like this video if you found it helpful💬 Drop your biggest AI question in the comments, we read every one
Who has been a guest on Customer Success Talks
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Tamara Kempf
Ayman Azmy
Lincoln Murphy
Melina Palmer
Thomas Voigt
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