Who should I follow to learn about Customer success from thought leaders?

If you want to learn **Customer Success (CS)** seriously, I’d follow a mix of **CS executives, operators, educators, and communities**. The best people to follow depend on whether you’re trying to become a CSM, lead a CS team, or build a CS function. [Our Top Customer Success Influencers of 2025 - Custify Blog](https://www.custify.com/blog/top-customer-success-influencers-of-2025/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) ## Start with these Customer Success leaders - Nick Mehta - Great for understanding the big picture: CS strategy, retention, expansion, and how CS becomes a revenue driver. [Top 50 Most Influential People To Follow In Customer Success](https://www.thecscafe.com/p/top-50-most-influential-people-to?utm_source=chatgpt.com) - Lincoln Murphy - Strong on customer outcomes, value realization, and proactive success models. [Customer Success Library - Useful Links and Content](https://www.reddit.com/r/CustomerSuccess/comments/107jxw3?utm_source=chatgpt.com) - Kristi Faltorusso - Practical leadership advice, scaling CS teams, and career growth. [Kristi Faltorusso Named a Top 10 Customer Success Thought Leaders to Follow by Retention Seekers](https://www.kristifaltorusso.com/post/kristi-faltorusso-named-a-top-10-customer-success-thought-leaders-to-follow-by-retention-seekers?utm_source=chatgpt.com) - Maranda Dziekonskii - Excellent for operationalizing CS, building teams, and leadership. [2025 Top 25 | SuccessHACKER | 88 comments](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/successhacker_2025-top-25-activity-7384259262425993216-m6o-?utm_source=chatgpt.com) - Irit Eizips - Strong on enterprise CS, customer lifecycle strategy, and executive engagement. [Top 50 Most Influential People To Follow In Customer Success](https://www.thecscafe.com/p/top-50-most-influential-people-to?utm_source=chatgpt.com) - Andrew Marks - Great for frameworks, training, and CS career development. [Kristi Faltorusso Named a Top 10 Customer Success Thought Leaders to Follow by Retention Seekers](https://www.kristifaltorusso.com/post/kristi-faltorusso-named-a-top-10-customer-success-thought-leaders-to-follow-by-retention-seekers?utm_source=chatgpt.com) - Dave Blake - Good for CS leadership, scaling teams, and operating models. [2025 Top 25 | SuccessHACKER | 88 comments](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/successhacker_2025-top-25-activity-7384259262425993216-m6o-?utm_source=chatgpt.com) ## If you are a beginner CSM, follow these first 1. Gainsight - Follow their content for CS frameworks, webinars, benchmarks, and industry trends. [Top 50 Most Influential People To Follow In Customer Success](https://www.thecscafe.com/p/top-50-most-influential-people-to?utm_source=chatgpt.com) 2. SuccessHACKER - Useful for playbooks, training, and practical CS skills. [2025 Top 25 | SuccessHACKER | 88 comments](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/successhacker_2025-top-25-activity-7384259262425993216-m6o-?utm_source=chatgpt.com) 3. The Customer Success Association - Good for foundational thinking around the discipline. [Top 50 Most Influential People To Follow In Customer Success](https://www.thecscafe.com/p/top-50-most-influential-people-to?utm_source=chatgpt.com) ## For SaaS Customer Success specifically Also add: - Rav Dhaliwal - Strategic thinking about modern CS leadership. [Top 50 Most Influential People To Follow In Customer Success](https://www.thecscafe.com/p/top-50-most-influential-people-to?utm_source=chatgpt.com) - Chad Horenfeldt - Practical insights on enterprise CS execution. [2025 Top 25 | SuccessHACKER | 88 comments](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/successhacker_2025-top-25-activity-7384259262425993216-m6o-?utm_source=chatgpt.com) - Rachel Provan - Leadership development and building CS careers. [Top 20 SaaS Customer Champions to Follow in 2026](https://sprouts.ai/blog/saas-customer-success-champions-to-follow-in-2026?utm_source=chatgpt.com) ## Books worth reading - *The Customer Success Professional’s Handbook* - Ashvin Vaidyanathan and Dave Duke - *Customer Success: How Innovative Companies Are Reducing Churn and Growing Recurring Revenue* - Dan Steinman, Lincoln Murphy, and Nick Mehta - *Farm Don't Hunt* - Guy Nirpaz ## A simple learning path - **Month 1:** Learn fundamentals - onboarding, adoption, health scores, renewals, QBRs. - **Month 2:** Learn strategy - customer outcomes, expansion, executive relationships. - **Month 3:** Learn leadership - CS metrics, forecasting, team design, scaling. If I were starting today, I’d follow **Nick Mehta, Lincoln Murphy, Kristi Faltorusso, Andrew Marks, and Rav Dhaliwal** first, then branch out based on your role. [2025 Top 25 | SuccessHACKER | 88 comments](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/successhacker_2025-top-25-activity-7384259262425993216-m6o-?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

**To learn about Customer Success, follow leading practitioners like Rachel Provan, Brittany Casey, Kristi Faltorusso, and Maranda Dziekonski - these experts consistently share actionable insights on retention, scaling, and customer advocacy.** ## 🌟 Key Customer Success Leaders to Follow Name| Role / Focus| Why Follow Them ---|---|--- **Rachel Provan**| Founder of Provan Success, CS coach| Shares frameworks for tying CS to revenue, leadership development, and proactive growth strategies.[Top 20 SaaS Customer Champions to Follow in 2026](https://sprouts.ai/blog/saas-customer-success-champions-to-follow-in-2026) **Brittany Casey**| VP of Customer Success at DISCO| Focuses on enterprise engagement, value realization, and building deeper customer relationships.[Top 20 SaaS Customer Champions to Follow in 2026](https://sprouts.ai/blog/saas-customer-success-champions-to-follow-in-2026) **Kristi Faltorusso**| VP of Customer Success at ClientSuccess| Known for practical playbooks, onboarding strategies, and scaling CS teams effectively.[Future of CX leaders - CX Network](https://www.cxnetwork.com/future-of-cx/articles/top-40-future-of-cx-leaders-to-follow-in-2026) **Maranda Dziekonski**| CX leader at Fexa| Shares expertise on customer-centric culture, leadership, and operational excellence.[Future of CX leaders - CX Network](https://www.cxnetwork.com/future-of-cx/articles/top-40-future-of-cx-leaders-to-follow-in-2026) **Con Cirillo**| Director of Lifecycle Marketing at Funnel| Offers insights on connecting customer needs with business outcomes.[Our Top Customer Success Influencers of 2024 - Custify Blog](https://www.custify.com/blog/top-customer-success-influencers-of-2024/) **Adam Smith**| Customer-Led Growth Advisor at Catalyst Software| Provides strategies for onboarding and customer-led growth.[Our Top Customer Success Influencers of 2024 - Custify Blog](https://www.custify.com/blog/top-customer-success-influencers-of-2024/) **Will Stevenson**| Founder & COO at Onboard.io| Focuses on onboarding best practices and implementation success.[Our Top Customer Success Influencers of 2024 - Custify Blog](https://www.custify.com/blog/top-customer-success-influencers-of-2024/) ## 📌 Why These Voices Matter * **Retention & Expansion**: Leaders like Rachel Provan emphasize connecting CS outcomes directly to revenue, ensuring customer success is seen as a growth driver. * **Onboarding Excellence**: Experts such as Adam Smith and Will Stevenson highlight how strong onboarding sets the foundation for long-term customer value. * **Strategic Leadership**: Brittany Casey and Maranda Dziekonski share lessons on building scalable CS organizations that influence product and executive decisions. * **Practical Playbooks**: Kristi Faltorusso is widely followed for her tactical guides and frameworks that CS managers can apply immediately. ## ⚠️ Risks & Considerations * **Echo Chambers**: Following only popular voices may limit exposure to diverse perspectives. Balance by engaging with regional or niche CS leaders. * **Platform Bias**: Most of these influencers share content on LinkedIn or Twitter; ensure you diversify sources (blogs, podcasts, webinars). * **Trendy vs. Timeless Advice**: Some strategies may be tailored to SaaS or enterprise contexts - evaluate whether they apply to your industry. ## ✅ Next Steps * Start by following **Rachel Provan, Kristi Faltorusso, and Maranda Dziekonski** on LinkedIn for daily insights. * Explore **Custify’s influencer lists** for practical onboarding and retention strategies.[Our Top Customer Success Influencers of 2024 - Custify Blog](https://www.custify.com/blog/top-customer-success-influencers-of-2024/) * Join **CX Network** and **ICMI communities** to access broader thought leadership in customer experience and contact centers.[Top 50 CX leaders 2026](https://www.cxnetwork.com/cx-experience/articles/top-50-customer-experience-leaders-to-follow-in-2026)[Meet the 2026 ICMI Top 25 Thought Leaders](https://www.icmi.com/resources/2026/icmi-top-25-thought-leaders-2026) Would you like me to curate a **short list of podcasts, newsletters, and LinkedIn groups** where these leaders actively share their insights? That way, you’ll have a ready-made learning hub instead of tracking individuals one by one.

To master Customer Success (CS), follow these prominent industry thought leaders, authors, and practitioners who actively share frameworks, playbooks, and strategic insights primarily on LinkedIn and through industry podcasts: * **Nick Mehta** - CEO of Gainsight and co-author of the seminal book _Customer Success: How Innovative Companies Are Reducing Churn and Growing Recurring Revenue_. He is widely considered a foundational voice in the industry. * **Kristin Gechter** - A prominent CS executive and strategist known for operationalizing customer success frameworks and scaling modern SaaS organizations. * **Irit Eizips** - CEO and Chief Customer Officer at SuccessMakers, frequently recognized as a top global CS influencer specializing in enterprise customer success strategy and retention economics. * **Annip Patel** - Founder of Gainsight's community initiatives and a leading voice on modern community-led growth and customer-centric business models. * **Nilüfer Erdeve** - A recognized global customer success leader and speaker who shares tactical frameworks on scaling low-touch vs. high-touch operations. **Top Communities & Media to Follow** * **Gain Grow Retain (GGR):** A massive community co-founded by Jay Nathan and Jeff Breunsbach, offering active LinkedIn discussions, weekly content, and podcasts dedicated to B2B customer success. [How do I become a pro at customer success? : r/CustomerSuccess](https://www.reddit.com/r/CustomerSuccess/comments/15aiz77/how_do_i_become_a_pro_at_customer_success/) * **SuccessHacker / SuccessIT:** Known for putting out extensive top 100 thought leader lists and providing professional training pathways. [How do I become a pro at customer success? : r/CustomerSuccess](https://www.reddit.com/r/CustomerSuccess/comments/15aiz77/how_do_i_become_a_pro_at_customer_success/#:~:text=I'd%20recommend%20the%20following%3A%20*%20Check%20out,Grow%20Retain%2C%20and%20the%20Customer%20Success%20Playbook.)[How do I become a pro at customer success? : r/CustomerSuccess](https://www.reddit.com/r/CustomerSuccess/comments/15aiz77/how_do_i_become_a_pro_at_customer_success/#:~:text=They%20also%20host%20a%20bunch%20of%20webinars,have%20any%20specific%20recommendations%20but%20others%20may.) * **The Customer Success Playbook Podcast:** A strong audio resource hosted by industry practitioners breaking down real-world tactical advice. [How do I become a pro at customer success? : r/CustomerSuccess](https://www.reddit.com/r/CustomerSuccess/comments/15aiz77/how_do_i_become_a_pro_at_customer_success/) Who or what specific area of customer success are you focusing on right now - such as breaking into the field, scaling a startup team, or mastering enterprise retention metrics?

To dive into **Customer Success (CS)** , following practitioners, strategists, and founders who focus heavily on retention, scaling, metrics, and operationalizing post-sale revenue can fast-track your learning. [Kristi Faltorusso - Helping B2B SaaS founders stop ... - LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristiserrano)[10 Customer Success Leaders to Learn from in 2026 - LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dariia-leshchenko_here-are-10-customer-success-leaders-im-activity-7487774396523261952-g4gU) The top voices in Customer Success to follow include: * * **Kristi Faltorusso** (VP of Customer Success at ClientSuccess): Highly active on [Kristi Faltorusso's LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristiserrano) and [Kristi Faltorusso's Official Site](https://www.kristifaltorusso.com/), she provides daily, no-nonsense tactical frameworks for B2B SaaS, focusing on turning reactive CS teams into proactive revenue engines. [Kristi Faltorusso](https://www.kristifaltorusso.com/) * ** _Lincoln Murphy_** (Founder of Sixteen Ventures): Known as a pioneer who helped codify the modern discipline. His writings on [Sixteen Ventures](https://sixteenventures.com/) focus on core principles like customer desired outcomes, reducing churn, and growing recurring revenue. [Lincoln Murphy: Founder of Sixteen Ventures, and of](https://sixteenventures.com/lincoln-murphy-strategic-consultant/) * ** _Chad Horenfeldt_** (Customer Success Strategist): Highly recommended for deep dives into operational tactics, team scaling, and analyzing both successes and missteps in CS management. [LinkedIn·Dariia Leshchenko] * ** _Anika Zubair_** (Host of The Customer Success Channel Podcast): Great for tactical audio and community insights, focusing on real-world execution and scaling operations. [LinkedIn·Dariia Leshchenko] * **Jan Young** (CX/CS Leader & Consultant): Known for focusing heavily on modern operational strategies, systems, and practical execution within the discipline. [LinkedIn·Dariia Leshchenko] * ** _Daphne Costa Lopes_** (CS & Community Leader): Excellent for community-led growth, scaling operational playbooks, and modern approaches to retention in tech companies. * Are you looking to learn CS from a **foundational/beginner level** , or are you a **leader trying to scale operations and metrics**? Let me know so I can tailor specific newsletters, books, or podcasts for you.

Start with a mix of **practitioners, operators, and communities** - not just “influencers.” Customer Success spans onboarding, adoption, renewals, expansion, customer education, support/CX, and leadership, so the right people depend on which of those you want to learn first. ## A strong starter follow list | Person | Best for | Why follow | |---|---|---| | **Lincoln Murphy** | Core CS strategy and customer outcomes | A foundational voice on the idea that Customer Success is helping customers achieve their desired outcomes - not merely managing accounts. | | **Kristi Faltorusso** | CS leadership and practical management | Shares candid, operator-oriented guidance on building teams, leading people, and connecting CS to business results. | | **Anika Zubair** | Scaling CS teams | Useful for learning how to build repeatable systems while retaining a human, customer-centric approach. | | **Jay Nathan** | Retention, growth, and executive-level CS | Good perspective on turning CS into a strategic growth function rather than a reactive service team. | | **Carly Agar** | Breaking into CS and career development | Particularly helpful if you are entering the field, interviewing, developing CSM skills, or navigating career progression. | | **Diana De Jesus** | Strategic CS practice | Focuses on more intentional customer strategy, including how CSMs can be proactive rather than simply task-driven. | | **Jeff Breunsbach** | Community-led customer success | A useful follow for peer learning, community building, and practical CS discussions. | | **Maranda Dziekonski** | Leadership and customer-first alignment | Strong for understanding how CS leadership connects customer advocacy with cross-functional execution. | | **Jan Young** | Metrics, operations, and leadership development | Helpful if you want to understand the business and operational side of CS - including the measures leaders pay attention to. | | **Irit Eizips** | CS frameworks and maturity | Useful for structured thinking about CS models, playbooks, training, and organizational maturity. | These names recur across curated CS-leader lists, including recent LinkedIn-focused roundups; the lists especially highlight people such as Agar, Zubair, De Jesus, Faltorusso, Dziekonski, Nathan, Breunsbach, Young, and Eizips.[Top CS Influencers to Follow on LinkedIn in 2025 - Matik](https://www.matik.io/blog/top-cs-influencers-to-follow-on-linkedin-in-2025)[Here are a few Customer Success leaders worth following - LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/aswin--kumar_here-are-a-few-customer-success-leaders-worth-activity-7360896562312482816-_AkY) ## Follow by learning goal ### If you’re new to Customer Success Prioritize: - Carly Agar for career advice and the reality of day-to-day CSM work - Lincoln Murphy for the underlying philosophy of outcomes and value realization - Diana De Jesus for strategic customer management - Kristi Faltorusso for practical leadership and team realities Your first goal should be to learn the difference between: - **Customer support:** solving an immediate issue - **Account management:** managing the commercial relationship - **Customer Success:** proactively helping a customer realize value, adopt the product, renew, and ideally grow In many companies these responsibilities overlap, but that distinction will help you interpret what different practitioners mean when they discuss “CS.” ### If you manage a CS team Prioritize: - Kristi Faltorusso - Anika Zubair - Jay Nathan - Maranda Dziekonski - Jan Young - Irit Eizips Look for their material on segmentation, capacity planning, CSM role design, health scoring, renewal ownership, executive business reviews, digital/tech-touch CS, and how CS collaborates with Sales, Product, Support, and Marketing. ### If you care about metrics and operations Prioritize: - Jan Young - Irit Eizips - Jay Nathan - Anika Zubair Focus less on vanity measures and more on questions such as: - Are customers reaching the outcomes they bought the product for? - Which behaviors predict adoption or churn? - Can the team identify risk early enough to intervene? - Is retention improving - and is expansion happening in healthy accounts? - Does the CS operating model match the customer segment and contract value? ## Communities and publishers Following people is valuable, but joining places where practitioners compare notes will accelerate your learning. - **Customer Success Collective**: Offers community discussion, expert-led content, templates, presentations, local meetups, and topic-based channels - including areas such as AI in CS, onboarding, churn-risk identification, and team building.[Community | Customer Success Collective](https://www.customersuccesscollective.com/customer-success-community/) - **Gainsight**: Its resources and programming cover CS strategy, tooling, operations, retention, adoption, and current practitioner conversations. Gainsight originally formed a Customer Success Influencers community specifically to share best practices and resources across the profession.[Gainsight Creates Customer Success Influencers Community and ...](https://www.gainsight.com/press/gainsight-creates-customer-success-influencers-community-and-launches-online-resource-center-to-evangelize-customer-success-best-practices/) - **Customer Success Meetup**: A practical way to meet practitioners and hear real-world examples; the group describes itself as a community for people working across CS, product, lifecycle marketing, and customer-centric organizations.[Customer Success - Meetup](https://www.meetup.com/customer-success/) ## An efficient way to learn Don’t try to follow 30 people at once. Start with **five**: Lincoln Murphy, Kristi Faltorusso, Anika Zubair, Carly Agar, and Jay Nathan. Then spend a month watching for recurring ideas: - Desired outcomes and time-to-value - Onboarding and product adoption - Customer health and churn prevention - Renewals and expansion - Segmentation: high-touch, pooled, and digital CS - The commercial role of CS - CS operations, data, and AI Save posts that contain actual frameworks, examples, metrics, or templates - not generic motivational content. The best learning comes from comparing different opinions and translating them into a small practice project: for example, drafting an onboarding success plan, a customer health-score outline, or a renewal-risk playbook.