Why 52% of New Revenue Now Comes From Existing Customers

In this episode of Revenue Insights, host Guy Rubin sits down with Ben O’Mathuin, Principal Consultant at Customer Lift, to explore how companies can transform Customer Success (CS) from a retention function into a strategic revenue driver.

Discover why traditional QBRs are becoming obsolete, how to create meaningful C-suite engagement, and the practical frameworks for aligning Sales and CS into a single revenue organization.

Whether you’re a founder, CRO, or CS leader, this episode delivers tactical insights on expanding revenue from existing accounts, coaching CSMs for commercial impact, and designing scalable post-sales systems that turn customers into predictable growth levers.

Ebsta is a revenue intelligence platform that helps B2B sales teams drive predictable growth by leveraging relationship and activity data. With real-time insights into pipeline health and sales performance, Ebsta empowers leaders to make informed, data-backed decisions. Find out more: https://www.ebsta.com/get-a-demo 

• Ben O’ Mathuin on LinkedIn
• CustomerLift website
• Guy Rubin on LinkedIn
• Ebsta Revenue Insights Newsletter

What You’ll Learn:

• How to unify Sales and Customer Success under one revenue vision
• Why QBRs must evolve into strategic executive-level sessions
• How to coach CSMs to think like sellers and drive expansion
• Frameworks for improving sales-to-CS handoffs and knowledge sharing
• How RevOps and data empower CS with actionable insights
• The importance of time-to-value and its link to churn reduction
• Creating compensation plans that balance retention and growth
• Why collaboration between Product and CS drives true value realization

Time Stamps:

• [00:00] The Importance of Knowledge Sharing Between Sales and CS
• [06:03] Building a Commercially Minded CS Team
• [09:22] Breaking Down Silos — The Unified Revenue Org
• [18:19] Coaching CSMs for Expansion Readiness
• [22:34] Rethinking the QBR
• [29:55] Product Collaboration and CS-Led Growth
• [33:25] Compensation for Retention + Expansion
• [36:13] NRR and GRR: Metrics that Matter

Highlights:

[06:03] Sales-CS Handoff
Ben challenges leaders to stop treating CS like a downstream delivery team. The insights gathered by Sales during the buying journey must translate directly into the onboarding and success stages. “It baffles me how often that knowledge share is lost,” he says, and it’s costing companies expansion opportunities.

[09:22] One Unified Revenue Org
Ben introduces a “one-team” revenue philosophy — Sales, CS, and RevOps working in tandem through shared meetings and data. This alignment fosters peer coaching and consistent strategy.

[18:19] Coaching CSMs for Commercial Impact
Rather than overloading AEs, train CSMs to identify expansion and cross-sell opportunities through value conversations. “CSMs talk to customers daily, they’re sitting on gold. The question is, are we teaching them to mine it?”

[22:34] Killing the QBR
Traditional QBRs are “dead.” Ben explains why replacing them with short, executive-ready value summaries dramatically increases engagement and C-suite participation.

[29:55] CS-Product Collaboration
Customer feedback isn’t just for bug fixes. When Product and CS teams co-create, features become revenue enablers. “Product alignment is the fastest path to lower churn and higher NRR.”

[36:13] Metrics that Matter
Focus on Net Revenue Retention (NRR) and Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) as your North Stars. “Growth can hide churn,” warns Ben, “don’t mistake expansion for health.”

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