Some places don’t just live in your memory—they settle in your heart. Ghent is one of those places. Its beauty isn’t loud, but it’s lasting. And that’s exactly what customer success should be. Not flashy promises, but quiet consistency. Not surface-level service, but deep, meaningful support. It’s in the little things, done with care, that loyalty is built.

That same spirit was at the heart of our Customer Success Snack event in Ghent—a cozy, high-impact gathering where CS professionals came together to exchange learnings, challenge each other’s thinking, and leave with both inspiration and actionable insights. With snacks in hand and conversations flowing, we dove into the future of CS with curiosity and connection.

Thanks to our moderators — Michiel Schokkaert, Ine Bastiaenssen, Linda Tilkin, Stijn Smet, Kristof Bonne, Pieter Boon, and Femke Saelens we were able to cover a fruitful session. 

Here are the key topics we covered during the Customer Success Snack event:

1. AI & Prompt Engineering
2. CS Enablement and Scaled CS in 2025
3. Upselling together with Sales & Marketing
4. Conflict Management and Feedback
5. Client Change management, Success Plans & tooling
6. Communities, Playbooks, Automation, and Customer Engagement
7. Value-based communication, Time to value & Stakeholder management
8. For leadership only: CS Processes and Metrics

AI & Prompt Engineering

The session on Efficiency & Prompt Engineering in AI, spearheaded by Michiel Schokkaert wasn’t just another conversation about cool tools or tech trends. It hit deeper—because it reminded us of what really matters when we bring AI into customer success: being intentional, human, and bold enough to try (and sometimes fail).

Here are some of the biggest takeaways we walked away with—and why they matter.

1. Strategy Over Shiny Objects

Let’s be honest—it’s easy to get distracted by the latest AI tool. But without a clear AI strategy, those tools become just that: distractions.

What we need:

• A formal strategy, grounded in OKRs
• Defined outcomes for how AI supports CS goals, not just cool experiments
• A shared understanding across the team of why we’re using AI
  

2. Knowledge Hoarding is Out

One of the best reflections from the session: “We don’t share our successes (or failures) enough.”

If someone figures out how to cut down admin time using Dust + Confluence summaries? We should all know about it.

What to do:

• Build AI use case sharing into your weekly team rhythm
• Celebrate experiments, even if they don’t go as planned
• Use your docs, support centers, and chat logs as training data—your knowledge base is a goldmine
  

3. Automate What’s Draining You

CSMs should spend time with people, not chasing playbook steps or digging up meeting notes.

AI = your admin assistant.
Use it to:

• Summarize Zoom/Teams meetings
• Auto-fill CRM fields
• Trigger follow-up task
• Build mini internal assistants with tools like Dust
  

Start small, but start now.

4. Prompting is a Skill—And a Team Sport

We’re all still learning how to talk to AI well. But when we do it right, the output is drastically better.

What helps:

• Use AI to help you write better prompts
• Share “prompt wins” in Slack or Confluence
• Teach each other. One great prompt can save your team hours.
  

5. Don’t Let AI Replace the Human Touch

This one hit home: AI is great at doing—but not at being.
It won’t replace empathy. Or intuition. Or that gut feeling when something’s off with a customer.

Let’s use AI to:

• Take the busywork off our plates
• Free up time for real conversations
• Be more human, not less
  

Tools We’re Exploring

This session reminded us we’ve got a pretty powerful toolkit already—here are some we’re either using or curious about:

• ChatGPT, Visma-GPT – Prompt-based efficiency boosts
• Dust – Internal assistant building
• Planhat – CS platform that could be even smarter with integrated AI
• Confluence – For documentation (and letting AI summarize it!)
• Intercom/Finn – For chatbot automation
• Zoom, Teams – As AI-ready meeting inputs

Impact pilot – Churn predicting based on impact drivers

CS Enablement and Scaled CS in 2025

As AI becomes more embedded in our daily workflows, especially within Customer Success, it’s clear that we’re not just adopting new tools—we’re reshaping how we work, collaborate, and deliver value. In our recent session, we took a step back to reflect on what’s working, what needs to change, and how we can move forward with intention.

The conversation, headed by Ine Bastiaenssen and Linda Tilkin touched on everything from the evolving role of CS Operations, to the importance of psychological safety when using AI, to practical strategies for driving change without resistance. What emerged was a shared understanding: AI isn’t here to replace us—it’s here to elevate us. But only if we use it with clarity, creativity, and care.

Here’s a summary of the key takeaways from our session—framed through the lens of what to Start, Stop, and Continue—to guide our next steps as a team.

✅ Start	🛑 Stop	🔁 Continue
1. Empowering CS Operations: Even if it’s not a full-time role, CS Ops should stay deeply connected to day-to-day processes and customers. 2. Assigning Internal Experts: Nominate tool owners within each team to support adoption and ownership. 3. Creating a Learning Hub: Build a platform where team members can ask questions, share new findings, and deepen data understanding. 4. Leading Through Influence: Let others arrive at shared ideas on their own, so they’re more invested in driving change—especially when those ideas are rooted in your proven past experiences. 5. Define the “Why” Before Choosing Tools Clearly identify the problem you’re solving before selecting a tool. Build a strong business case by outlining objectives, expected ROI, and the broader business impact to secure leadership buy-in—especially in skeptical environments. 6. Ensure Data Clarity from the Outset Invest in data hygiene and validation early. Clean, reliable data is critical to maximize the effectiveness of any CS tool. 7. Expand Success Metrics Beyond Health Scores Incorporate product usage, engagement trends, and customer sentiment to get a full picture of customer health. 8. Balance Automation with Human Touch Design a hybrid approach to scaled CS that uses automation for efficiency—but keeps human connection at the core to avoid impersonal experiences.	1. Doing Repetitive Tasks Manually: Automate what you can—use AI and workflows to handle routine work. 2. Relying Blindly on AI: Use AI outputs as a starting point, then layer in human insight, empathy, and personal context. 3. Feeling Monitored by AI: Foster a culture of psychological safety. AI notetakers should support growth, not surveillance. 4. Fearing AI as a Threat: AI is here to augment, not replace. Let it help us do what we do best—better. 5. Skipping Consent for AI in Meetings: Respect privacy and transparency by always asking for consent when using AI tools like notetakers. 6. Assuming CS Tools Always Equal Efficiency A CS enablement tool isn’t always a must-have. If your processes are strong and existing tools meet your needs, a new tool may not be necessary—until customer volume or complexity demands it. 7. Implementing Tools Without Strategy Avoid launching new tools without a clear roadmap. Poor planning leads to underuse, confusion, and wasted resources. 8. Underestimating the Need for Implementation Support Skipping dedicated onboarding or technical resources results in delays and weak adoption. Proper support is key for a smooth rollout. 9. Using the Wrong Tool for the Job Don’t assume one tool fits all. Be selective and evaluate alternatives carefully to avoid mismatched solutions.	1. Asking Consent for AI Use: Keep communication open and respectful when integrating AI tools. 2. Driving Change Management: Stay committed to long-term thinking and sustainable change. 3. Staying Data-Driven: Use data to inform decisions, guide improvements, and tell the story of your impact. 4. Championing CS Across the Org: Ensure CS is seen as a strategic pillar—respected by leadership and aligned with the company’s identity and direction. 5. Investing in Smart Automation Keep streamlining repetitive or manual tasks with automation so CS teams can focus on strategic, high-impact work. 6, Prioritizing Human Interaction Meaningful, personal engagement still matters most. Continue hosting onsite events, webinars, and collaborative spaces to foster real connections and community learning. 7. Scaling Proactively, Not Reactively Anticipate future needs and build with scalability in mind. Design systems and processes that support growth without compromising quality. 8. Empowering Teams with Ownership Trust your CS teams to lead. Provide them with the autonomy, resources, and authority to drive customer outcomes and innovate on the front lines. 9. Embedding Continuous Learning Foster a culture of curiosity. Encourage feedback loops, shared learnings, and space to experiment so your team can grow alongside your customers.

Upselling together with Sales & Marketing

We’ve all been there—when a customer says, “That’s not what I was promised,” or when a perfect upsell opportunity slips by because no one flagged it in time. These moments aren’t just frustrating—they’re missed chances to grow trust, value, and revenue.

That’s why upselling can’t just be the responsibility of one team. For it to work, it needs to be a coordinated effort between Customer Success, Sales, and Marketing. Each team brings a unique lens: CS knows the customer, Sales knows how to close, and Marketing knows how to influence. But without alignment, we risk confusing customers, over-promising, or missing critical timing.In our session with Linda, on “Upselling Together with Sales and Marketing,” we explored how to get out of our silos and work smarter together. Here’s what we learned—and how we can build a more collaborative, strategic approach to upselling.

✅ Start	🛑 Stop	🔁 Continue
1. Align on Client Meetings Encourage joint meetings between CS and Sales to improve communication, identify opportunities early, and align on messaging. 2. Build a Certification Academy Create product certification programs that not only educate but generate competitive FOMO—making customers more likely to adopt advanced features. 3. Framework Upsell Timing with Marketing Partner with Marketing to map out key upsell windows, ensuring messaging and timing are optimized for when customers are most ready to buy. 4. Host Client Networking Events Leverage peer influence through user groups or events to organically surface upsell interest via shared customer success stories.	1. Over-Promising During Sales Misaligned expectations damage trust. Sales and CS must sync pre-sale promises with post-sale reality. 2. Depending Solely on Self-Service Relying entirely on self-service for upsells—especially for mature products—misses the chance for deeper engagement and personalization. 3. Measuring Only Lagging Indicators Renewals and churn are the outcome, not the cause. If you’re only tracking what happens at the end of the customer lifecycle, you’re missing critical early signals. Shift focus to leading indicators—engagement, time-to-value, product adoption—that help CS act proactively, not reactively.	1. Use Marketing Testimonials Success stories and customer proof points remain powerful tools in creating trust and driving interest in additional offerings. 2. Maintain a Core Operational Team A recurring cross-functional meeting (weekly or biweekly) between CS, Sales, and Marketing helps align priorities and spot upsell moments early. 3. Leverage Group-Based Incentives Continue incentivizing teams collectively—commission plans tied to shared upsell targets help everyone stay invested in the outcome. 4. Coordinate Product Launch Comms Ensure product updates and launch plans are shared across teams at the same time to keep messaging consistent and timely.

Conflict Management and Feedback

Effective conflict management and feedback are essential not only for resolving challenges but also for building trust and improving processes—both internally and with customers. During our session with Ine Bastiaenssen, we organized key takeaways into a Start, Stop, Continue model to identify actionable ways to enhance team dynamics, customer interactions, and overall communication culture.

This framework offers clarity on where we can improve, what to leave behind, and which practices to strengthen as we move forward.

✅ Start	🛑 Stop	🔁 Continue
Implement Structured Feedback Sessions Build regular check-ins to collect insights from both customers and team members. This supports continuous improvement and creates a culture of open dialogue. Encourage Proactive Communication Train teams to flag potential issues early—before they escalate into conflicts. Preventative conversations reduce stress and build stronger partnerships.	Using Negative Language with Customers Avoid terms like “problem” or “issue” in customer interactions, as these can create a negative tone. Opt for more solution-oriented or neutral language. Over-Accommodating Without Boundaries While empathy is key, avoid the trap of saying “yes” to every customer demand. Without clear boundaries, over-accommodation can lead to burnout and misalignment.	Balancing Empathy with Professionalism Maintain a human, empathetic approach—but anchor it in realistic expectations and clear communication. Running Retrospectives to Improve Use regular retrospectives to reflect on what went well, what didn’t, and how team or customer interactions can be improved going forward.

Resources to Support This Framework

Books & Frameworks: Crucial Conversations by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan & Switzler Radical Candor by Kim Scott SBI Feedback Model (Situation-Behavior-Impact)	Podcasts & Newsletters: WorkLife by Adam Grant The Modern Manager The Feedback Loop newsletter
Courses: LinkedIn Learning: Conflict Resolution Foundations Coursera: Successful Negotiation (University of Michigan)	Tools: Digital Feedback Boards: Miro, MURAL, FigJam Retrospective Platforms: TeamRetro, Parabol

Client Change Management, Success Plans & Tooling

When it comes to Customer Success, onboarding is where the magic starts—or where momentum can stall. In our recent session, headed by Stijn Smet, with onboarding specialists, we zoomed in on how to build a smoother path from Sales handoff to value realization.

Here are the key takeaways on how to streamline onboarding, manage expectations, empower clients, and pick the right tools—especially if you’re in a growing or early-stage CS org.

1. Nail the Pre-Onboarding Process

Before a single kickoff meeting, Sales should already be setting the stage. Using a simple goal-setting template helps capture what success looks like for the client—and sets a realistic timeline for the onboarding journey.

🎯 Pro tip: The onboarding experience is only as strong as the Sales-to-CS handoff. Prioritize clear deadlines and shared expectations to avoid confusion and last-minute scrambles.

2. Master Expectations Management Early

Misalignment doesn’t usually happen in week 6—it starts on day 1.

That’s why it’s critical to set the right expectations from the start. Clear timelines, ownership, and definitions of success can make or break the process. It’s not about overpromising—it’s about co-creating a realistic, empowering plan.

3. Identify & Engage Your Champions

Your onboarding process needs internal advocates—client-side champions who can drive the project forward when you’re not in the room.

🎯 Pro tip: Always schedule time early in the journey to identify who those people are. Then, keep them engaged with regular, intentional touchpoints throughout onboarding and beyond.

Champions aren’t just helpful—they’re essential. They’re your bridge to internal adoption, feedback, and long-term retention.

4. Empower Clients with a Flexible Implementation Guide

Not every client moves at the same speed, so ditch the rigid timeline. Instead, offer an implementation guide that outlines the steps, responsibilities, and outcomes—while giving clients the flexibility to own the process.

This fosters accountability and gives them the confidence to navigate onboarding with your support (not just your control).

 5. Right Tools for the Right Stage

If you’re a smaller start-up building out Customer Success, you don’t need a bloated tech stack. Smart, lightweight tools like Custify and Startdeliver can help automate workflows, track progress, and surface insights without overcomplicating things.

🎯 Pro tip:The right CS tool should enhance your process—not overwhelm it.

Communities, Playbooks, Automation, and Customer Engagement

In the ever-evolving world of Digital Customer Success, we’re always looking for the sweet spot: scalable strategies that still feel personal.

In this session with Stijn Smet, and Kristof Bonne focused on Communities, Playbooks, Automation, and Customer Engagement, CS leaders came together to share what’s working—and what’s not—in the digital-first CS playbook. Here’s what we learned:

1. Webinars Still Work—When Done Right

Customer webinars are far from dead. In fact, they’re thriving—with a 40% engagement success rate reported by teams who test different angles and content formats.

✨ Tip: Keep experimenting. Fresh topics = fresh attention. Don’t recycle the same value props—rethink your angle to keep people clicking and staying.

2. Community? Yes—but Make It Intentional

Simply launching a Slack group or forum won’t move the needle.

The insight? Communities need purpose.
Start with a clear engagement goal—what value will members get, and how will they contribute? If it’s just a place to post updates, you’ll lose them quickly.

3. Build a Board of Advisors

One of the session’s standout takeaways: forming a Board of Advisors with key clients is a powerful loyalty strategy. These handpicked advocates don’t just offer feedback—they feel invested in your success.

It’s not just engagement—it’s co-ownership.

4. Feedback Isn’t Optional—It’s a Muscle

Frequent, thoughtful surveys and feedback loops are critical. They help you keep a pulse on customer sentiment, identify friction points early, and fine-tune your strategy with real-time data.

The more you ask, the more you learn. The more you learn, the more you grow.

5. Tools That Drive Digital CS

A few tools stood out in the discussion—especially Lifestorm, which supports customer engagement while offering insights into success metrics. If you’re automating workflows or measuring webinar impact, this tool might be your new favorite.

6. Celebrate Champagne Moments

Don’t underestimate the power of recognition. Whether it’s go-live, a key milestone, or an internal win, celebrating “Champagne Moments” makes customers feel seen and supported.

These moments build emotional connection—and emotional connection drives retention.

7. Gamify to Energize

Want better participation? Gamification works. Add competitive or playful elements to onboarding, community interaction, or training and watch engagement rise.

Think: badges, leaderboards, completion rewards. Small efforts, big returns.

8. Humanize with Personalized Videos

One of the most effective, low-effort tactics: personalized videos. A 30-second clip from a CSM saying “congrats” or explaining a new feature feels way more personal than a templated email.

Automation can scale delivery—but personalization creates connection.

Value-based communication, Time to value & Stakeholder management

In Customer Success, the term “Time to Value” is often tossed around like a buzzword—but what does it really mean? If your answer is “when the customer goes live,” we need to talk.

Because here’s the truth: launching is not the finish line—it’s barely the starting gun. In our session with Michiel Schokkaert and Pieter Boon , we cracked open the outdated habits holding CS back and reimagined what real value delivery looks like. From redefining TTV to restructuring how Sales and CS collaborate, this isn’t just about smoother handovers—it’s about building trust, delivering outcomes, and becoming an irreplaceable strategic partner.

✅ START	🛑 STOP	✅ CONTINUE
1. Redefine Time to Value (TTV): Move beyond “time to launch” and link TTV to customer-confirmed goals and outcomes. 2. Pilot Programs: Use phased or agile rollouts to show early wins and drive adoption, especially for complex accounts. 3. Value-Focused Events: Host small peer-to-peer events where customers can share use cases and realized value. 4. CS in Sales Cycle: Involve Customer Success Managers earlier to manage expectations and build trust. 5. Cross-functional Teams: Create dedicated groups (CS, Product, Marketing, etc.) to focus on retention and value delivery. 6. Playbooks & Standardization: Standardize materials (e.g., decks, playbooks) for Business Reviews and onboarding. 7. Differentiate Calls: Separate operational check-ins from strategic value discussions. 8. Data-Driven Conversations: Use data to drive meaningful conversations around goals, outcomes, and ROI. 9. Sales-CS Alignment: Align incentives and handover processes between Sales and CS to ensure shared success. 10. Structure value communication with defined anchor points and engagement models. 11. Expand digital touchpoints via in-app banners, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and notifications. 12. Organize value-focused events like roundtables, user days, and thought leadership sessions.	1. Feature-Focused Conversations: Avoid letting bugs or feature discussions dominate without tying back to business value. 2. TTV = Launch: Don’t equate going live with delivering value. 3. Sales Overpromising: Stop setting unrealistic expectations without CS validation. 4. Brief Handover Moments: Move away from one-off handovers—plan for deeper transitions across teams. 5. Sales Isolation: Sales should be aware of and accountable for long-term fit and expectation-setting. 6. Reactive CS: Don’t let CS become a purely support-oriented function; position it as a strategic partner. 7. Overloading customers with too many triggers, which risks disengagement. More touchpoints don’t always mean more engagement. Constant nudges—emails, in-app prompts, follow-ups—can quickly become overwhelming or ignored. Over-communication risks desensitizing users and eroding trust. 8. Relying on check-ins without a clear value agenda—these become noise. Generic “just checking in” messages add little value and often feel like a waste of time. Without a specific purpose, these touchpoints become noise rather than nurture. Instead, come prepared. 9. Waking up passive users (“slapende honden”) unnecessarily, creating friction without purpose. Re-engagement efforts can backfire when they’re misaligned. Reaching out to quiet or dormant users without a clear strategy may spark cancellations, frustrations, or negative attention—especially if there’s no compelling reason or new value to share. Instead, be intentional.	1. Start each customer interaction by revisiting strategic goals. Never lose sight of why the customer partnered with you in the first place. Whether it’s onboarding, a QBR, or a casual check-in, anchoring every conversation in their business objectives ensures relevance, accountability, and stronger alignment over time. Let their goals—not your roadmap—lead the dialogue. 2. Share relevant customer stories to make value tangible. Data is powerful, but stories are memorable. Use targeted case studies, testimonials, and peer examples to show what success looks like. Real-world examples build trust, spark new ideas, and validate your product’s impact—especially when they reflect similar industries, challenges, or use cases. 3. Segmentation Tailor engagement models based on customer tier (high/medium/low-touch). One-size-fits-all doesn’t scale. High-touch customers need strategic partnership; low-touch accounts benefit more from guided automation and scalable programs. Use segmentation to deliver the right level of support at the right time, while maintaining efficiency and impact across the entire customer base. 4. CSM Ownership Ensure CSMs stay involved throughout the customer journey. The CSM shouldn’t vanish after onboarding. Long-term engagement and outcomes require consistency and relationship continuity. A strong CSM presence—from activation through renewal—builds trust, drives advocacy, and ensures that no value gaps are left unaddressed. 5. CSM Ownership: Ensure CSMs stay involved throughout the customer journey. 6. Stakeholder Buy-In: Maintain relationships with key decision-makers early and throughout the lifecycle.

For leadership only: CS Processes and Metrics

In our recent discussion on Customer Success Processes & Metrics headed by Femke Saelens, one thing was clear—CS is evolving fast, and the way we measure, communicate, and educate must keep up. Here’s a breakdown of the key insights and ideas to help your CS strategy go from intuitive to impactful.

Data & Metrics: Less Guessing, More Guiding

Let’s face it—many CS teams start by defining metrics based on gut feeling. While intuition isn’t useless, success depends on clear, trackable, and evolving metrics that reflect customer reality.

• Start small: Pick one key metric, track its impact, and only then expand.
• Health scores need to be more than a static number—they should grow with your product and your customers’ evolving goals.
• There’s a ton of data out there, but the real win? Turning that data into action.

⚙️ Automation: Smart, Timely, Human(ish)

Automation can save time and scale your efforts—but only if done right.

• Use automation externally (customer emails, nudges) and internally (process efficiency).
• Customers prefer personal, relevant communication—so don’t just automate for the sake of it.
• Email overload is real. A single, well-placed email will always beat a flood of generic ones.
• Want better onboarding? Try “progressive emails” like “Step 3 of 5,” and clearly communicate what comes next.
• Automate delivery of digital resources, but set expectations upfront.
  

📚 Education & Empowerment: More Than Meetings

Not every customer needs a meeting. The new standard? Targeted education and scalable engagement.

• Build a knowledge base that’s robust, searchable—and ideally, AI-powered.
• Automated learning content (like training videos) can free up your CS team to do what they do best: advise and consult.
• Don’t worry if a customer isn’t using every single feature—if they’re satisfied and seeing results, that’s success.
  

🛠️ Tooling & NPS: What Works (and What Doesn’t)

Your tools can make or break your CS operation. Here’s what people are using and what to keep in mind:

• Planhat – Robust but pricey
• Custify – Great value alternative to Planhat
• HubSpot – Now evolving to better serve CS needs
• Intercom – Beautiful UI but costly (especially per-user pricing)
• Customer.io – Budget-friendly for automated email flows

As for NPS? It’s useful—but in-app surveys tend to be more representative than email-based ones.

Join us for our next event and connect with fellow customer success professionals to share insights, spark ideas, and shape the future of CS together.

Related posts

Driving Scaled Customer Success: Key Takeaways from Paris CS Snack

Amsterdam’s Playbook for Customer Success in 2025 and Beyond

Driving Customer Success in 2025: Strategies for Growth, Retention, and AI-Driven Efficiency

Boost Engagement with Case Studies & Multi-Threading Tactics

Find your hyper-local community

Find your local community in Dublin, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Malmo, Copenhagen, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Ghent, Paris, Madrid, Zurich, Bucharest and more.

Join our community