AI Ep 53: The Meeting AI Will Never Be Able to Replace

EP 66: You're Spending to Replace Customers You Could Have Kept (w/ Lukas Alexander)

Every dollar spent winning a new customer is a dollar you didn't need to spend if you'd kept the last one. In this episode, Sarah Shepard sits down with Lukas Alexander, VP of Customer Success at ChurnZero, to unpack why retention still gets treated like an afterthought while acquisition gets the spotlight, the budget, and the slide decks. Lukas breaks down the CS Operating System, the real difference between GRR and NRR, and where AI belongs on the human track versus the digital track. If your team is bleeding revenue through the back door, this conversation reframes exactly where to look first. KEY TAKEAWAYS: * Why a new logo gets a Slack celebration and a saved customer gets nothing, plus the comp structure problem driving it * The one retention metric Lukas says matters more than your churn rate, and how to actually use it to grade your team * How to build a human track vs digital track system so AI doesn't quietly damage the relationships you've spent years building * The real skill gap keeping CSMs from selling expansion revenue, and why nobody is training for it * A practical exercise you can run today to map exactly when AI should hand a customer back to a person CHAPTERS: 00:00 Meet Lukas Alexander 02:30 Inside the CS Operating System: where AI fits without breaking trust 06:02 The automation trap so many retention teams fall into 09:05 Why nobody throws a party for the churn that didn't happen 13:42 GRR vs NRR: the metric Lukas tracks above everything else 17:29 Segment level and rep level: where retention numbers tell the truth 19:29 Human track, digital track, and the AI that decides between them 23:20 The black hole effect: what slow support really costs you 26:55 B2B, B2C, and the experiment you can run this week SEO KEYWORDS: b2b marketing strategies, revenue growth, sales alignment, B2B Sales Strategy, marketing roi, customer retention strategy, net revenue retention, customer success operations HOSTS: This week's episode is hosted solo by Sarah Shepard, COO of StringCan Interactive. Sarah Shepard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahshepardcoo/ Jay Feitlinger, CEO of StringCan Interactive and regular co-host, is on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayfeitlinger/ GUEST: Lukas Alexander, Vice President of Customer Success at ChurnZero. He's spent over a decade building global customer success teams and is known for treating CS as a revenue function, not just a relationship function. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukas-alexander-3b827280/ Blog: https://churnzero.com/blog/cs-vp-interview-advice/ ABOUT REVENUE REWIRED & STRINGCAN INTERACTIVE: Revenue Rewired is a podcast for B2B marketers, sales leaders, and business owners navigating the intersection of sales and marketing. Hosted by Jay Feitlinger and Sarah Shepard, each episode delivers actionable insights for mid market companies looking to grow revenue strategically. Website: https://www.stringcaninteractive.com Email: podcast@stringcaninteractive.com Buy the Revenue Rewired book: https://www.amazon.com/Revenue-Rewired-Identify-Leaks-Costing-ebook/dp/B0FST7JCXQ Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/crm-swamp-you-built-jay-feitlinger-v4pee

AI Ep 56: Stop Asking AI to Be Creative. Start Asking It to Be Useful.

Asking AI to "be creative" is one of the most overused and least effective AI prompts in business. In this episode of Two-Minute AI Tips, Sarah explains the difference between asking AI to perform and asking it to think, and why that shift changes everything about your output quality. In this episode, you will learn: * Why the "creativity trap" kills AI productivity * How structured prompting outperforms open-ended brainstorming * The exact reframe that makes AI genuinely useful for decision-making Stop looking for surprises. Start building the structure. That is where the value lives. Keywords: AI creativity, AI brainstorming, structured AI prompts, ChatGPT for business thinking, AI decision making, AI problem solving, AI productivity, two minute AI tips, AI strategic use, AI reasoning Contact Us: Email: podcast@stringcaninteractive.com Website:⁠ www.stringcaninteractive.com⁠ [http://www.stringcaninteractive.com] Reach out to the hosts on LinkedIn: Jay Feitlinger:⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayfeitlinger/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayfeitlinger/] Sarah Shepard:⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahshepardcoo/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahshepardcoo/]

Ep 65: Can You Really Game the LinkedIn Algorithm? The Truth Behind Vanity Metrics and Real Engagement

Jay and Sarah pull back the curtain on one of marketing's biggest debates: can you actually game the system? They dig into how algorithms learn from behavior, why LinkedIn remains one of the trickiest platforms to crack, and what happened when Jay uncovered a coordinated engagement pod inflating follower stats for a popular coaching program. The conversation moves through personalization, data privacy, and the blurry line between art and science in modern marketing. If you've wondered why your content isn't landing, or felt tempted to chase vanity metrics, this episode breaks down what actually moves the needle. Key Takeaways * The "Mexican restaurant for your birthday" problem: why hyper-personalized ads creep some people out while others crave the convenience, and what that split means for your targeting strategy. * Jay's deep dive into a LinkedIn coaching program revealed something most marketers suspect but rarely confirm: engagement pods inflating vanity metrics with zero real business value. * Why having 20,000 LinkedIn connections might only get your post seen by 5% of your audience, and what actually moves the needle instead. * The 48-hour LinkedIn reset: how Jay intentionally retrained his own feed algorithm by changing what he liked, followed, and searched for. * A viral goalie's overnight 7 million Instagram followers proves content can spike fast, but building a sustainable b2b marketing engine takes more than luck. Chapters 01:26 Can you really game the system? Setting up the art vs. science debate 04:33 How algorithms actually track and target you (it's less creepy than you think) 08:32 Why LinkedIn is the hardest platform for marketers to crack 11:52 Jay's investigation: uncovering fake engagement pods behind "impressive" LinkedIn growth 20:14 Quality over quantity: separating real audience connection from inflated metrics 22:54 The viral goalie story and what it teaches marketers about overnight wins 25:39 Look within: how your own LinkedIn activity quietly shapes your feed 27:50 Final thoughts and why authenticity still wins long term SEO KEYWORDS: b2b marketing, revenue growth, sales alignment, B2B Sales Strategy, marketing roi, LinkedIn algorithm, social media engagement, vanity metrics, B2B growth strategy, content marketing strategy, LinkedIn for business, AI in marketing Host Information Jay Feitlinger, CEO of StringCan Interactive LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayfeitlinger/ Sarah Shepard, COO of StringCan Interactive LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahshepardcoo/ Revenue Rewired and StringCan Interactive Revenue Rewired is a podcast built for B2B marketers, sales leaders, and business owners navigating the intersection of sales and marketing. Hosted by Jay Feitlinger and Sarah Shepard, each episode delivers practical insights for mid-market companies looking to grow revenue with a clear B2B sales strategy and stronger marketing roi. Email: podcast@stringcaninteractive.com Website: www.stringcaninteractive.com Buy the Revenue Rewired book: https://www.amazon.com/Revenue-Rewired-Identify-Leaks-Costing-ebook/dp/B0FST7JCXQ Newsletter:https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/work-you-keep-restarting-calling-strategy-jay-feitlinger-moizc

AI Ep 55: The Prompt That Will Change How You Hire

What if your job description is quietly repelling the best candidates before they ever apply? In this episode of Two-Minute AI Tips, Sarah shares the two AI prompts she uses before every hire to sharpen job descriptions and upgrade interview questions before they go out the door. In this episode, you will learn: * The exact prompts Sarah uses to audit hiring materials with AI * What top candidates actually read in a job description * How to catch bad interview questions before they cost you a great hire Twenty minutes of AI review could save you a six-figure hiring mistake. Keywords: AI for hiring, job description audit, AI interview questions, AI recruiting, ChatGPT for HR, AI talent acquisition, hiring with AI, two minute AI tips, AI business use, smart hiring strategy Contact Us: Email: podcast@stringcaninteractive.com Website:⁠ www.stringcaninteractive.com⁠ [http://www.stringcaninteractive.com] Reach out to the hosts on LinkedIn: Jay Feitlinger:⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayfeitlinger/⁠ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayfeitlinger/] Sarah Shepard:⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahshepardcoo/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahshepardcoo/]

Ep 64: The Last 90 Days: Why Looking Back Is Your Biggest Growth Strategy

Everyone's laser-focused on what's coming in the next 90 days, but Jay and Sarah are making a case for something most business owners skip entirely: a real look at what just happened. In this episode, they break down why so many companies keep missing their quarterly targets, even when the numbers feel completely reasonable going in. Jay shares a candid story from a client who was exceeding profit goals yet consistently falling short on revenue forecasts, and the uncomfortable truth about where the breakdown was actually happening. And fixing it starts with slowing down long enough to look back before you sprint forward. KEY TAKEAWAYS * Your team isn't the problem. Quarterly misses often trace back to a forecasting process that doesn't have the right people in the room, and no amount of accountability will fix a broken foundation. * The visionary CEO blind spot is real. When there's no operationally grounded voice in planning conversations, revenue targets can drift into wishful thinking fast. * Doing a retro doesn't have to be painful. A simple template and a safe space for your team to debrief can turn past projects into better scoping decisions and more accurate numbers. * Cash flow is the number you're probably underweighting. Revenue growth looks great until you realize profit and expenses weren't part of the equation from the start. * The patterns you ignore this quarter will show up again next quarter. If something's consistently broken, it won't fix itself just because the calendar changed. EPISODE CHAPTERS 00:25 - Jay's Flagstaff escape plan and why Arizona summers hit different 01:20 - Why June has a way of blindsiding business owners every year 02:10 - The case for making the last 90 days your most important ones 03:35 - A client story: killing it on profit, missing badly on revenue 05:45 - How finger-pointing gets in the way of fixing the actual problem 07:30 - Driving through water: what a Google Maps glitch taught Jay about goal-setting 08:17 - Why stepping back feels like going backward (and why that's the point) 09:16 - The visionary CEO vs. the operational realist: why you need both 11:57 - You can't look forward and backward at the same time 13:38 - What's actually worked: removing friction and fixing the foundation first 15:00 - Three revenue buckets StringCan uses to build quarterly goals 18:10 - The number Jay forgot (and why Sarah never does) 19:24 - How to make retros something your team will actually do 21:04 - Wrapping up and staying cool out there SEO KEYWORDS quarterly business planning, Q3 revenue strategy, B2B revenue growth, business retrospective, quarterly goal setting, revenue forecasting, EOS business model, COO vs CEO roles, cash flow management, revenue leaks, business operations, mid-market growth strategy, sales and marketing alignment, quarterly retro template, business planning mistakes HOSTS Jay Feitlinger is the CEO of StringCan Interactive and the author of Family 2.0. He brings a visionary, growth-first perspective to every conversation about revenue strategy and business leadership. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayfeitlinger/ Sarah Shepard is the COO of StringCan Interactive and the operational counterweight every visionary leader needs. She keeps the numbers honest and the plans grounded. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahshepardcoo/ ABOUT REVENUE REWIRED Revenue Rewired is a podcast for B2B owners, marketers, and sales leaders who want to grow revenue with more intention and less guesswork. Every episode delivers no-fluff insights built for mid-market companies ready to scale smart. Hosted by Jay Feitlinger and Sarah Shepard of StringCan Interactive. Get the Revenue Rewired book: amazon.com/Revenue-Rewired Read the newsletter:https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/work-you-keep-restarting-calling-strategy-jay-feitlinger-moizc Send your questions: podcast@stringcaninteractive.com Visit: www.stringcaninteractive.com