The sales to account management handoff is where client relationships are won or lost before the real work even begins.

On Account Management Secrets, host Alex Raymond sits down with Karen Loiterstein, a revenue leadership veteran with experience at TierPoint, Equifax, and Express Scripts, to dig into one of the most costly and overlooked problems in B2B. A deal closes, everyone celebrates, and then the account manager walks into the kickoff meeting and asks the client to explain goals they already covered during the sales cycle. Trust erodes. The client stops feeling like a partner and starts feeling like a transaction.

Karen's approach to revenue leakage prevention starts with behavior, not technology. CRMs capture data but rarely capture what actually matters, the emotional weight behind a purchase, the risk a buyer took to switch vendors, the relationship dynamics that shaped the deal. Her system uses two practical tools. The Why Memo, a short voice note from sales that transfers human context before the account manager enters the room, and the Golden Three, the documented customer goals that should anchor every post-sale conversation.

The episode also covers sales and account management alignment as an organizational issue. Without a shared system, the client onboarding handoff process breaks down in ways that compound quietly over time. Karen's concept of pattern spotting helps teams catch recurring failure points before they reach the client, and she makes a strong case for revenue enablement as the function best suited to own that work.

Reducing churn in B2B accounts starts at the handoff. Karen's customer success handoff best practices are practical enough to use on your next deal.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Introduction: Why the Sales-to-Account Management Handoff Costs Companies Millions

02:19 The Kickoff Meeting Mistake That Destroys Client Trust on Day One

08:07 What Is the Why Memo and How It Transfers Critical Client Context

13:05 The Golden Three: How to Document Customer Goals for a Seamless Handoff

19:25 De-Risking the Handoff: Questions Account Managers Should Ask Early

27:08 How a Poor Handoff Leads to Churn and Revenue Loss in B2B Accounts

31:31 What a Perfect Sales and Account Management Handoff Process Looks Like

35:33 The Role of Revenue Enablement in Closing Handoff Gaps

37:51 Where to Start If You Want to Improve Your Handoff Process Today

Connect with Karen Loiterstein:

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Connect with Alex Raymond:

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Visit the AMplify website

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

The CFO is not who you think they are, and that misunderstanding is costing account managers deals.

On Account Management Secrets, host Alex Raymond sits down with Jacques Sciammas, a former CFO at Charles Schwab, McGraw-Hill, and Standard & Poor's, to break down how to sell to a CFO and what it takes to build a lasting executive relationship. Jacques is now the President at Selling to Executives, where he coaches B2B sales teams on C-suite engagement, and he brings a perspective most account managers never get access to.

The CFO is not the budget gatekeeper. They are the CEO's strategic partner, accountable for outcomes across the entire organization. Every vendor interaction gets evaluated through that lens. If your B2B account management strategy treats the CFO as a financial approver rather than a business leader, you are already starting from the wrong place.

Jacques is clear that demonstrating value to executives is not a pre-sale activity. It is the entire job. From the CFO's point of view, the deal is not done when the contract is signed. It is done when the results show up. Account managers who shift into product mode after the close and stop speaking in business outcomes are the ones who lose renewals. A strong renewal and expansion strategy means staying outcome-focused well past the signature.

Vendor trust and transparency are not nice-to-haves in this framework. They are survival requirements. Jacques is direct about what ends a relationship fast, hiding bad data, downplaying a problem, or showing up without anything of value to say. When things go sideways, the account managers who come in with a clear picture of where things stand and a plan to fix it are the ones who keep the business.

Engaging C-suite executives well also means knowing when not to reach out. The CFO does not want a check-in. They want information that helps them do their job. Showing up without purpose signals that you do not understand the room.

For account managers who feel outranked in these conversations, Jacques has a counterintuitive take. You know more than they do about what works. Use it.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 How to Sell to a CFO: What Account Managers Get Wrong

02:59 The Real Role of the CFO in Your Client's Organization

07:27 Why the Deal Is Not Done at the Signature

10:13 What It Actually Means to Be a Strategic Partner

14:56 How Often to Engage C-Suite Executives (and When Not To)

24:17 A Real-World Story of a Vendor Who Almost Lost the Deal

29:08 Building Trust With the Finance Team After the Sale

33:34 Why Discounting Signals You Have Not Proven Your Value

37:35 How to Make a Business Case When There Is No Budget

Connect with Jacques Sciammas:

Connect with Jacques on LinkedIn

Visit the Selling to Executives website

Connect with Alex Raymond:

Connect with Alex on LinkedIn

Visit the AMplify website

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Customer churn usually starts long before renewal, and strong account managers know how to spot the risk before the customer walks.

On this episode of Account Management Secrets, customer churn prevention takes center stage with Alex Raymond and Chris Rauch, an experienced Chief Customer Officer who has led post-sales teams at Salesforce, Sage, and Supermetrics. Chris calls out a common problem in post-sales work. Too many teams rely on simple CRM churn reasons that make the board deck look clean, but fail to explain why the customer really left.

Real churn rarely comes from one event. It builds through missed support signals, unclear value, product gaps, weak follow-up, and customer concerns that never get enough attention. By the time a competitor appears, the account may already be gone.

Chris makes the case for customer churn prevention as a daily operating practice. Stronger churn forecasting and renewal forecasting help teams see which accounts carry revenue risk and where action is needed. For account managers and customer success leaders, this is where real account management retention begins.

Alex and Chris also discuss why quarterly business reviews often miss the mark. A strong QBR should not be a vendor report. It should be a focused customer conversation about business goals, value, friction, and trust.

The episode also looks at chief customer officer growth and the growing expectation that post-sales leaders own more than retention. Customer success growth now requires commercial awareness, better incentives, and a clear link between customer value and expansion.

For account managers, CSMs, and post-sales leaders, this episode is a reminder that renewal is not the starting line. Better questions, earlier action, and deeper customer context are what keep accounts from slipping away.

Episode Breakdown:

00:03 Account Management Strategies for Client Retention and Growth

02:20 Why CRM Churn Picklists Miss the Real Reason Customers Leave

06:12 The Give a Damn Line and How Contract Value Changes Churn Risk

09:02 Churn Forecasting and Revenue Risk Before Renewal

10:56 T-Minus Renewal Forecasting for Customer Churn Prevention

15:04 Why Quarterly Business Reviews Fail Customers

19:43 Chief Customer Officer Growth and the Shift Beyond Retention

36:54 How AI Can Improve Customer Success and Account Growth

Connect with Chris Rauch:

Connect with Chris on LinkedIn

Connect with Alex Raymond:

Connect with Alex on LinkedIn

Visit the AMplify website

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm