Communication in customer success hinges not on what you say, but what your customer hears, as Kevin Metzger discovered when a casual comment about contractual obligations spiraled into a three-month recovery process with an enterprise client.

• Customer's SSL certificate expired causing application issues
• According to contracts, certificate renewal was customer's responsibility
• Kevin's off-the-cuff remark about contract terms damaged relationship
• Previously excellent customer service included clearing 150-issue backlog
• Proactive handling of day-zero security issue before incident
• Recovery process took months despite initial good relationship
• Understanding perception versus intention is critical in communication
• Consistent actions to rebuild trust more important than being right
• Later developed honest communication about miscommunication patterns
• Relationship eventually strengthened, leading to renewal of eight-figure contract
• Future of communication increasingly involves emotional intelligence as AI handles factual elements
• Different cultural contexts require additional communication awareness

📢 Guest Spotlight:

• Kevin Metzger — Customer Success Leader with 20+ years of experience, known as “The AI Assistant Guy” https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinmetzger/
  
  
  
• Host of the Customer Success Playbook podcast
  • Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-customer-success-playbook/id1691760422
  • Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7pPPFBQZrv3HPrA75FQk2h?si=4f42fed2355c486a
    
    
    

🟣 Tools & Technologies Discussed:

• ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini — AI tools referenced for communication and content strategy
  • https://chatgpt.com/
  • claude.ai
  • gemini.google.com
    
    
    
• Notebook LM — Used for synthesizing information, content planning, and structuring timelines or papers
  • https://notebooklm.google/
    
    
    
• SalesApe.ai — AI-powered SDR tool that qualifies leads via email communication
  • https://www.salesape.ai/
    
    
    
• Sesame.com — Voice AI tool used for realistic spoken conversation with AI agents (Miles and Maya)
  • https://app.sesame.com/
    
    

🌐 Website
https://www.joedoestechtouch.com/

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephdigrande

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