MBO, commission, and hybrid plans

In this episode of Mostly Growth, the number one podcast in product monetization, CJ and Kyle unpack one of the most confusing functions in SaaS: customer success. Based on a survey of 132 GTM leaders, they break down how CS teams are staffed, compensated, and structured — and why 93% of companies still aren’t confident they’ve gotten the model right. From P&L placement to comp plans to expansion ownership, they explore whether customer success is actually driving revenue or just absorbing budget.

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SPONSORS:

HockeyStack is an AI platform for modern go-to-market teams that unifies sales, marketing, and customer data into a single system of action. With AI agents that prospect accounts, support reps, improve forecasting, and automate what’s already working, HockeyStack helps teams move faster without guessing. Trusted by companies like RingCentral, Outreach, ActiveCampaign, and Fortune 100 teams—learn more at https://www.hockeystack.com

RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for modern pricing models like usage-based pricing, bundles, and mid-cycle upgrades. RightRev lets companies scale monetization without slowing down close or compliance. For RevRec that keeps growth moving, visit https://www.rightrev.com

Tropic is an intelligent spend management solution that consolidates your spend data and processes into one unified offering, enabling insights and decisive action. From spotting hidden optimization opportunities to automating painful procurement workflows and giving you the best market data to turn vendor negotiations in your favor, Tropic combines smart insights with real human expertise to keep you ahead of the curve. Visit https://www.tropicapp.io/mostlymetrics to learn how.

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LINKS: 

Mostly Metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com

CJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/

Growth Unhinged: https://www.growthunhinged.com/

Kyle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-poyar/

Slacker Stuff: https://www.slackerstuff.com/
Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/slackerstuff/

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TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Intro banter

3:24 CS team size benchmarks

5:13 93% lack confidence in their CS model

6:36 Renewal rates are solid

8:10 CS identity crisis

9:12 Where CS reports

11:44 CS on the P&L

10:02 Sponsors — Hockey Stack | RightRev | Tropic

13:41 P&L placement results

15:51 Staffing by count vs. revenue

17:44 CS as a coverage problem

18:28 CS is not paid like sales

20:14 MBO vs. commission vs. hybrid

22:01 Why commission is hard

23:13 Hybrid comp gets diluted

24:30 What CS is actually paid on

25:19 Pay on adoption, not NPS

27:26 NPS is not predictive

29:26 Who owns expansion revenue?

32:12 Should you charge for CS?

34:09 Takeaways

36:48 Credits

#MostlyGrowthPodcast #CustomerSuccess #SaaS #RevOps #ProductMonetization