Nate calls this out on his timeline prep slide, but I feel this cannot be stressed enough. As a High Touch/Strategic CSM, one thing I think can really help an EBR feel like a true partnership is by preparing in advance with someone in your customer’s organization. Taking time to come up with the agenda, reviewing the content that will be discussed and possibly having someone from the customer’s team present a section can really help turn an EBR from feeling like a one sided presentation into a conversation that everyone gets value from.

It can be really easy as a CSM to have certain talking points that you want to go over, whether its product usage, roadmap items, or exciting use cases you know would be awesome for your customer. And these are all likely warranted! But taking the time to prep with the customer makes sure you really hone in on whats important for them so they get the most value possible from the EBR. 

@NateBartlett thanks so much for sharing your presentation and the recording!
Really like the way you include emotional & personal aspects and how it is key to continuously include creativity throughout all steps of an EBR to ensure a great experience and ensuring you do something people do not expect. 
I would be really interested in the topic you bring up in the last couple of minutes: how can we bring elements into the digitally led CS practice going forward and how can we become more efficient in preparing and driving our Business Review w/o losing the personal touch and the surprising and creative element. Do you have any further thoughts on this?

TLDR: 

• Digital is the Medium. The Message is still very Human
• Continuously delivered bite size value realization along the Customer Journey 
• Email Templates fashioned for your own style/flavor of communication. 

@Moritz Thank you so much for the kind words! And you bring up such a great question around how to truly mesh digital and human - “blend” this as we like to say in our GTM messaging. 

It’s easy to think of leaning into Digital as also veering away from Human. 

But if we simply think of the ‘digital’ in the equation as just the means by which a message is delivered, then the headroom still exists for us to humanize the Message and take those creative ideas and engaging thoughts and craft a message that lands and prompts an experience. Surely easier said than done, but is becoming more possible with AI, In-app capabilities, and the tried and true mechanism of Orchestrated Email Journeys. 

IMHO I feel that as the pace of business continues to speed along we are going to be forced to be able to articulate the Value Received in bite-sized pieces, and in a more continuous manner along the Customer Journey. This could then allow the Executive Business Review types of engagements to be a little less robust in content, and more pointed and articulate based on what we know about our Executive Audience and the direction of the Partnership. Sometimes being short, concise and on point w/ the messaging is an experience that the Customer will enjoy. Sprinkle your own creative flare (email templates) and add on that w/ what you know makes your Customers tick, and you’re likely doing something that will set you apart from other vendors.