When a customer complains, most people rush to explain, defend, or panic.

That’s how small issues turn into big frustrations and even churn.

Here’s the framework I teach every customer-facing professional to turn these situations around: L.A.Y.E.R.

- Listen (don’t interrupt)

- Acknowledge (name the pain and the impact)

- Explore (ask what “success” looks like)

- Respond (take ownership, set an update time, and advocate internally)

Next time a customer is in front of you and things have gone wrong: use L.A.Y.E.R. and watch the whole conversation change.

In this episode of Growth Pills, I unpack three shifts that are quietly breaking the old CS model.1 - Products are no longer selling features. They are delivering outcomes, fast. AI sets a new bar for time-to-value and customers expect results, not potential.2- Pricing is moving from access to usage. Consumption models force proof, not promises, and make renewals evidence-led in a world where switching is easy.3- And customers are no longer learning from your team. They are learning from AI, arriving smarter, faster, and expecting deeply relevant guidance.Ignore these shifts and CS becomes irrelevant.Master them and it becomes your strongest growth engine.

Measuring customer value is hard. That’s exactly why 56% of companies still avoid it.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: not measuring value is even harder.

No evidence at renewal.

No clear signal on how your customer is really tracking.

No way to onboard a new decision maker with confidence.

In Customer Success, there’s no easy path. There’s only a choice between two types of hard.

In this Growth Pill, I break down why the teams that win long term choose the hard that compounds.

Hope is not a strategy. Data is.