Finding the Magic Balance Between Customer Growth and Business Success to Drive Revenue Through Great CS

Customer Success drives revenue when teams move beyond surface-level satisfaction and into disciplined, outcome-focused partnership. Growth comes from asking harder questions, saying no to low-impact requests, and understanding how a product fits within a client’s evolving ecosystem. The teams that create measurable value are the ones willing to turn tension into insight, push for strategic alignment, and translate trust into adoption and expansion.

Mariam Muzaffar, Director of Customer Success at Descartes & Mauss, a strategic planning platform, leads teams across every stage of the B2B SaaS lifecycle. "At its core, our role is about growth for both the client and the business. It is about helping clients get the most value from our product to achieve their goals. Satisfaction alone is not enough," says Muzaffar. She explains that leaning into awkward or high-stakes moments reveals opportunities hidden behind uncertainty. By asking direct questions and mapping client experiments, teams uncover misaligned requests or areas where clients may be trying something new.

• From no to know-how: Those insights often surface requests that don’t advance adoption or strategic goals. Saying no in these moments keeps the team focused on high-impact problems and earns client respect. "It’s about being constructive. It’s about showing what will actually meet their needs and reminding the client that we are brought on to achieve specific goals," says Muzaffar.

• Reading the room: Delivering difficult messages requires emotional intelligence and strategic insight. Teams tailor their approach to each stakeholder, address adoption challenges directly, and assess how the product fits within the client’s ecosystem, uncovering issues early and strengthening outcomes. "The more you do that, the more a client sees you aren’t just pushing a product for the sake of it. They realize you actually get them," Muzaffar says.

This playbook faces a new, complex challenge. Enterprise clients increasingly experiment with AI, building internal tools and integrating multiple platforms in ways that vendors may not fully see. CS teams must understand how these tools fit into a client’s ecosystem, ask thoughtful questions, and gather insight into usage and adoption.

• The trust dividend: Building honest, transparent relationships lets teams gather insights that directly influence product strategy and client outcomes. Early pushback or hesitation often reveals underlying priorities, giving CS teams the information they need to align solutions and create long-term value. "That gives us intel we would not get if we avoid asking the question," Muzaffar says.

Persistence matters when uncovering client needs meets initial resistance. Teams who engage directly, ask the right questions, and focus on outcomes turn tense conversations into strategic insight. "Once clients realize that saying no is not a refusal but a pathway to the right solution, they respect the process more. That respect becomes partnership. That partnership becomes value that goes both ways," Muzaffar says.