Archive - The Customer Success Café Newsletter

AEO Starts in Support: Fix Docs, Changelog, Community

If your docs, changelog, and community disagree, AI cites your users. Use this CS playbook to align answers and win AEO trust.

Feb 9 • Hakan Ozturk | The CS Café

The Head Of CS Trap In Early-Stage Startups

If you can’t name 3 decisions you own, it’s not leadership. Use the leverage test + capacity math to stop churn-by-design.

Feb 8 • Hakan Ozturk | The CS Café

ElevenLabs Raises $500M: Voice Agents Just Became a Renewal Surface

Customers won’t renew because you shipped an agent. They renew when trust stays intact. Here’s the Voice Agent Renewal OS and scorecard.

Feb 5 • Hakan Ozturk | The CS Café

Turn Freemium Into Predictable Revenue In 7 Days

Most signups vanish after day one. Build proof in 72 hours, route accounts by behavior, and turn freemium into predictable upgrades.

Feb 4 • Hakan Ozturk | The CS Café

The Exec One-Pager That Protects Renewals

Production is the battleground. Use telemetry to create exec-ready proof, a reusable QBR pack, and a renewal timeline that pre-wires procurement.

Feb 1 • Hakan Ozturk | The CS Café

January 2026

Stop Check-Ins. Start Renewal Control

A simple operating system for post-sale: standard inputs, trigger-based risk, repeatable plays, and QBR evidence that keeps renewals on rails.

Jan 27 • Hakan Ozturk | The CS Café

How To Spot Renewal Risk Early

Stop last-minute renewal drama. Use a simple system for risk, ownership, decision logs, and value proof that makes expansion easier.

Jan 23 • Hakan Ozturk | The CS Café

Turn AI Incidents Into QBR Proof, Not Renewal Drama

Agentic AI changes failure modes and ownership. This playbook helps CS prevent trust loss from becoming churn, with an exec-ready Excel system.

Jan 20 • Hakan Ozturk | The CS Café

Strategic Partnerships: The Enterprise Renewal System

Most renewals are decided months before the renewal call. Here’s the cadence that creates exec trust: ops reviews, exec steering, and joint metrics.

Jan 17 • Hakan Ozturk | The CS Café

Voice AI Governance: Prevent Renewal Surprises

Voice automation can trap cancellation intent with no handoff. Here’s the governance checklist and the escalation system that prevents silent churn.

Jan 16 • Hakan Ozturk | The CS Café

Make Every Risk Flag Produce An Owner And A Date

Stop shipping health scores. Standardize decision rules that convert risk into an owned plan, protect forecast integrity, and prevent renewal surprises.

Jan 16 • Hakan Ozturk | The CS Café

The Late Question That Kills AI Security Renewals

Renewals aren’t lost to outages or low usage. They’re lost when no one can explain risk at renewal time. What strong CS leaders do differently.

Jan 13 • Hakan Ozturk | The CS Café

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