Customer Success Playbook Podcast S3 E60 - Kristen Nolan - How AI Can Strengthen Client Relationships

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The Customer Success Playbook podcast wraps up its enlightening three-part series with Kristen Nolan of Interview Valet by exploring the delicate balance between technology and human connection. In this forward-thinking discussion, Kristen reveals how she leverages AI as a strategic tool while maintaining authentic relationships. From using AI to identify unique client differentiators to employing dictation for efficiency, this episode offers practical ways to harness technology without sacrificing the personal touch. Hosts Roman Trebon and Kevin Metzger guide a conversation that demonstrates how AI can enhance rather than replace meaningful connections in customer success.

Detailed Analysis

As AI continues to transform business operations, customer success professionals face a critical question: Can technology actually strengthen human relationships rather than diminish them? This episode provides a refreshingly balanced perspective that avoids both technological evangelism and fearful resistance.

Kristen Nolan's approach to integrating AI into client relationships stands out for its pragmatism and strategic focus. Working at Interview Valet, where "relationships are the ultimate currency" serves as a core value, Kristen has developed a methodology that leverages AI as a starting point rather than an end solution. Her process of using tools like ChatGPT to identify a client's unique differentiators demonstrates how AI can enhance relationship-building by providing deeper insights that might otherwise remain undiscovered.

What makes this discussion particularly valuable for the customer success playbook is the emphasis on maintaining authenticity while embracing technological efficiency. Kristen's guidance on viewing AI outputs as "a baseline" that requires human refinement offers a practical middle path for CS professionals concerned about sounding robotic or inauthentic in client communications. As she notes, "AI can't make up personal stories for you," highlighting the irreplaceable value of human experience in building genuine connections.

The hosts share equally practical applications, with Roman revealing how he uses AI to improve the tone and client-centricity of his communications—not by blindly copying AI outputs, but by using them as a mirror to recognize when his natural communication style might come across as too abrupt. This application addresses one of the most common challenges in customer success: ensuring that necessary direct communications don't damage valuable relationships.

For customer success teams looking to scale their operations without sacrificing quality, this episode provides a framework for thoughtful AI integration. The discussion moves beyond theoretical benefits to share tangible techniques like using ChatGPT projects to maintain context, leveraging dictation for efficiency, and using AI to help craft more concise communications. These practical tips demonstrate how technology can free up time for meaningful relationship-building rather than replacing it.

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Episode Transcript

Kevin Metzger (00:05):
Customer success.

Roman Trebon (00:10):
Welcome back to the Customer Success Playbook
podcast.
I'm your host, Roman Trevon herewith me as always as my co-host,
Kevin Metzker.
We're wrapping up our amazingand insightful three-part series
with Kristen Nolan fromInterview Valet.
Kev AI Friday.
I know you're excited forFriday.
We got through the entire week.
Here we are.
The weekend is on the horizon.

(00:32):
You ready to go?

Kevin Metzger (00:33):
I'm ready to go.
Excited about the weekend, butalways excited about AI.
Friday and Kristen, she sharedsome tips on time management,
building confidence, and nowwe're exploring something new.
Whether AI and automation canactually help us strengthen
human relationships andbusiness.
Kristen, your work at Interviewof Valet puts you at the
intersection of technology andrelationships.

(00:55):
How do you see AI and automationhelping or hurting our ability
to connect with people?
Authentic.

Kristen Nolan (01:02):
So one thing that I will typically do, um, that I
really love about my role isthat I really lean into
strategy, right?
And so, um, I will utilize AI ina way that helps me, um.
Strategize with my clients.
So oftentimes I will ask, um,cha, GPT what makes this

(01:23):
particular client different?
What is it that they do that noone else does?
If you haven't done thatalready, I would encourage you
to do that.
Um, that will give you insightson kind of what sets you apart.
Right.
Once you can identify what setsyou apart, that can then become
a baseline for how you brandyourself, both on podcasts and
just in general.
And then you can lean into thatmore.

(01:43):
What is it that you dodifferently than other people,
and how do you make yourself thecategory king of whatever,
whatever business you're in.
In addition to that, one of ourcore values at Interview Valet
is that relationships are theultimate currency.
So one of the other things thatI think is so important, and I
always encourage my clients on,is that we want to give that

(02:03):
human touch, right?
So it's not that we're goinginto chat, GPT, we're getting a
response.
We're copying and pasting it andsaying, here, have a good day.
Um, I always look at AI and chatGPT as more of a baseline,
right?
So.
Maybe sometimes you have, um, awriter's block, you have to sit
down.
I'll have, um, some hosts andthey'll ask questions.

(02:23):
And so what I will do for myclients is I will, um, answer
those questions on their behalf,um, with specific prompts.
Um, and I will use one, likemake this sound most like.
X, y, Z client.
And then I will send that to myclient for them to have a
baseline to start those answers,um, where I can then present
those to the host on theirbehalf.
Um, so I think there isdefinitely, like, I use AI all

(02:47):
day, every day, but I think it'sthe human touch where you're
able to then kind of connect thedots and make it personalized,
um, as well.
And I think the other thing thatI always encourage my clients to
do is, is personal stories,right?
AI can't make up personalstories for you, and so that's
really an opportunity to kind ofput that personal spin on it as

(03:08):
well.
Um, I've tried to put togetherstories for my clients or put
together prompts, um, but itjust doesn't, it doesn't have
that human touch.
So there are limitations in thatregard with it.

Kevin Metzger (03:19):
So, Kristen, you gave some some great concepts
and tips there.
Do you mind if we dive into acouple of those?
Sure.
Or yeah, quickly.
So when you were talking abouthaving Jet CPT talk, uh, tell
you about their client, yourclient, are you having it making
a request and letting it do likea search and give you feedback?
Or are you asking the client totell you that information and

(03:41):
have it?
Because if, if you have chat,GPT, talk about yourself.
It can get to look at all of itsmemories and give you
information about itself.
Right.
Is that kind of where you weregoing with it or were you
talking about having like do asearch and give information?
So

Kristen Nolan (03:56):
I will do, um, a project.
So I will set it up as a projectand then I will input all of the
information that I have on myparticular client.
So I will put their targetaudience.
Their goals for their campaign.
I will put in, um, theirwebsite.
Just any information I have, Iwill put it in kind of as a
dump, and then I will then go inand it'll pull from that.

(04:16):
So, from my understanding, and Imay be wrong, if you do a
project that's only gonna pullthe information from that
project, it's not gonna pullelsewhere.
I do sometimes, like, especiallyas I'm starting before I have
some of that information, likeas I'm getting a new client, I
will ask and have it search the,you know, search like the
internet or wherever it.
Searches and do that informationto get that just sort of as a

(04:37):
baseline, to have an idea on theinitial research.

Roman Trebon (04:40):
I love the projects.
That was a game changer for me.
Like I, I was doing a bunch ofrandom chats, nothing, kind of
spoke to it.
Now I have like my, my foldersand like I said, I don't know if
it's true or not, Kristin, butit seemed like it's only looking
at that information.
It's doing it.
Kevin could probably go.
Confirm or deny that, but I, inmy little bubble, I think that
it does, and it, it's great,right?
'cause you're building off ofit.
And it's, it's specific to that.

(05:01):
I find it, like, in terms of,uh, relationships in ai, there's
times where I'll wanna respondback.
My initial response back to aclient or something isn't as
customer centric as maybe I, I'dlike to perceive, right?
So a lot of times I will notsend it right.
I will not send my initialemail.
I will run it through chat, GPT.
Mm-hmm.

(05:22):
And I will ask it to, uh, softenthe email or make it more
client-centric.
And again, I don't copy andpaste it, but then I can kind
of, it gives me anotherperspective and I'm like, oh,
the language I'm using is comingup very, uh, um, abrupt maybe,
or it's not as, the tone isn'thow I want it.
And it can gimme those ideas andit really changes it.

(05:42):
Right.
Like, I can then say, oh, okay.
Here's the email I wanna send.
It still conveys the coremessage, but the delivery of it,
again, it's not damagingrelationships.
My initial email may have.
My chat.
GPT revised email is muchbetter.
Right?
And so I, I love that aspect ofit because before I would park
it, it would take me way long toget back.

(06:03):
And now the system's saying,Roman, not your initial thought,
not your initial email.
Try this better customer centricapproach.
And it, it seems to work, right?
Which is a, it's a game changerfor me.

Kristen Nolan (06:13):
I do the same in, you know, school.
I used to get on my reportcards, Kristen talks too much.
So in my emails I will writethem and ask Chachi PT to make
them more concise so that my, Iwanna make sure that I'm like
getting to the point because Iwill, I will give you a full
background because I'm like, oh,if I give you a full background,
it'll, it'll land more softly orsomething.

(06:34):
So I am right there with you.
But mine is make it more conciseor more direct.

Kevin Metzger (06:38):
I think it's great for, especially if you're
the type of person that likes todo a brain dump, which my
process for editing prior tochat GPT was always get it all
down, push it all out, make sureyou've got everything, and then
you can go back and edit it andclean it up and make it nicer.
Well, now it's like, okay,that's better.

(06:59):
It's actually a great processwith chat GPT, because if you
can get it all out and then yousay, okay.
Clean this up and then go backand look at it and say, oh, I
forgot this, this, and this.
It's, that process is, isfantastic for giving all the
context and detail that you wantin there.
But then extrapolating it upand, and bullet pointing it out,

(07:23):
which chat GPT needs, otherwiseit's gonna make stuff up and you
don't want that.
So,

Kristen Nolan (07:28):
and one other cool thing that I found, um,
working with chat GPT lately isthe dictation, right?
So if you hate sitting here andlike typing Yes.
The dictation is a game changer.
I did it with my son the otherday.
He's 12 and he was doing, um,like a report.
We weren't doing this in chatGPT, but we were doing this in
Google Docs where like, he'slike a h and peck.
They, they don't do as much withcomputers as they did when I was

(07:49):
a kid and it would've taken himthree and a half days to type up
a one page paper.
So I literally set him up at mydesk with my microphone and I'm
like, read your paper.
'cause he had written it out andI'm like, read it.
And it's, he was like, this isamazing.
And it was just, I think weoften don't think sometimes that
we can just speak into thecomputer and it, it helps us
that way too.

(08:09):
And

Roman Trebon (08:10):
these are, I love these tips, Kristen.
'cause these are so, everyoneshould be doing this, right?
And like, again, like I, I juststarted using dictation.
I'm like, why was I not usingdictation the entire time?
Like, I'm the slowest typer andespecially on my phone, it's off
my thumbs or just speak.
It's great.
The project folders are great.
So Kristin, you've given us somany in our audience, so many

(08:31):
amazing practical tips thisweek, so I really appreciate it.
I'm so glad that you overcameyour inner fear and came on the
show and started doing thesethings'cause I, it's been a
wealth of information.
So thank you for, thank you forcoming on the show this week.

Kristen Nolan (08:44):
Thank you guys so much for having me.
I really enjoyed theconversations.

Roman Trebon (08:47):
This concludes our three part series with Kristen
Nolan.
Now you can connect with her onLinkedIn, right?
Kristen, you're on LinkedIn?
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
And you can find more about herwork at Interview Valet.
So check out, uh,www.interviewvalet.com/kristen,
K-R-I-S-T-E-N, right, so checkher out.

(09:07):
Go to Interview Valet.
Great organization.
Uh, we hope that these episodesbrought you value to your week.
If they did, please subscribe.
Rate the show, share it withyour friends and colleagues.
Again, there's tons of practicaltips here.
I know you can take away andstart incorporating in your
day-to-day.
Uh, right now, Kev, we'll beback next week with more
conversations to help ouraudience level up their customer

(09:30):
success game.
Anything else before we concludefor the week, Kevin?
Just keep on.