This case describes the evolution of the customer success function through the rise of Gainsight. It discusses the responsibilities of the customer success function, measuring and compensating customer success teams, and the return on investment for adding a customer success organization. It also describes some of the different forms customer success can take across firms.

Atlassian: Sales examines the company's unique, no-touch sales model for enterprise products that help teams track projects, collaborate, and build products. The case explores how the company developed and sold its first product, JIRA, and how early lessons helped shape the company's no-touch sales model for all subsequent products. It then discusses the organizational effects of a low-price, volume-based model, and how the advocacy team and channel partners serve as keys to success for the approach.

CEO, Ryan Smith and the rest of the founding team at Qualtrics grew the company to 350 employees and an estimated $50M in revenue through an inside-sales model. After ten years of bootstrapping however, the company took on $70M in funding from prominent venture capital funds. With this milestone, the team faced a new inflection point in the company's growth. To support the next phase of evolution, Smith brought in John D'Agostino as the new Head of Worldwide Sales. Smith and D'Agostino needed to increase revenue without negatively impacting the company's strong foundation. The Qualtrics leadership team faced several options for the future of their sales organization. It was up to Smith and D'Agostino to decide--how should they organize the sales team to face the challenges of Qualtrics' next phase of growth?

The case highlights the evolution of a wide-area-network (WAN) optimization company from its founding day to its potential IPO. It explores the various challenges faced by management along the way, both in terms of determining what characteristics are needed in VP of sales role as well as how to determine which go-to-market model is most appropriate. OptiGen emphasizes the risks of channel conflict and forecasting inaccuracies, particularly for a company that wants to go public. The case opens with Robert Campos, CEO of OptiGen, preparing for a series of meetings with investment banks to discuss the prospects of an IPO. His company has recently missed its operating plan for the second time in three quarters. Campos is concerned that the spotty track record will harm its chances on the public market. Campos highlights two key, interrelated problems that must be addressed immediately: a broken forecasting process and inconsistent quarter-over-quarter revenue growth. Internally, there is no connection between the forecasts provided by the sales team at the beginning of any given quarter and the operating plan set forth by management.