Farm Don't Hunt: The Definitive Guide to Customer Success

A concise, practical guide that reframes the entire relationship between companies and customers. Guy Nirpaz, CEO of Totango and a pioneer in the customer success software space, argues that businesses need to stop thinking like hunters chasing new deals and start thinking like farmers cultivating long-term relationships.

Why This One

The title captures the core insight perfectly. In the old world of enterprise software, sales teams hunted for deals, closed them, and moved on. In a subscription economy, the real value comes after the sale. Nirpaz breaks down the intellectual framework behind customer success and provides a practical roadmap for shifting your organization from acquisition-focused to retention-focused thinking.

At just 142 pages, this is the fastest way to absorb the customer success mindset. Nirpaz covers the customer lifecycle, health scoring, segmentation, and the operational changes needed to make customer success work. The book draws on his experience building Totango, one of the first customer success platforms, and his role organizing the Customer Success Summit, one of the industry’s key events.

What to Expect

A short, focused read that you can finish in one or two sittings. The writing is direct and practical, aimed at SaaS founders, customer success leaders, and anyone trying to understand why retention has become the most important metric in recurring-revenue businesses. It complements the Mehta, Steinman, and Murphy book by offering a more compact treatment of the same core ideas.