Your Support System Is a Leaky Boat—and Big Tech Just Proved It

This week on Funnel Frontier: Twilio and Samsung just gave us a masterclass in how not to protect customer data—Twilio with 848K records exposed, Samsung with 270K.

This week:

• Your Support System Is a Leaky Boat—and Big Tech Just Proved It

• The Next Big Thing in AI? Apparently, This Boring-Sounding Protocol… (MCP)

• 6 customer experience KPIs most businesses forget to track…

• You shouldn’t be using CRM just for sales (but it’s okay if you thought so)

• Newsletter unsubscribes are a symptom. Your CRM is the cure.

   

Stat of the Week

Even in 2025, 22% of sales professionals are still unsure about what CRM actually is and they don’t understand the CRM concept. (CRM.org)

Your Support System Is a Leaky Boat—and Big Tech Just Proved It

This week, customer support went from “How can I help you today?” to “Oops, we leaked your personal data.” Twice.

Customer support systems reminded us they’re not just handling complaints—they’re holding goldmines of data. And when those mines go unguarded, bad things happen fast.

Case in point: two massive incidents, back to back.

Twilio: Denial, Data, and a Hacker Named Satanic

First up, Twilio. A hacker named Satanic (because of course) claimed to have breached SendGrid, Twilio’s email platform, exposing data on 848,000 customers. The sample? Emails, phone numbers, LinkedIn profiles, addresses—plus juicy business details like revenue figures, employee counts, even CRM and payment tech stacks.

Twilio flat-out denied the breach, saying the data didn’t originate from them. But the leak hit Breach Forums, the hacker asked for $2,000, and suddenly the whole internet’s staring at a company that’s had a rocky track record with leaks (Authy, anyone?).

Denial or not, perception matters—and once customers get spooked, it’s hard to win them back.

Samsung: A 2021 Mistake Comes Back for Revenge

Then there’s Samsung Germany. This time, the breach wasn’t fancy—it was old-school sloppy. Credentials stolen back in 2021 (thanks, Raccoon Infostealer) were never rotated. Fast forward to today, and over 270,000 customer support tickets were dumped online—no ransom, just vibes.

The exposed data included full names, emails, home addresses, order info, tracking numbers, and internal back-and-forths between agents and vendors. Basically, if you ever contacted Samsung support, someone out there probably read it.

And the worst part? Security researchers had flagged those stolen credentials years ago. Samsung just never acted.

The Bigger Picture: Your Support Stack Is a Soft Target

Twilio and Samsung may seem like different beasts; one is a cloud comms giant, the other a hardware titan. But the story under the story is the same – customer support systems are the new weak point in the digital supply chain.

They’re often an afterthought in security protocols, even though they process everything from PII (Personally Identifiable Information) to payment data to internal notes. Worse, they’re riddled with third-party tools and legacy logins, each one a door just waiting to be kicked in.

And it’s not just support tickets getting popped. Both breaches underscore the lurking danger of credential-based attacks and third-party integrations. That quiet SaaS tool or forgotten login might be the thing that sinks your ship.

Now Sprinkle Some AI on It

Add AI to the mix, and suddenly the risk isn’t just about access—it’s about amplification.

• Voice bots can be hijacked via cloned voices

• Chatbots face prompt injection and persona manipulation

• ML models risk data leakage from “membership inference” attacks

As companies move customer interactions into LLM-powered systems and voice interfaces, the attack surface multiplies.

If Twilio and Samsung, two titans with deep pockets, can trip on support stack security, what does that say about the average SMB running five tools and a Zapier glue job?

It says this:

• Audit your support systems like you audit your product.

• Rotate old credentials.

• Vet every third-party integration.

• Lock down support workflows like they’re the vault.

Apparently, the bar for CX in 2025 is lower than ever. To stand out from the competition, you won’t need the flashiest AI chatbot–just a support system that doesn’t double as a data sprinkler.

The Week @ CRM.org

Best CRM Software for Startups in 2025. Big dreams? Small team? These CRMs help you move fast, close faster, and look like you know what you’re doing.

Best CRMs that Plug Into Gmail. Less tab-switching, more deal-closing. These Gmail-friendly CRMs streamline your whole workflow.

Weekly Bloom

How to Keep Your Best People from Ghosting. We decoded the top reasons employees bail and how to make them want to stay.

The Next Big Thing in AI? Apparently, This Boring-Sounding Protocol… (MCP)

First came generative AI. Then agentic AI. Now, the next big acronym is here: MCP—Model Context Protocol.

HubSpot founder Dharmesh Shah is betting this “universal connector” between LLMs and enterprise apps will unlock a new wave of productivity. His words?

“Someday soon, each of us will have our MCP moment… It’ll be magical.”

Okay, Gandalf…

So What Is MCP, and Why Should You Care?

MCP is a proposed open standard that simplifies how large language models talk to enterprise tools. Think:

• No more brittle custom API connections

• No more hardcoding endpoints

• Just LLMs that can access your CRM, Gmail, Slack, calendars, files—and run agents—all through a clean, standardized interface

Shah’s example is Claude Desktop running multiple MCP servers:

• It reads/writes files

• Talks to Slack

• Uses agents in Agent.ai

• Pulls data from HubSpot CRM

• Even books meetings on your calendar

The dream? An LLM that knows your workflows better than your assistant—and doesn’t need a team of engineers to integrate everything.

So, M for Magical… What’s the Catch?

Well, aside from the tricky setup (Shah admits it’s still a bit of a pain), there’s the small issue of data governance, security, and compliance. You know—just the usual things that tank enterprise AI deployments.

“I just watched a Fortune 100 company burn $4.5M on this exact setup before their DLP team shut it down over data leakage concerns,” Pranjal G., Founder & CEO of DataXLR8.ai commented on Shaah’s post.

It’s the age-old story:

MCP could absolutely be a gamechanger—if we can figure out how to tame it.

It solves engineering problems. But will it survive a conversation with the legal team? That’s the million-dollar (or 4.5-million-dollar) question.

Because while the tech bros are busy chasing their “MCP moment,” security teams are preparing for their MCP meltdown. And let’s be honest: in enterprise AI, the line between magic and misconfiguration is dangerously thin.

Meanwhile, Over at HubSpot…

Agent.ai—the company’s own agentic AI platform—is quietly racking up 1.1 million users in beta. It offers no-code agent building, support for all the top models (Claude, DeepSeek, Ideogram, etc.), and free access for builders.

If MCP becomes real, Agent.ai is likely going to be one of its flagship playgrounds and the foundation is clearly being laid.

Stellar Strategies: Tips & Tricks for Sales, Marketing & Service

6 customer experience KPIs most businesses forget to track…

These 6 customer experience KPIs reveal what your customers won’t say out loud. Spoiler: It’s not just NPS and response times.

You can’t fix what you’re not measuring. And if your idea of “checking in on the customer experience” involves gut instinct and last quarter’s churn report, we’ve got bad news.

Customer expectations are higher than ever—and the only way to meet them is to track the right KPIs in real time, not after the damage is done.

Here’s your crash course in the CX metrics that matter most—plus how to actually use them:

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Ask customers one question: “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend?”

Responses fall into Promoters (9–10), Passives (7–8), and Detractors (0–6). Subtract Detractors from Promoters and boom—you’ve got your score. Use tools like Delighted or Medallia to automate collection. It’s your loyalty litmus test. 

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)

Usually gathered right after an interaction (like a support chat or delivery), CSAT is a 1–5 rating of satisfaction. The formula’s simple:

(Positive responses ÷ Total responses) × 100 = CSAT %

The higher your score, the smoother your customer journey.

Customer Effort Score (CES)

“How easy was it to resolve your issue?”—that’s what CES measures.

Use a 1–7 scale, and average the responses. High CES = smooth, self-service-friendly processes. Low CES? Expect ticket spikes and churn.

Churn & Retention Rates

Churn = % of customers who leave over a given period. Retention = % who stick around.

Track both monthly. Tools like Baremetrics, ProfitWell, or your CRM can surface this. These are your North Star for long-term growth.

Average Resolution Time (ART)

The clock starts when a ticket opens and stops when it’s solved.

Formula:

(Total time to resolution ÷ # of tickets resolved)

ART reveals how efficient (or overburdened) your support team is.

Bonus: For predictive insights, combine these KPIs into a Customer Health Score to spot churn risks before they ghost you.

Want the tools that track these metrics automatically? Here are 15 top CX platforms worth your time.

You shouldn’t be using CRM just for sales (but it’s okay if you thought so)

If your CRM is only being used to track leads and close deals, you’re missing out. Big time.

Because the best CRMs? They moonlight as PR managers, marketing ops assistants, content wranglers, even competitor spies.

Yep, you can use your CRM to manage cold email outreach, build backlinks, run partnerships, license content, and track the competition. We’re talking fewer tools, fewer handoffs, and no more lost context between teams.

Let’s break down a few underrated use cases of CRMs.

Backlink Outreach & PR

Running cold email campaigns to land backlinks or press? Your CRM can help you track which blogs or journalists you’ve contacted, who responded, what stage the convo is in, and when to follow up—just like a deal. Except now the “close” is a juicy backlink or article mention.

Guest Posting & Partnerships

Whether you’re pitching to guest post or lining up co-branded campaigns, CRMs help you manage the messy backend: approvals, contracts, deliverables, deadlines. Create dedicated pipelines so you never ghost a partner again. 

Competitor Tracking

Lost a deal to someone else? Record it. Over time, patterns emerge—pricing issues, missing features, or messaging gaps. Now you’ve got intel, not just disappointment.

Strategic Content Licensing

You don’t always need to create content from scratch. Use your CRM to manage relationships with content licensing platforms or freelance writers, assign usage rights, and keep a clean trail of where and how each piece is used.

Cross-Functional Visibility

Sales knows what Marketing is doing. Marketing knows what PR is doing. Everyone stops living in their own tabbed universe. No more “who sent that email?” or “when did we last reach out?”

You’re only using 10% of your CRM’s potential – read the full article to find out what the rest can do.

Newsletter unsubscribes are a symptom. Your CRM is the cure.

If 1 in 4 people hit “unsubscribe” every week, your emails aren’t the only thing getting ghosted.

Let’s be real: most emails deserve to be ignored. Too long. Too salesy. Too irrelevant. And if you’re still blasting the same newsletter to your entire list, congrats—you’re the reason 25% of consumers unsubscribe weekly, according to Capterra.

But here’s the kicker: it’s not about writing better emails. It’s about knowing your audience better. That’s where your CRM comes in. Here’s what to do & why it works.

1. Segment or suffer.

If you’re not segmenting based on behavior, interests, or lifecycle stage, you’re basically cold-emailing your own list. Your CRM should tell you who wants what—use that data to send targeted messages that actually land.

2. Deliver real value, not company updates.

Nobody subscribed to hear about your quarterly expansion plans. They want answers to their problems. Your CRM + marketing automation should help you build campaigns around pain points, not press releases.

3. Incentivize the opt-in.

Only 24% of companies offer a perk for signing up. Want more qualified leads in your CRM? Give them a reason: discounts, exclusive access, content worth their inbox space.

4. Don’t bait and switch.

Sensational subject lines might get a click, but they also get you flagged—and 34% of people would report misleading emails. That’s a reputation killer. Keep your copy clean, honest, and aligned with what you actually deliver.

5. Track the right KPIs.

Clicks and opens are just the beginning. Measure churn rate, engagement by segment, and conversions tied to email flows. That’s how you know if your CRM-powered strategy is working—or if it’s time to rewrite the playbook.

Bottom line: Your CRM should be doing more than storing emails. It should help you send the right messages to the right people at the right time.

Stop thinking like a marketer. Start thinking like a customer.

Send smarter emails. Close more deals. Here are the CRM marketing tools that will help you do both.

Galactic Gourmet

CRM blips from around the web

ServiceNow Acquires Logik.ai to Boost Its CRM Credentials. ServiceNow is buying CPQ startup Logik.ai to supercharge its CRM strategy with faster deal cycles, AI-powered selling, and end-to-end workflow automation. The acquisition boosts ServiceNow’s bid to redefine CRM with simplicity, speed, and AI at its core.

Genesys and Salesforce Hit 200+ Customers for Joint CX Cloud. The CX Cloud—embedding Genesys Cloud CX into Salesforce—has landed over 200 customers, unifying CCaaS and CRM to streamline agent workflows, centralize customer data, and power AI. It’s part of a growing trend: the convergence of contact center and CRM platforms into one intelligent CX hub.

Zendesk Launches Outcome-Based Pricing for AI Agents. Zendesk now only charges when AI agents resolve customer issues—no resolution, no fee. The new model gives businesses flexibility to scale AI at their pace, aligning cost with actual value. It’s part of Zendesk’s broader push to redefine service around successful resolutions.

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