Roleplay for customer success managers
Prep the renewal, the expansion ask, and the churn-risk save out loud against an AI customer who's frustrated, on the fence, or eyeing a competitor, before the call that decides the account.
In beta and free, with unlimited practice minutes. No card required.
The renewal, with a churn signal in the data.
Logins are down, the champion went quiet, and renewal is 60 days out. Find the real reason before they find a reason to leave.
Two minutes from cold to call-ready.
Pick your buyer.
Choose what you're selling and a scenario, or let Lateral pull a real buyer straight from your calendar. You're set up in under two minutes.
Run the call.
Headphones on, go live. The buyer speaks, pushes back, and reacts in real time. No scripts, no multiple choice. You talk, they answer.
See the tape.
The second you hang up, Lateral grades the call on the five things that move a deal and shows the moments that earned it. Stack up reps and watch the line climb.
Every rep comes back graded.
The second you hang up, Lateral scores the call across the five things that move a deal, with the moments that earned it. Run enough reps and watch the line climb.
Found the real reason before Tom found an exit.
You walked into a churn signal and came out with the actual cause: the March usage drop was a reorg, not the product, when both champions moved teams and the new owners inherited it cold. Taking the renewal off the table until usage recovers was the trust move that saved the account.
- You led with the data, weekly active seats dropping in March, then handed the floor to Tom, and that one question surfaced the reorg and the lost champions instead of a generic not-getting-value complaint.
- When Tom said leadership wants every renewal line justified, you answered with proof, the before-and-after on time saved, rather than reassurance, which is exactly the currency he needs.
- You owned that you should have caught the handoff sooner, which is honest, but build the leading indicator so the next silent champion exit pages you in week one, not at renewal minus 60.
- The time-saved number is the whole renewal and right now it is a promise; have the old before-and-after pulled before the reset call so Tom sees a real figure, not a planned one.
Score over time
8 gradedTracked over time
- Avg score
- 74Strongacross graded calls
- Calls graded
- 12this month
- Best streak
- 6dpracticed in a row
A buyer who knows your world.
Lateral reads your company to learn what you sell, then builds a buyer who is evaluating exactly that. Practice for your own product, or sell for any company you point it at.
- Your productThe buyer pitches against what you actually sell.
- Any companyDrop in a domain and sell for someone else.
- Your calendarReal meetings become roleplays automatically.
Run the calls that actually pay.
From the first cold dial to the renewal that keeps the lights on. Pick a scenario or create your own, dial the buyer in, and go.
- Cold outbound discoveryHard
A first cold call to a prospect who didn't ask to be contacted. The rep needs to earn the right to a real conversation in the first 30 seconds.
- Inbound demoMedium
A prospect who requested a demo after researching the product. They're interested but need to see clear value and fit for their use case.
- Pricing & procurement negotiationHard
Late-stage deal. The economic buyer / procurement is pushing hard on price and contract terms before signing.
- Renewal & expansionMedium
An existing customer up for renewal. There's an opportunity to expand, but they have some unaddressed concerns from the past year.
- Champion buildingEasy
A mid-level contact who likes the product but needs help building the internal business case to sell it up to their leadership.
- Create your own
Describe any call and we'll build the buyer, the scene, and the opening line around it.
In short
- Lateral is AI voice roleplay for CSMs: rehearse renewals, expansion conversations, and tough churn-risk saves against a live AI customer, then get graded across five dimensions.
- It runs on your real product and your book of business, so the conversations you rehearse match the accounts you actually own.
- Practice the hard conversation before the hard conversation. Free in beta, unlimited reps, 33 languages.
The save call shouldn't be improvised
A churn-risk call has one take. The customer is frustrated, the renewal is in question, and how you open the conversation decides whether the account stays. Lateral lets you rehearse that conversation first: a live AI customer playing the unhappy stakeholder, so you walk in calm instead of cornered.
It's built for you, the CSM who owns the account, not an enablement team auditing your calls. No manager dashboard, no QA scorecard. A private place to run the save back until you stop getting defensive and start leading the conversation.
Renewals and expansion are sales too
Expansion is the quietest hard sell there is, you have to surface a need the customer hasn't articulated and ask for more budget without sounding like you're upselling a friend. Rep the renewal and expansion conversation in Lateral until the value story lands and the ask feels natural. Then take that same muscle into the high-stakes save.
The CSM conversations worth repping
Each is graded on discovery, objection handling, value articulation, rapport, and next steps.
| Conversation | The hard part | What repping it fixes |
|---|---|---|
| Renewal | Justifying the price they already pay | Leading with value, not flinching at "too expensive" |
| Expansion | Asking for more without overselling | Surfacing the need before you pitch the seat |
| Churn-risk save | An angry stakeholder | Staying calm, owning it, finding the path |
| Competitor threat | "We're evaluating someone else" | Re-anchoring on outcomes you've delivered |
Conversation
The hard part
- Renewal
- Justifying the price they already pay
- Expansion
- Asking for more without overselling
- Churn-risk save
- An angry stakeholder
- Competitor threat
- "We're evaluating someone else"
Conversation
What repping it fixes
- Renewal
- Leading with value, not flinching at "too expensive"
- Expansion
- Surfacing the need before you pitch the seat
- Churn-risk save
- Staying calm, owning it, finding the path
- Competitor threat
- Re-anchoring on outcomes you've delivered
You renew the account in the conversation. Rep the conversation until the value story is automatic.
5
dimensions graded after every conversation Including rapport & active listening, the dimension that decides whether a frustrated customer feels heard.
Built on your product and your accounts
Sign in with your work email and Lateral turns your real product and the renewals on your calendar into live roleplays. The AI customer raises the objections your accounts actually voice, flat usage, a champion who left, a competitor in the eval, so the transcript points to exactly where the conversation got away from you and where to tighten it.
Frequently asked
What is roleplay for customer success managers?
- It is spoken practice for the conversations CSMs own, renewals, expansion asks, and churn-risk saves, against a live AI customer that talks back in real time. After each one you get graded on discovery, objection handling, value articulation, rapport, and next steps. It is built for the individual CSM, with no manager dashboard or QA scorecard.
How do I prep for a churn-risk conversation?
- Pick a churn-risk scenario in Lateral and the AI customer plays the frustrated stakeholder who's questioning the renewal. Rep the save until you can acknowledge the frustration, diagnose the real issue, reframe the value you've delivered, and land a next step, all without getting defensive.
Can I practice an expansion or upsell conversation?
- Yes. Lateral has renewal and expansion scenarios where the AI customer is on the fence about more budget or seats. You rehearse surfacing the need and making the ask feel natural, not pushy. See renewal and expansion practice.
Does my manager or the enablement team see my practice?
- No. Lateral is direct-to-rep. Your reps and grades are private to you, there is no manager dashboard, no QA scorecard, and no leaderboard.
Is it free?
- Yes, free in beta with unlimited practice and 33 languages. Sign in with your work email to start repping.
Rep the hard conversation first.
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