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Ask Staircase on the Executive Dashboard

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This article is intended for Customer Success Managers (CSMs), managers, and executives who use the Executive Dashboard to review accounts and prepare for customer conversations.

This article is intended for Customer Success Managers (CSMs), managers, and executives who use the Executive Dashboard to review accounts and prepare for customer conversations.

Overview

As a CSM or a leader, you can ask a question in plain language on the Executive Dashboard and get an answer with its sources. Ask about one account or about all your accounts. Ask Staircase plans how to answer, gathers the data it needs, checks that the data covers your question, and writes the answer.

Ask Staircase works from the data you already see in Staircase AI:

  • Account fields, including fields synced from your CRM
  • Health and sentiment scores
  • AI insights and lifecycle events
  • Expansion opportunities, stakeholders, and topics
  • Summaries of your team’s emails, meetings, tickets, and chats

Ask Staircase helps you:

  • Find the accounts that need attention, such as renewals with risk signals or healthy-looking accounts with warning signs
  • Prepare for a call, a 1:1, or an executive review in minutes
  • Spot patterns across your accounts, such as why customers churn and where growth is coming from
  • Find advocates and customer wins to share

Limitations

  • Ask Staircase reads your data and does not change records or send messages. It can draft an email for you to copy.
  • Each new question on the dashboard starts a new conversation. To build on an answer, click Ask a follow-up question.
  • Most answers take one to three minutes. Questions across many accounts take longer. The progress steps show what Ask Staircase is doing.

Ask a Question

To ask a question:

  1. Open the Executive Dashboard.
  2. (Optional) Set the dashboard filters, such as Tier, Owner, or a date range. The filters set the starting scope for your question. For the filters that suit each use case, refer to the Best Practices for Ask Staircase Filters article.
  3. Type your question in the Ask me anything box and click the submit icon. The progress steps appear while Ask Staircase works.

    Executive dashboard displaying Ask Staircase's account summary and reasoning steps.
     
  • You can also ask questions directly in Ask & search. Navigate to Ask & search > Ask me anything.
  • If your question names a different value for a filter you set, such as another tier or date range, your question takes precedence.
  • In Gainsight Customer Success (CS), go to Dashboards and select StaircaseAI Executive Dashboard from the Dashboard Selection dropdown list.
  • In Gainsight CS, your Gainsight admin controls who can open the StaircaseAI Executive Dashboard.

How Ask Staircase Answers a Question

Stage Description
Plan Ask Staircase splits your question into parts and decides what each part needs: a report across accounts, one account’s details, or a search of customer conversations.
Gather Ask Staircase runs those reports and searches step by step and shows each step.
Check Ask Staircase confirms that its findings cover every part of your question and looks further when they do not.
Write Ask Staircase writes the answer with tables for lists, links to the communications it used, and a note on any part it could not answer.

Read the Answer

  • Tables: Lists can run to hundreds of scrollable rows. Each table states its total.
  • Sources: Click a reference to see the communication behind a statement.
  • Scope: Scope tags under the answer show which filters applied and whether each came from the dashboard or from your question. Hover over a tag for details.
  • Copy and rate: Copy the answer to paste into an email or a deck. Use thumbs up or thumbs down to tell Staircase AI whether the answer helped.

Continue the Conversation in Ask & search

To continue the conversation:

  1. Click Ask a follow-up question at the bottom of a finished answer. Ask & search opens with your question and answer in place.

    Executive dashboard highlighting account health analysis and follow-up question button.
     
  2. Type your next question. Ask Staircase keeps the context of the conversation, so you can refer to earlier results. For example:
    • Only show the ones renewing in the next 90 days.
    • Why is the third account on that list at risk?
    • Draft a check-in email for the top two.

      Ask me anything displaying account health analysis and follow-up response.
       

Example Scenario

A CSM manager prepares for a weekly renewal review.

  1. The manager sets the Owner filter to the whole team and asks, Which accounts renewing in the next 90 days have risk signals, and what is driving them?
  2. Ask Staircase returns a table of accounts with the total, the main risk drivers, and links to the communications behind them.
  3. The manager clicks Ask a follow-up question and asks, Draft a check-in email for the top two.
  4. Ask Staircase drafts the emails. The manager copies them to send from the usual email tool.

Example Questions

Replace the text in brackets with your own names.

 

Goal Try asking
Health check Give me a health check of my accounts: how many have High, Average, and Low health, and where should I focus this week?
Revenue at risk How much annual recurring revenue (ARR) is on accounts with high churn risk? Show the 10 largest.
Hidden risk Which accounts have High health but recent warning signs in their conversations?
Contact changes Which accounts have lost a key contact in the last 60 days?
Expansion What are the strongest expansion opportunities across my accounts?
Account catch-up Catch me up on [account name]: what happened in the last 30 days?

For more examples by use case, refer to the Best Practices for Ask Staircase Filters article.

Tips for Better Answers

  • Name the accounts you mean: Say my accounts, [teammate name]’s accounts, or a tier such as Enterprise accounts. You can also set Owner and Tier in the dashboard filters.
  • Give a time range: In the last 30 days or renewing in the next 90 days gives a sharper answer than recently or soon. Type renewal windows in your question.
  • Use the account name as it appears in Staircase AI: If more than one account matches, Ask Staircase asks which one you mean.
  • Ask for the layout you want: Show the 10 largest or one line per account changes how the answer is laid out.
  • Go one step at a time: Start broad, then click Ask a follow-up question to narrow down.

The Executive Dashboard shows active accounts by default. To include churned or prospect accounts, add them to the Status filter.

AI Models and Data Handling

  • Ask Staircase runs on Anthropic Claude models (Sonnet and Opus) and OpenAI GPT models, each chosen for its job. Claude Sonnet plans the work and runs the tools, a GPT model checks the findings, and Claude Opus writes the answer.
  • Every model runs in Microsoft Azure. Your account data stays hosted where it is today.
  • For the current AI model list and security details, ask your Gainsight team for the security package.

FAQ

Why did I get a different answer when I asked again?

Ask Staircase plans each answer from scratch. The facts come from your data, but the accounts it highlights first and the wording can vary. For a fixed list, ask for a specific layout, such as the 10 largest by ARR.

What happens if Ask Staircase cannot answer part of my question?

Ask Staircase answers the parts it can and says which part it could not answer.

Does Ask Staircase remember my earlier questions?

In Ask & search, yes, within the same conversation. On the dashboard, each new question starts a new conversation.

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