Considering Customer Success?

Customer Success is not an easy proposition for companies. I find businesses are in one of two camps when it comes to consideration of implementing Customer Success.

1. High growth, high demand — we just need more sales people!
2. It’s always worked this way, we’ll be fine.

Companies with a strategic vision for the longer term success of their business are taking into account that the customer experience can be a key differentiator amongst competition.

What considerations should I take to leadership about developing a Customer Success practice within my company?

1. The Customer Is King! — This isn’t some cliche “the customer is always right” statement. A benefit to Customer Success is that it can foster a corporate culture who considers why customers stay, why they grow and how both you and the customer are mutually successful.
2. Customer Success is Sales, except when it’s not. — Your customer needs an advocate, someone that understands their business and how your product or service ultimately makes the delivery of their product or service successful. The best Customer Success Managers often make the lives of their (Sales) Account Managers easier by keeping customers engaged, answering their needs from day to day, treating priority to service delivery issues, and advocating for product enhancement requests when new needs arise. This is why it’s important that Customer Success report into a Chief Revenue Officer. They support the CROs strategic vision to both sell and service new and existing customers.
3. Deep and wide. — An engaged customer means they are more willing to introduce their CSM to additional key decision makers within their business. This is crucial to ensure your relationship doesn’t rest on the shoulders of a single promoter on the client side.

The Customer Success Manager is not a support manager. The ideal CSM is capable of ITSM best practices, managing complex projects within the service delivery organization, as well as provide uniform and consistent messaging during outages or missed deadlines.

Happy customers are referring customers, as well as willing to stand with you when case studies, webinars, reference calls, and other key marketing needs arise. A well staffed and focused Customer Success team is capable of bringing the right clients to the table in each of these scenarios.

Leaders would be best fit to consider the outcomes they intend to deliver, then find a Customer Success leader who is capable of building upon your vision.