Aligning CS Goals with Overarching Business Revenue Objectives: To drive revenue growth, CS must align its goals with the overall revenue objectives of the company. This alignment ensures that CS efforts are focused on activities that directly contribute to revenue generation.

Customer Segmentation and Targeting: Implementing a customer segmentation strategy allows CS teams to prioritize high-value customers and tailor their engagement strategies accordingly. By focusing on customers with the highest revenue potential, CS can maximize its impact on revenue growth.

Proactive Account Management: Adopting a proactive approach to account management can significantly impact revenue growth. By anticipating customer needs and providing proactive support and guidance, CS can help customers achieve their goals and increase their lifetime value.

Upselling and Cross-Selling Opportunities: CS is well-positioned to identify upselling and cross-selling opportunities within the customer base. By understanding customer needs and usage patterns, CS can recommend additional products or services that add value and drive revenue growth.

Customer Advocacy and Referrals: Happy customers are more likely to become advocates for your brand and refer new business. CS can play a key role in nurturing customer relationships and turning satisfied customers into brand ambassadors, thereby driving new revenue streams.

Collaboration with Sales and Marketing: Collaboration between CS, sales, and marketing teams is essential for driving revenue growth. By working together, these teams can align their strategies, share insights, and ensure a seamless customer experience across all touchpoints.

Focus on Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): CS should focus on increasing the CLV of customers by providing ongoing value and fostering long-term relationships. By maximizing the CLV of each customer, CS can drive sustainable revenue growth for the business.

Scalability and Efficiency: As the business grows, CS must ensure that its processes and strategies are scalable and efficient. By investing in technology and automation, CS can streamline its operations and handle a larger customer base without compromising on quality.

CS can maximize its impact on revenue growth and ensure long-term success for the business

by aligning its goals with revenue objectives, adopting a proactive approach to account management, and leveraging data-driven decision-making. 

The post CS as a Driver of Revenue Growth appeared first on RevSetter.

Understand the Customer’s Needs: Most importantly, before entering into negotiations, it’s crucial to have a deep understanding of the customer’s needs, pain points, and objectives. This will allow you to tailor your approach and offer solutions that address their specific challenges.

Highlight Unique Value Propositions: During negotiations, focus on highlighting the unique value propositions of your SaaS offering. Emphasize how your solution can help the customer achieve their goals more effectively than other alternatives.

Build Trust and Rapport: Building trust and rapport with the customer is essential in negotiations. Be transparent and honest in your communications, and demonstrate your commitment to their success.

Listen Actively: Effective negotiation requires active listening. Take the time to understand the customer’s concerns and objections, and address them thoughtfully and respectfully.

Create Win-Win Solutions: Aim to create win-win solutions that benefit both parties. Look for ways to add value to the deal, such as offering additional features or services at a discounted rate.

Use Data to Support Your Position: Use data and analytics to support your position during negotiations. Provide concrete examples of how your solution has helped other customers achieve success.

Stay Flexible and Creative: Negotiations can be fluid, so it’s important to stay flexible and adaptable. Be open to new ideas and be willing to adjust your approach based on the customer’s feedback.

Focus on the Long-Term Relationships: In the SaaS industry, long-term relationships are key. Focus on building a strong foundation for a long-term partnership, rather than just closing a deal.

Know When to Walk Away: Sometimes, it’s necessary to walk away from a deal that isn’t in your best interest. Know when to stand firm on your position and when it’s time to walk away.

Remember, always prioritize the customer’s needs and focus on building strong, long-term relationships.

The post Post-Sales Renewal Negotiation Checklist  appeared first on RevSetter.

Effective CS leadership is about empowering team members to take ownership of customer relationships and outcomes. It’s about providing them with the tools, resources, and support they need to excel in their roles. This could mean investing in ongoing training and development, creating opportunities for mentorship and career growth, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

CS leaders must lead by example, demonstrating the values and behaviors they wish to see in their team. This means being proactive in addressing customer needs, being responsive to feedback, and being accountable for outcomes. It also means cultivating a culture of collaboration, where team members are encouraged to share knowledge and best practices, and to work together to solve customer challenges.

Ultimately, CS leadership is about driving a relentless focus on customer success throughout the organization. It’s about creating a customer-centric mindset that permeates every aspect of the business, from product development to sales and marketing. By championing this mindset and empowering their teams to deliver exceptional customer experiences, CS leaders can drive long-term success and ensure that their organization remains competitive in the future.

The post CS Leadership: Driving Team Success appeared first on RevSetter.

Customer Insights and Feedback: CS teams are on the front lines, interacting with customers on a daily basis. They gather valuable insights and feedback that can inform product development, marketing strategies, and sales tactics.

Customer Segmentation: CS teams can help identify different customer segments based on their needs, behavior, and value to the business. This information is invaluable for targeting the right customers with the right messages and offers.

Onboarding and Adoption: CS plays a crucial role in ensuring that customers are successfully onboarded and adopt your product or service. A well-executed onboarding process can lead to higher customer satisfaction and retention rates.

Upsell and Cross-Sell Opportunities: CS teams are well positioned to identify upsell and cross-sell opportunities based on their understanding of the customer’s business and needs. They can work closely with sales and marketing teams to capitalize on these opportunities.

Customer Advocacy: Satisfied customers are your best advocates. CS can help nurture customer relationships and turn satisfied customers into promoters who refer new business and provide testimonials.

Churn Reduction: By proactively addressing customer issues and providing exceptional service, CS can help reduce churn and increase customer lifetime value.

Collaboration with Sales and Marketing: CS should work closely with sales and marketing teams to ensure a seamless customer experience from pre-sale to post-sale. This alignment can lead to higher conversion rates and customer satisfaction.

Data-Driven Decision Making: CS teams can use data and analytics to track customer behavior, identify trends, and make informed decisions that drive business growth.

Customer Success plays a critical role in GTM alignment by providing valuable insights, driving customer satisfaction and retention, and collaborating with other teams to deliver a seamless customer experience. By recognizing the importance of CS in GTM alignment, companies can build stronger, more profitable customer relationships and drive long-term business success.

The post The Role of Customer Success in Go-to-Market Alignment appeared first on RevSetter.

Identify Your Competitors: Start by identifying your direct and indirect competitors. Direct competitors offer similar products or services to yours, while indirect competitors may offer alternative solutions to the same problem.

Analyze Their Products and Services: Once you have identified your competitors, analyze their products and services in detail. Look at their features, pricing, and positioning in the market. Identify any unique selling points (USPs) that differentiate them from your offering.

Evaluate Their Market Presence: Assess your competitors’ market presence, including their market share, customer base, and brand reputation. Look at their marketing strategies and channels to understand how they reach and engage with customers.

Study Their Customer Reviews and Feedback: Customer feedback can provide valuable insights into your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. Analyze customer reviews, testimonials, and feedback on social media and review sites to identify areas where they excel or fall short.

Assess Their Sales and Marketing Strategies: Analyze your competitors’ sales and marketing strategies to understand how they attract and retain customers. Look at their pricing models, promotional activities, and customer acquisition tactics.

Evaluate Their Technology Stack: In the SaaS industry, technology plays a crucial role. Evaluate your competitors’ technology stack, including their infrastructure, security measures, and scalability. Assess how their technology compares to yours in terms of performance and reliability.

Monitor Their Financial Performance: Keeping an eye on your competitors’ financial performance can provide valuable insights into their business health and growth trajectory. Look at their revenue, profitability, and funding to gauge their financial stability.

Identify Emerging Trends and Innovations: Stay updated on emerging trends and innovations in the SaaS market. Look for ways to incorporate these trends into your own products and services to stay competitive.

Conduct SWOT Analysis: Finally, conduct a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis for each of your key competitors. This will help you understand their overall position in the market and identify areas where you can capitalize on their weaknesses or mitigate threats.

By conducting a comprehensive competitive analysis, you can gain valuable insights into your competitors’ strategies and position yourself for success in the market.

The post Competitive Analysis: Strategies for Success appeared first on RevSetter.

Define Specific Goals: Clearly define specific, measurable goals for your CS platform investment. Whether it’s reducing churn rates, increasing upsell opportunities, or improving customer satisfaction scores, having precise goals will help you track progress and measure success.

Conduct a Comprehensive Platform Evaluation: Before selecting a CS platform, conduct a thorough evaluation of available options. Consider factors such as feature set, scalability, ease of use, and integration capabilities to ensure the selected platform meets your current and future needs.

Implement Robust Onboarding Processes: Develop comprehensive onboarding processes for your CS platform to ensure your team understands how to use it effectively. Provide training sessions, documentation, and ongoing support to maximize platform adoption and utilization.

Utilize Data-Driven Insights: Leverage the data and analytics capabilities of your CS platform to gain valuable insights into customer behavior and trends. Use this data to identify at-risk customers, anticipate needs, and personalize interactions to drive engagement and retention.

Establish Customer Success Metrics: Define key performance indicators (KPIs) to track the effectiveness of your CS platform. Monitor metrics such as customer health scores, retention rates, and upsell opportunities to measure the impact of your investment and identify areas for improvement.

Foster Cross-Functional Collaboration: Encourage collaboration between sales, marketing, and customer success teams to ensure alignment in customer engagement strategies. Use the CS platform to facilitate communication and data sharing between teams to drive cohesive customer experiences.

Continuously Iterate and Improve: Regularly review and iterate on your CS platform strategy based on performance metrics and customer feedback. Continuously seek ways to enhance platform functionality, streamline processes, and improve the overall customer experience.

By implementing these tactical strategies, SaaS executives can optimize ROI from their CS platform investment and drive sustainable growth. A well-executed CS platform strategy can significantly impact customer satisfaction and retention, ultimately leading to increased revenue and business success.

The post Maximizing ROI from Your CS Platform Investment: Tactical Strategies for SaaS Executives appeared first on RevSetter.

• Take a Deep Dive into Customer Needs: Understand your customers’ business goals, challenges, and workflows. Conduct QBRs and office hour sessions to gather insights and identify opportunities for value improvement and expansion opportunities.

• Segment Based on Usage: Segment your customers based on their product usage and adoption. Identify power users, occasional users, and inactive users to tailor your approach accordingly. For example, power users may benefit from advanced feature demos, while occasional users may need reminders and tips.

• Customize the Onboarding Journey: Develop personalized onboarding journeys for new customers based on their specific needs and goals. Provide appropriate training sessions and resources that are relevant to their role and industry.

• Be Proactive, not Reactive: Anticipate customer needs and reach out proactively with personalized recommendations and tips. For example, if you notice a customer struggling with a particular feature, offer a one-on-one training session to help them overcome the challenge.

• Timely and Value Adding Product Recommendations: Use customer data to suggest relevant features or upgrades that align with their business objectives. Highlight the value proposition of these recommendations to encourage adoption.

• Personalized Communication Channels and Multithreading: Offer multiple communication channels (e.g., email, chat, phone) and let customers choose their preferred method. Ensure that your responses are timely, relevant, and personalized to their inquiry and cultivate relationships with multiple team members.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Use data analytics to track customer interactions and measure the effectiveness of your personalization efforts. Adjust your strategies based on insights to continuously improve the customer experience.

• Continuous Learning and Improvement: Monitor your clients in the news and recent developments in their industries. Stay updated with  trends and best practices in customer success and account management. When possible, check LinkedIn for webinars, workshops, and conferences to expand your knowledge and skills.

Most importantly, have a genuine interest in your clients’ success and develop an understanding of what is most important to them and how your product fits in their plans. Good luck!

The post Making It Personal: A Tactical Guide for Cultivating Customer Relationships appeared first on RevSetter.

Throughout the year, we’ll be sharing insights and perspectives from conversations with our friends and thought leaders across a range of tech topics. Enjoy!

Interview #6

We asked Markus “What pointers would you give a CSM on identifying customer value earlier in the relationship with clients or what particular question would you ask a client in general?”

Customer Value consists of 2 components – business and personal value. Customers want to increase revenue, reduce costs, etc. But what they care more about is how improving their numbers affects their lives. Improving their status, getting a raise, growing their careers, etc. Always understand their ulterior motives.

The question: Given you’ll achieve X [business goal] how would that affect your work?

Previous Interviews:

We asked Aaron, “Can you share your insights on the importance of employee empowerment and development in fostering high-performing teams, and how these practices contribute to the overall success and growth of organizations?”

Customer Success, and Customer Experience, begin and end with Employee Success, and Employee Experience. If organizations want to be customer-centric, and truly execute customer-driven growth, they must first focus their efforts internally. Once their employees are supported, and enabled properly, then and only then can those employees do the same for their customers.

This is where employee training and enablement come in. Developing their skills properly unleashes the power of performance across the organization. It drives higher employee retention rates, higher employee satisfaction scores, and an overall increase in employee engagement. They’re more willing to go above and beyond, and yet have the skills necessary to be more efficient and effective in their roles.

So many companies and leaders ask their teams to “just wing it” and lack the proper investment and focus on training and development. Meanwhile the inefficiencies garnered when this lack of focused, formalized training is present begin to whittle away at the internal procedures, and people involved. Making the customer journey frictionless becomes more difficult than it would have been without any involvement. Meaning a little early employee training investment goes a long way towards overall customer satisfaction and experience down the road.

An ounce of prevention, is worth a pound of cure, and the organizations that realize that invest in their people heavily, so that they invest in the company and it’s customers just as much.

We asked Ed, “With the rise of AI and automation, how do you envision these technologies transforming Go-To-Market strategies, particularly in Customer Success and post-sales Revenue?”

Although the “human-like” nature of generative AI is at the same time exciting and terrifying, like it is with all other technologies, we will learn it performs well on certain things and poorly on others. It’s still early figuring it out, but so far, researching, summarizing, and generating “first drafts” with GenAI can save significant time and effort.

A number of companies are tinkering with AI to discern hidden signals in text streams that reveal customer health and buying intentions, and I expect this trend to continue as well. We must, however, redouble our efforts to carefully check and improve upon any results we get. That’s because AI and machine learning are based on the mathematics of maximum likelihood estimation, and what’s most probable isn’t necessarily correct, relevant, or even useful.

It still takes a human to pilot an airplane, and it will be many years before any AI “copilot” can fly one entirely on its own. Until then, it’s best that we continue to couple our imagination with careful and extensive experimentation.

We asked Cliff, “Do you have any thoughts, predictions, or trends to watch for in 2024 that you’d like to share with our audience?”

As 2024 unfolds amidst uncertainties like fluctuating interest rates and geopolitical tensions, businesses face the daunting task of adapting and thriving. As a response to evolving market dynamics and organizational needs, the landscape of RevOps must change.

The focus on metrics like the Rule of Forty (Ro40) and Net Revenue Retention (NRR) highlights the pressing need for a strategic shift towards profitability and efficiency. However, achieving this requires more than just adherence to these metrics; it demands a fundamental mindset change across all stakeholders to truly impact the bottom line.

The post-SaaSacre era underscores the importance of three guiding principles: driving profitability, focusing on what matters, and enhancing both perceived and actual customer value. The shift towards profitability is especially challenging for SaaS companies accustomed to growth fueled by zero interest rates and capital injections. This new reality has led to a significant restructuring of the workforce, necessitating new skills and roles, notably in RevOps, which has seen its ranks swell from 5,800 in early 2022 to over 150,000.

Today’s RevOps professionals are at the forefront of steering the customer journey, optimizing feedback loops, streamlining processes, and refining go-to-market (GTM) strategies. Their role encompasses a broad array of responsibilities, from data analysis and insight generation to tool ecosystem management and data governance. Despite the enormity of these tasks, the objective is clear: prioritize effectively, focusing on strategic initiatives that deliver tangible benefits.

The conversation with industry veterans Jeff Ignacio and Anne Pao echoes a common sentiment among RevOps leaders—the overwhelming nature of their roles amid constant demands and disruptions. The solution lies in candid communication with leadership about realistic expectations and strategic alignment, emphasizing a balanced allocation of resources towards daily operations and long-term strategic goals.

Community support and continuous learning are vital for RevOps professionals navigating these challenges. Engaging with networks like WizOps, RevOps Co-Op, Pavilion, GTM Partners, and MOPs Pros offers invaluable opportunities for knowledge exchange and support.

At the core of RevOps’ mission is the enhancement of customer value through the integration of people, data, processes, and technology. By accelerating feedback loops and ensuring data-driven decision-making, RevOps can significantly contribute to sustaining Net Revenue Retention, reducing churn, and improving the customer experience.

In conclusion, the path forward for RevOps in 2024, despite the surrounding challenges, is marked by opportunities for growth and innovation. By focusing on skill development, strategic prioritization, and customer-centricity, RevOps leaders can drive their organizations towards unprecedented profitability and success. The journey ahead is promising for those ready to leverage their expertise to navigate through the macroeconomic climate and enact meaningful change.

We asked James, “Do you have any thoughts, predictions, or trends to watch for in 2024 that you’d like to share with our audience?”

“Unequivocally we cannot ignore the advancements to provide business impact using artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and personalized technologies. The humanizing of the customer experience will become the new unique identifier of a vendor. Customer success, now proven to be a company capability will never break free of its stigma and ‘best practices’. However, it will just act like water and fill the necessary void to deliver business hydration!

Despite the number of growing AI-driven platforms predicting customer needs and behaviours with unprecedented accuracy, the pro-active endeavours of SaaS vendors will always require human intervention to those generations who thrive on it. The customer success manager will become proficient based on knowledge commerce, a consultant, rather than a conduit to the resources.

Companies will focus on simplicity over innovation to become leaders in their field. The era of a new perception of convenience via tech is on its way.“

We asked Jan, “Do you have any thoughts, predictions, or trends to watch for in 2024 that you’d like to share with our audience?”

“In 2024, we’re going to see more tech layoffs, and many will be from acquisitions and startup shutdowns. This shouldn’t surprise us given that there are still some Default Dead companies out there. Fifteen years of Zero Interest Rate Policies (ZIRP) led investors and startups to spend more than they made in the chase for Growth at Any Cost (GaAC), and valuations grew exponentially. 

If your investors are underwater on your company’s adjusted valuation, you are a prime contender for acquisition or shutdown. Our whole industry has been in turnaround since mid-2022. And now that GaAC is untenable, Post-Sales Revenue is key to every company’s growth. Going forward, successful companies and CS leaders will focus on post-sales activities that deliver customer value and project their revenue based on those customers that achieve business outcomes.

Investors now expect companies to achieve both profitability and growth. For GTM leaders, profitability means understanding your margin – your contribution to the growth and the costs of your business – and prioritizing the key activities that lead to your customers’ growth that will in turn lead to your company’s growth.  It also means “doing more with less” is here to stay. Generative AI tools (like ChatGPT) have brought AI to non-coders, and these tools can enable productivity and improved analysis of business trends. However, effective use requires clean data and developing your understanding of AI, your prompting skills, and your craft.

2024 will be seen as a critical year of change. Those who embrace this change will be more likely to succeed in 2025 and beyond.”

The post Go-To-Market Spotlight appeared first on RevSetter.

The Significance of Goal Setting in Customer Success

Align with Overarching Business Objectives:

Effective goal setting ensures that CS initiatives are aligned with broader business goals – improving net retention, lowering churn, etc. Not only is this alignment crucial for the long term success for CS teams but alignment across the business fosters synergy throughout different departments, driving the overall success of the organization.

Adopt and Keep a Customer-Centric Focus:

Goals act as a compass, directing the focus of your Customer Success team toward what truly matters to your customers. This customer-centric approach helps in tailoring strategies that not only meet but exceed customer expectations.

Regularly Measure KPIs:

Well-defined goals provide a basis for measuring the performance of your Customer Success team. They serve as benchmarks against which you can evaluate success, identify areas for improvement, and celebrate achievements.

Tips for Creating Achievable and Measurable Goals

Understand Your Customer Base:

Your goals should be tailored with the unique needs and expectations of your customer base in mind. A deep understanding of your customers will allow you to set goals that directly contribute to their success and satisfaction.

SMART Criteria:

Ensure your goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound (SMART). This framework provides clarity and structure, making it easier to track progress and success.

Collaborate Across Teams:

Involve key stakeholders from sales, marketing, and product teams in the goal-setting process. Collaboration ensures that goals are aligned with overall business objectives and reflect a holistic approach to customer success.

CS Specific Goals to Start with in 2024

• Consistent Health Tracking using CS tech
• Reducing Onboarding Time via internal collaboration 
• Increasing Upsell Opportunities to boost NRR
• Increasing Product Adoption by multi-threading across client teams and departments

Want to set specific, attainable Customer Success goals for 2024? Schedule time with one of our experts to learn more about RevSetter, and if you mention this blog article we’ll provide a free Strategic Goals Audit!

The post Setting Customer Success Goals for 2024: A Guide for Success appeared first on RevSetter.

Understanding the Dynamic Customer Journey

Understanding the modern, dynamic customer journey is more critical than ever. A study by McKinsey & Company found that companies that actively shape their customers’ journeys can increase revenues by up to 15% while also lowering the cost of serving customers by 20%. What is critical here is that companies can no longer use the linear, old-school approach to mapping the customer journey, which is time-bound, but instead needs to create dynamic customer journeys mapped around the customers actually movements throughout their lifetime with your company. 

Real-world Example: Amazon, a global e-commerce giant, excels at understanding the customer journey. They meticulously track and analyze customer behavior throughout their platform. This understanding allows them to offer personalized product recommendations, resulting in a reported 29% increase in sales, according to McKinsey.

Three tangible actions for SaaS Executives:

1. Customer Journey Mapping: Invest in dynamic customer journey mapping to identify touchpoints, pain points, and opportunities for revenue generation. This will help you understand where customers interact with your product & team, and how you can enhance those experiences.
2. Data-Driven Analysis: Use data analytics to gain insights into customer behavior. Leverage tools and technologies to track user actions, preferences, and patterns. This data can guide decision-making and enable personalized recommendations.
3. Feedback Loops: Establish feedback loops with customers to gather their input on their journey. Conduct surveys, interviews, or even focus groups to collect valuable insights that can drive improvements and innovation.

Proactive Engagement and Adoption

Deep knowledge about how and why your customers interact with your product is important. What is even more important is that you use data and analyze what type of usage and adoption leads to different outcomes like churn, renewals or expansions. A user logging in to your software daily does not necessarily mean usage and adoption is strong, as it might depend on what they do and for how long when logged in. One of the most compelling examples of proactive engagement comes from HubSpot, a leading inbound marketing and sales platform. They actively encourage users to explore their platform through free resources and training, contributing to a reported 3.6 times increase in annual revenue.

Three tangible actions for SaaS Executives:

1. Onboarding Excellence: Invest in a seamless onboarding process that educates customers on how to extract value from your product. Offer personalized onboarding sessions, tutorials, and self-help resources to guide users effectively.
2. User Training and Certification: Develop training programs and certification courses to empower customers to become product experts. Certified users are more likely to explore advanced features and recommend your solution to others.
3. Proactive Support: Implement a proactive support strategy that identifies and addresses potential issues before they escalate. Utilize AI-driven chatbots and automated triggers to provide timely assistance and guidance.

Improve Renewal & Retention Rates through Proactive CS Work

An essential aspect of modern Customer Success is proactively improving renewal and retention rates. Customer Success teams are no longer just reactive; they focus on driving strategic value for customers. Slack, for instance, has redefined Customer Success by actively partnering with their clients to optimize their usage and achieve their strategic goals. This proactive approach has resulted in a 30% increase in customer retention and renewal rates.

Three tangible actions for SaaS Executives:

1. Strategic Business Reviews: Conduct regular business reviews with customers to understand their evolving needs and objectives. Collaboratively develop roadmaps for achieving their goals using your product.
2. Success Planning: Work closely with customers to create personalized success plans. These plans should outline specific milestones, metrics, and actions that drive value. Continuously monitor progress and adapt plans as needed.
3. Proactive Education: Offer continuous education and training to keep customers up to date with the latest product features and best practices. Proactively share relevant content, webinars, and workshops that align with their objectives.

Building Strong Relationships

A foundational part of Customer Success is the ability to build strong relationships. This is an important part of a proactive and revenue-focused CS strategy. It is also something that can be improved and done on a micro-level, with a CSM or Account Manager building better relationships with their customers, as well as on a more macro-level with strategies and methodologies in place to further stronger customer relationships, for example by leveraging Executive Business Reviews and Executive Sponsors as part of your Customer Success workflows.  Apple is renowned for building strong customer relationships. Their dedication to customer satisfaction results in high customer loyalty and advocacy, contributing to a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 65 in 2020, according to Statista.

Three tangible actions for SaaS Executives:

1. Personalized Communication: Implement personalized communication strategies that go beyond transactional interactions. Understand your customers’ preferences and engage with them on a personal level, addressing their unique needs and concerns.
2. Customer Advocacy Programs: Establish customer advocacy programs that recognize and reward loyal customers. Encourage them to become advocates who refer your product to others, creating a network effect.
3. Continuous Feedback Channels: Create channels for customers to provide feedback easily. Act on their input promptly, demonstrating your commitment to improving their experience.

Move from Customer Success to Customer Revenue

A critical shift in the world of Customer Success is moving from only focusing on traditional metrics like NPS to a focus on revenue generation metrics like Net Revenue Retention (NRR) and expansion revenue rate. Salesforce, a leader in cloud-based CRM solutions, is a prime example. They reported a 32% increase in revenue due to their strategic alignment between Customer Success, Sales, and Marketing teams. Salesforce’s approach emphasizes not only customer satisfaction but also driving revenue growth through expansion and upsell opportunities.

Three tangible actions for SaaS Executives:

1. Revenue-Centric Metrics: Shift your focus from legacy metrics to revenue-centric ones such as Net Revenue Retention (NRR), expansion revenue, and customer lifetime value (CLV). Align your team’s objectives and incentives accordingly.
2. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Foster collaboration between Customer Success, Sales, and Marketing teams. Encourage them to work together to identify opportunities for expansion and upsell. Implement clear handoff processes to ensure a seamless, dynamic customer journey.
3. Customer Revenue Workshops: Host workshops or training sessions for your Customer Success teams to equip them with the skills and knowledge needed to identify and nurture revenue opportunities within existing accounts.

Leveraging Customer Insights for Product Development

Gathering and understanding customer data, and turning that into Insights is not just a critical part of the Customer Success and the full Revenue process, but can also be used to improve your products and offerings. In addition, this will also help align your internal teams, from sales to CS to marketing to product and ensure a customer-centric approach. Google’s approach to leveraging customer insights for product development is evident in their continuous improvement of the Google Search algorithm. They regularly incorporate user feedback and search behavior data to enhance search results, enhancing user satisfaction and retention.

Three tangible actions for SaaS Executives:

1. Feedback Integration: Establish a systematic process for integrating customer feedback into your product development cycle. Create cross-functional teams that include Customer Success, Product, and Engineering to ensure feedback is acted upon effectively.
2. Customer Advisory Boards: Form customer advisory boards or councils to directly involve key customers in shaping product roadmaps. Regularly engage with these boards to gather insights and prioritize enhancements.
3. Data-Driven Decision Making: Leverage data analytics and AI to uncover trends and patterns in customer usage. Use these insights to inform product improvements, feature development, and innovations aligned with customer needs.

Incorporating these tangible actions, backed by real-world examples and concepts, ensures that Customer Success is not just a concept but a practical strategy employed by industry leaders. VPs, CROs and executives who implement these strategies can leverage their Customer Success & Account Management teams to increase customer lifetime value, reduce churn, and identify expansion opportunities. By investing in proactive engagement, understanding the dynamic customer journey, fostering strong relationships, aligning with revenue goals, and leveraging insights for product development, organizations can create a revenue-centric culture that not only benefits the bottom line but also contributes to long-term business success. Embracing the essential role of Customer Success is a strategic move that sets apart successful SaaS companies in today’s competitive market.

The post The Essential Role of Customer Success in Driving Revenue for SaaS Companies appeared first on RevSetter.

The Evolution of Customer Success: From Support to Revenue Generation

Customer Success has undergone a significant transformation over the years. It used to be primarily associated with providing support, driving product usage, and ensuring customer satisfaction. While these elements remain essential, the emphasis has now shifted toward driving customer revenue. Metrics such as Net Revenue Retention (NRR), expansion revenue, and customer engagement have become paramount.

Why the Full Revenue Journey Matters

1. From Acquisition to Advocacy: Companies are increasingly realizing that the path to sustainable revenue growth encompasses the entire customer journey. This shift in mindset acknowledges that the real revenue potential lies in turning customers into loyal advocates. It’s no longer enough to focus solely on acquiring new customers; nurturing existing ones is equally crucial.
2. Maximizing Lifetime Value (LTV): Research consistently shows that retaining and expanding existing customers is more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. A mere 5% increase in customer retention can boost profits by 25% to 95%. This highlights the significance of customer-centric strategies that go beyond the initial sale.

Supporting Data and Trends

The transition to a revenue-focused approach is not a fleeting trend; it’s a fundamental shift driven by data and industry trends:

1. The Rise of Customer Success Platforms: Customer Success platforms like RevSetter have gained prominence. They empower businesses to analyze customer data, track user behavior, and identify opportunities for upselling and cross-selling. These platforms are instrumental in streamlining customer success workflows.
2. Expansion Revenue Dominance: Companies are increasingly relying on expansion revenue, including upselling, cross-selling, and renewals, as the primary driver of growth. The numbers don’t lie: businesses that prioritize expansion revenue thrive in the long term.

Strategies to Drive Revenue

Now, let’s explore practical strategies to effectively drive revenue across the customer journey:

1. Segmentation and Personalization: Tailor your approach to customers based on their unique needs and goals. Leverage data-driven insights to identify upsell and cross-sell opportunities. As an example, RevSetter’s robust platform offers advanced segmentation capabilities, making personalization a breeze.
2. Proactive Customer Success: Implement a proactive Customer Success strategy that anticipates and addresses customer challenges before they escalate. This prevents churn and creates opportunities for expansion. Using RevSetter’s integrated CS audit or using another CSP in conjunction with a CS strategy consultant, you can fine-tune your strategy and maximize results.
3. Leverage a modern Customer Success & Revenue Platform: Invest in a versatile Customer Success & Revenue platform that focuses on the entire revenue journey. It will allow you to combine a powerful software with a strategic revenue mindset, providing a comprehensive solution to align your revenue strategy with your organizational goals. An integrated approach ensures your team has the tools, insights, and guidance needed to drive revenue effectively.

Conclusion

In the fast-paced world of SaaS and tech, a holistic approach to revenue generation is essential for success. Companies must transition from viewing Customer Success as a support function to recognizing it as a key driver of revenue. Metrics like Net Revenue Retention (NRR) and expansion revenue are the new yardsticks of success.

RevSetter stands at the forefront of this paradigm shift, offering a comprehensive platform that helps you navigate the customer success & the full revenue journey with a modern, powerful and user-friendly software that aligns with your strategies and goals. By adopting a customer-centric, revenue-focused strategy, your company can thrive in an era where maximizing customer revenue is the ultimate goal.

The post Maximizing Customer Success & Revenue Potential: A Holistic Approach to the full Revenue Journey appeared first on RevSetter.

Roles and Responsibilities

Customer Success (CS)

The Customer Success team shoulders the responsibility of ensuring customers achieve their desired outcomes while utilizing your SaaS product. Their key functions include:

1. Onboarding Excellence: Guiding customers through a seamless onboarding process, thus helping them realize value quickly.
2. Proactive Relationship Management: Continuously engaging customers, understanding their evolving needs, and tailoring solutions that align with their business goals.
3. Health Monitoring and Risk Mitigation: Monitoring customer health metrics to identify potential issues and addressing them before they escalate.
4. Customer Advocacy: Acting as the voice of the customer within the organization, conveying feedback and advocating for product improvements.

Account Management (AM)

Account Managers are responsible for nurturing and cultivating long-term relationships with key accounts. Their vital tasks encompass:

1. Strategic Account Planning: Developing a deep understanding of the client’s business objectives, then strategizing ways the SaaS solution can contribute to their success.
2. Cross-Selling and Upselling: Identifying opportunities to expand the use of the product within the client’s organization, driving incremental revenue.
3. Renewal Management: Ensuring smooth renewals by actively demonstrating the value delivered and addressing any concerns promptly.
4. Customer Satisfaction: Maintaining a pulse on customer satisfaction levels and acting as a bridge between the customer and the organization.

The Power of Synergy: Unified Leadership for CS and AM

When it comes to orchestrating growth in a tech company, uniting the leadership of Customer Success and Account Management can wield powerful benefits. Here’s why:

1. Holistic Customer Focus

Combining CS and AM under a single leader fosters a holistic approach to customer-centricity. This structure enables seamless collaboration, eliminating silos that could hinder the flow of information and hamper customer success strategies. A unified leadership ensures that every customer interaction, whether it’s nurturing existing relationships or expanding revenue streams, is driven by a unified understanding of the customer’s journey.

2. Streamlined Communication

With CS and AM reporting to the same leader, communication channels are streamlined. This facilitates quick information sharing, enabling both teams to address customer needs more effectively. When CS and AM work in harmony, feedback loops are tighter, allowing for rapid response to emerging challenges or opportunities.

3. Consistent Customer Experience

A unified leadership structure promotes a consistent customer experience throughout their journey. Account Managers possess in-depth knowledge of their clients’ goals, while Customer Success Managers have insights into product usage patterns and pain points. Marrying these perspectives ensures customers receive tailored solutions that align with their objectives and product needs.

4. Unified Growth Strategy

Customer Success and Account Management share a common goal: driving customer success and business growth. When these teams collaborate closely, they can collectively devise strategies to maximize customer lifetime value. This could involve expanding product adoption, identifying upsell opportunities, or mitigating churn risks.

5. Efficient Resource Allocation

A unified leadership approach optimizes resource allocation. Instead of duplicating efforts or resources, both CS and AM can collaborate to determine the best allocation of time and resources for each account. This prevents unnecessary overlaps and ensures a streamlined approach to customer engagement.

Measuring Success: Key Performance Indicators for CS and AM Collaboration

In the realm of B2B SaaS, success isn’t just a feeling—it’s quantifiable. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) serve as the compass guiding the efforts of Customer Success (CS) and Account Management (AM) teams. When these teams collaborate effectively, they can contribute synergistically to critical metrics like Net Revenue Retention (NRR). Let’s explore the KPIs that showcase this collaboration’s impact on sustainable growth.

1. Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

Net Revenue Retention is the cornerstone of growth for SaaS companies. It gauges the net change in revenue from existing customers over a specified period, considering expansion, churn, and contraction. Both CS and AM play pivotal roles in influencing NRR positively:

• Customer Success (CS): CS teams drive NRR by ensuring customers derive value from the product, thereby reducing churn and contraction. Engaged, satisfied customers are less likely to cancel or downgrade. CS achieves this by promoting product adoption, providing proactive support, and addressing pain points promptly.
• Account Management (AM): AM teams are vital in fostering account expansion and renewal. Leveraging strong customer relationships, they identify cross-selling and upselling opportunities that drive increased revenue from existing customers. AM ensures renewals are seamless by nurturing customer satisfaction and presenting the value proposition for continued partnership.

2. Customer Health Score

Both CS and AM can contribute to assessing the health of a customer relationship through a Customer Health Score. This composite metric considers factors like product usage, engagement, and customer sentiment. CS monitors usage patterns and intervenes if the customer’s engagement drops, while AM factors this score into account planning and tailors strategies based on the customer’s health.

3. Churn Rate and Renewal Rate

Churn Rate measures the percentage of customers who cancel their subscriptions, while Renewal Rate reflects the percentage of customers who renew. CS and AM efforts intersect directly here:

• CS: By focusing on customer success, CS minimizes churn by identifying early warning signs and proactively addressing customer concerns, fostering a higher Renewal Rate.
• AM: Nurturing customer relationships, AM ensures smooth renewals and navigates customer objections, leading to a robust Renewal Rate. Additionally, their efforts contribute to expansion revenue, further reducing churn through enhanced product adoption.

4. Upsell and Cross-Sell Revenue

Upselling involves upgrading a customer’s subscription to a higher tier, while cross-selling involves selling complementary products or features. Both CS and AM can collaborate to identify opportunities for expanding customer value:

• CS: Through a deep understanding of the customer’s needs, CS can suggest upsell possibilities based on their evolving requirements.
• AM: AM identifies cross-selling opportunities, leveraging strong relationships to present additional solutions that align with the customer’s business objectives.

5. Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and Net Promoter Score (NPS)

High CSAT scores indicate customer contentment, while a high NPS reflects customer advocacy. Both metrics benefit from the collaboration of CS and AM:

• CS: CS drives CSAT by resolving issues promptly, enhancing the overall customer experience.
• AM: Through their strategic relationship-building efforts, AM contributes to high NPS scores as satisfied customers are more likely to recommend the company’s offerings.

6. Time-to-Value

Time-to-Value measures how quickly a customer starts realizing value from the product. CS and AM can work in tandem to expedite this process:

• CS: By ensuring effective onboarding and proactive support, CS accelerates the customer’s journey towards value realization.
• AM: AM aligns the product with the customer’s business goals, ensuring that the customer experiences value quickly, leading to stronger retention.

7. Expansion Revenue

Expansion revenue refers to the additional revenue generated from existing customers beyond their initial purchase. Both CS and AM can contribute:

• CS: By fostering product adoption and usage, CS can lead to expanded feature usage and increased subscription tiers.
• AM: AM identifies opportunities for upselling and cross-selling, driving expansion revenue by presenting valuable solutions to customers.

Contrasting Structures: CS and AM Reporting Elsewhere

1. Reporting to Support and Services Leader

If CS were to report to the Support and Services leader while AM reports to a separate leader, there’s a risk of misalignment. Customer Success could become more reactive, focusing on issue resolution rather than proactive value delivery. AM, on the other hand, might prioritize revenue generation without a comprehensive understanding of the customer’s satisfaction and product utilization.

2. AM Reporting to VP of Sales

Should AM report to the VP of Sales, the primary focus might shift towards revenue generation. This could potentially overshadow the broader customer relationship, leading to a transactional approach rather than a long-term partnership. The VP of Sales may emphasize short-term gains over nurturing customer success, which can ultimately lead to increased churn rates.

Conclusion

In the dynamic realm of B2B SaaS, where customer retention and growth are paramount, the collaboration between Customer Success and Account Management is a linchpin. By uniting these two departments under the same leadership, tech companies can foster a holistic, customer-centric approach that’s focused on delivering value, driving revenue, and ensuring enduring customer success. This synergy not only enhances the customer experience but also propels the company towards sustained growth in an increasingly competitive landscape.

The post Maximizing Growth: The Synergy of Customer Success and Account Management in B2B SaaS appeared first on RevSetter.

Given the uncertainty of the last 6 months, our team at RevSetter team was curious – what do some of our expert colleagues consider to be top priority for Customer Success organizations today?

We reached out to seven experienced Customer Success executives from various industries to uncover their thoughts on the number one priority in Customer Success today. Their insights shed light on some key areas that demand strategic focus and actionable steps to ensure long-term success for CS teams:

“In this market, the vital priority for every CS professional and team is to prove your necessary contribution to sustainable profitability for both customer and company.  It’s not enough for you to think that you and your team are making a difference; such assumptions are deadly.  You need to get confirmation from both customer and company as to the measurable value that they are receiving because they are continuing to work with you.  If your customer is not receiving clear value, they are unlikely to renew their subscription.  If your company isn’t certain that you are necessary for the continuation of strategically significant income streams, you and your team may very well be at-risk of joining the many customer success professionals currently on the job market.” 
– Mikael Blaisdell, Executive Director: The Customer Success Association

“Cross-functional collaboration should be the number one priority for SaaS Customer Success teams. We need to break down the silos!  In a dynamic and interconnected business landscape, collaboration enables you to harness the collective intelligence and expertise of your cross-functional team members. CS does not reside on an island.  It takes the collective wisdom of an organization to truly ensure your customer is getting the best possible experience . By working together, your teams can brainstorm innovative solutions, leverage different perspectives and tap into the collective wisdom of your company.  By sharing responsibilities and supporting each other, you can handle complex demands more efficiently and effectively.  Collaboration also champions effective communication and coordination. Clear and transparent communication channels help you stay aligned, share critical information, and make informed decisions. When we collaborate closely, we can synchronize efforts, avoid duplication, and ensure success for your company and an incredible experience for your customers.”
– Jenelle Friday, Vice President of Customer Success: Forecastable

“The number one priority in Customer Success today is to transform your customer base and team into the company’s revenue engine – becoming the driving force of your company’s growth and success. This is not just a need or want for the business anymore, it is becoming a necessity for growth stage ($20m+ ARR) and large business in particular. Here, (profitable) growth is highly connected to the success of your customers and your ability to drive customer revenue. As a Customer Success (and really any post-sales) leader in turn, it becomes critical to align, structure & elevate your organization and team around the four primary pillars of success – 1) company position (align with the company’s strategic goals and objectives and be prioritized therein), 2) people (the structure, roles and allocation of your team), 3) methodology (the processes, workflows, and objectives you drive), and 4) resources (systems, tools, trainings you provide).” 
– Haydar Al-Saad, CEO & Founder: RevSetter

“Embrace strategic initiatives: Seek out high-visibility customer-focused initiatives that align with your company’s strategic goals. This showcases your commitment and allows you to contribute directly to the organization’s success.

Demonstrate business impact: Continuously measure and communicate the impact your team brings to the business. Regularly share success stories, metrics, and tangible results that highlight the value generated in revenue, retention and building of an advocate network by your CS efforts. 

Refine skills and expertise: Invest in your CSMs with training and mentorship: sharpening negotiation skills, deepening industry knowledge, and becoming experts in your product. Equip your CS team with the necessary expertise to provide a consultative experience and a differentiator in your industry.”
– Amy Mustoe, Vice President of Customer Success: Cledara

“The top priority for Customer Success leaders, in my view, is to show credible cause-and-effect relationships between what their team does and its impact on the business. For example, showing how Customer Success Planning and Value Realization increases the odds of customer retention and boosts NRR. This requires CS teams to have the ability to collect, clean and analyze data, understand the difference between signals and noise, reveal hidden insights, and develop predictive models to guide decision making and continuous improvement.”
– Ed Powers, Principal Consultant: Service Excellence Partners

“The #1 priority is to accelerate growth in NRR (with the correct calculation as a cohort metric, of course), and the path forward is to strengthen relationships with key stakeholders by ensuring they have the right tools to drive adoption – i.e. the “hearts and minds” of the end users. All too often, SaaS vendors throw software over the wall at customers, perform admin and end-user training, and call it “done” in terms of the adoption phase.  But we all know that change is hard. To successfully adopt a new product there must be engagement and oversight from the key stakeholders, along with deliberate “carrots and sticks” (especially in the early days) to drive the right end-user behaviors with the new solution. Ignore change-management at your peril. Embrace stakeholder relationships at every opportunity to help them drive the necessary change(s) and be successful in their role”
– Steve Bernstein, Co-Founder & Principal: Waypoint Group

“Considering the current Tech Industry scenario, providing value and proving ROI are more than ever, the main priorities for any CS organization. In order to do that we need real time insight into how our partners use our products and services. Leverage a CS tool that’s flexible and easy to use is key to understand how we can be more proactive addressing clients needs and promote retention and growth”
– Emilio Ruiz Sanchez, Director of Customer Success: Social Native

Clearly, being able to prove the measurable value and business impact of CS teams is essential, both to customers and the company – CS must constantly act as a true revenue engine to drive growth and secure budget for their own teams and tech stack.

Collaboration and cross-functional alignment are critical factors for success, as CS teams must break down silos and leverage collective intelligence within the organization. 

Data analysis, predictive modeling, and showing credible cause-and-effect relationships between CS initiatives and business outcomes are also essential capabilities. 

Finally, driving adoption, building stakeholder relationships, and embracing and leveraging real-time insights into customer advocacy act as key drivers of growth and success as well.

By focusing on these priorities, SaaS companies can elevate their Customer Success organizations and effectively drive revenue growth, customer retention and advocacy. 

Book a demo with us today!

-The RevSetter Team

The post Executive Insights: Unveiling the Top Priority in Customer Success Today appeared first on RevSetter.

The core reality of corporate life is simply: Power Follows Money. If you are not perceived as being necessarily connected to strategically significant profitability streams, in hard economic times, your job and your team may be at-risk. How does your company view your Customer Success group today? As a cost center? Nice-to-have, but..? If your status is unclear, it’s time to act.

Host: Haydar Al-Saad, CEO of RevSetter

Moderator: Mikael Blaisdell, Executive Director of the worldwide Customer Success Association

Panelist:

Amy Mustoe, VP of Customer Success at Cledara

Ed Powers, Principal of Service Excellence Partners

Frank McCracken, CEO of Wigmore IT

The post Webinar: Proving Customer Success as a Profit Center appeared first on RevSetter.

1. Why Growing Enterprise/Large Accounts is Important

Enterprise and large accounts represent a significant opportunity for B2B tech SAAS companies. While these accounts may only make up a small percentage of your customer base, they often generate the majority of your revenue. Additionally, enterprise customers tend to have more complex needs and require a higher level of service and support.

By growing and nurturing these accounts, you can achieve sustainable revenue growth and build a reputation as a trusted partner for enterprise customers. This can lead to increased customer loyalty, higher retention rates, and more opportunities for cross-selling and upselling. Furthermore, enterprise customers often have extensive networks and can serve as valuable references and advocates for your brand.

• Focusing on enterprise and large accounts can also help you stay ahead of the competition. 
• By delivering exceptional service and support, you can differentiate yourself from competitors and become the go-to provider for enterprise customers in your industry. 
• Focusing on larger accounts, you can establish a steady revenue stream that is less vulnerable to market fluctuations or economic downturns.

In short, growing your enterprise and large accounts is a key component of any successful B2B tech SAAS strategy. By focusing on these high-value customers, you can achieve sustainable revenue growth, build a reputation as a trusted partner, and differentiate yourself from competitors.

2. Account Planning and Stakeholder Mapping

To successfully grow enterprise and large accounts, it’s critical to have a clear account plan and to identify key stakeholders within the customer’s organization. Here are a few steps to consider when developing an account plan:

• Set goals: Define clear, measurable goals for the account, such as revenue growth targets or customer satisfaction metrics. These goals should be specific, realistic, and aligned with the customer’s business objectives.
• Analyze the account: Conduct a deep dive into the account to understand their business, industry, pain points, and opportunities for growth. This will help you identify areas where you can add value and differentiate yourself from competitors.
• Map stakeholders: Identify the key decision-makers and influencers within the customer’s organization. Develop a stakeholder map that includes their roles, responsibilities, and communication preferences. This will help you tailor your approach and communication style to each stakeholder and build strong relationships.
• Create an action plan: Based on your analysis and stakeholder mapping, create a detailed action plan that outlines the steps you will take to achieve your goals. This plan should include specific tactics, timelines, and metrics for success.

3. Strategies for Growing Enterprise/Large Accounts

While account planning and stakeholder mapping are essential, there are additional strategies that customer success and account management teams can use to grow their enterprise accounts. Here are a few tactics to consider:

• Upsell and cross-sell opportunities: Encourage your team to upsell or cross-sell additional products or features to enterprise customers. By analyzing data on their usage and pain points, you can identify the best opportunities to do so.
• Identify growth triggers: Keep a pulse on market trends, industry news, and the customer’s business to anticipate growth opportunities. This way, you can reach out proactively and offer your solutions to help the customer grow and meet their business goals.
• Develop and leverage advocates: Foster strong relationships with key stakeholders at the customer’s organization and leverage them to expand your footprint. These advocates can act as references, help navigate the organization, and even introduce you to new business units and decision-makers.

4. Impact of Successful Enterprise/Large Account Management

Effective enterprise and large account management can have a significant impact on your business, from boosting revenue to improving customer satisfaction. Here are a few ways that successful account management can benefit your organization:

• Increased revenue: Growing enterprise accounts can result in significant increases in revenue. These accounts may represent a small percentage of your total customer base, but they often generate the majority of your revenue. By keeping these customers happy and growing them over time, you can achieve sustainable revenue growth.
• Improved customer satisfaction and retention: Enterprise customers have complex needs and high expectations. By providing excellent service, proactive account management, and strategic support, you can ensure that these customers are satisfied and loyal. Satisfied customers are more likely to renew their contracts, purchase additional products or features, and act as references for your company.
• Better market positioning: Effective enterprise and large account management can help your organization build a reputation as a trusted partner for enterprise customers. By delivering value, expertise, and personalized service, you can differentiate yourself from competitors and position your organization as a go-to solution for enterprise customers. This can help you win new business and expand your reach in the market.

Overall, growing enterprise and large accounts requires a strategic, proactive approach and a deep understanding of the customer’s business. By developing a strong account plan, mapping key stakeholders, and leveraging additional strategies, you can grow these accounts and achieve sustainable revenue growth and customer satisfaction. 

The post How Customer Success and Account Management Teams Can Grow Enterprise/Large Customer Accounts appeared first on RevSetter.

Hello! Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to share my story. I’m originally from the Seattle, WA area so yes I love cloudy rainy days, green surroundings all year long and summers at the beach. I moved to Colorado 7 years ago to be a full time aunt to my beautiful and amazing 3 nephews. I got lucky and met my husband shortly after I moved, and my life has never been so full or joyful! We have 2 dogs, Duke the 8yr English Mastiff and Harley, the 3yr Frenchie. They are best friends and are always with me during the work day, they love their Mamma! When I’m not working, you can find me cheering a nephew at the current sporting event they’re playing, on a road trip with the hubby, cooking a new recipe to increase my cooking skills, creating a crafting project, reading a book on Customer Success or snuggling with my puppies. I take one day at a time, and am always looking for ways to bring a smile to the people around me because we all need to smile and laugh more!

Can you tell us about your journey within Customer Success?

After spending some time in executive support roles, I realized one of my core strengths was creating and maintaining business relationships. I excelled in time management, effective communication, problem solving, personal accountability, responsibility and genuine care for the people I worked with. After moving to Colorado, I took a role as an SDR to get my foot through the door at Agility Recovery and very quickly set myself apart due to my passion and dedication to my customers and my team. The company realized my value and offered me the opportunity to be their very first CSM hire. Since then, I’ve had incredible opportunities with companies like Adobe and now Forecastable, always exceeding targets and goals and simply loving the customer relationship building process.  

What is it that excites you about this space?

Customer Success excites me because at its core, it brings humanity to the forefront of the business world. I value the HUMANS in business above all else. Humanity is beautiful, complicated, delicate, powerful and unpredictable. In business, we have the opportunity to show ingenuity, genius, generosity and compassion and in the very center of all those things is Customer Success. The CSM has become a conduit, offering invaluable insight into the customer’s feedback, suggestions, growth potential and identifying areas of risk.

At some point in time, we’ve all been customers in need of help. We’ve sat through tedious calls or meetings feeling misunderstood and frustrated. We’ve needed support and in some cases intervention from a manager to get to our desired result. We all have bad days that we wake up on the wrong side of the bed, deal with messes left by kiddos, or see too many meetings on our calendars and try to find excuses to reschedule. Sound familiar? Your customers share similar stories. Caring about our customers and what’s happening in their lives creates a safe space allowing them to open up and be more transparent about what’s really going on in their job and at their company. Knowledge is powerful! Imagine all that you could accomplish if you had an inside track into your customer’s organization. 

The CSM can be the catalyst for your organization that can create a trusted relationship with your customers, and that is incredibly exciting to me!

What are some of the key ingredients in a successful Customer Success Program in your opinion?

From my experience, the few things that are vital to a successful Customer Success program are:

#1 – Educating and mentoring CSM’s before adding another SaaS tool is always better.
Right now there are so many CS tools that can be used to streamline or simplify processes, we are all spinning on which tools are the best. In my opinion, no tool is better than ensuring your CSM’s have a full understanding of HOW to be a great CSM through role play scenarios, mock executive calls and full product training that empower them to be subject matter experts. Whether through a playbook, or extensive training during the first 90 days of ramp time, no tool is as comprehensive as a CSM who has a full grasp on their role and responsibility.  

I can teach someone any CS SaaS tool. What I cannot teach someone is how to care about their customers. I cannot teach someone to be innately curious and constantly asking “Why?” to get to the root cause of something. So, the other side to the CSM is someone who genuinely loves working with people – all people from all walks of life. The relationships being created in a CS/Customer setting should be built on a foundation of authenticity, transparency and trust. We need to find people with this skill set and encourage those already in a CS role to embrace this part of their job. 

#2 – Customer Success is not an organizational department or job title, it is a company mindset.
Whether you’re working in sales, or product, Customer Success needs to be seen and valued by the entire organization. The customer voice needs to have experienced and intelligent representation so the product team understands what the customer is asking for, and what the customer needs from your product in order to be successful. From the moment a lead is generated to a closed won opportunity, all the way through the customer’s renewal, we should view the Customer Experience in its entirety; building company values and product roadmaps around the Customer Experience. If the entire company understands the value of their customers, and why Customer Success is so important to the health of your organization, the growth potential is unlimited.

#3 – Data. 
Good data is king when it comes to how an organization predicts revenue, identify’s areas of risk and measures Customer adoption against desired outcomes. For a CSM to be successful, they need to have a consistent and reliable flow of data that gives them insight into their customers behavior. Product adoption, account growth metrics, benchmark data and customer trends are a few examples of data points I’ve used that have become critical in the management of a customer account and the entire book-of-business. Your data should tell a story of the current state of affairs in a customer account, so the CSM knows how to tell that story not just to the customer in an advice/guidance session, but also internally so their leadership has visibility into the overall health of their customers.  

Data at the leadership level is critical to understanding why churn happens, seeing all areas of risk to determine the best way to mitigate them and fine tune your Customer Success program through segmentation, improved process flows and full transparency into your customer accounts.

Can you talk about your view on the importance of sales, CS and other departments working in harmony? Any advice to accomplish this?

Great question! The traditional silos of Sales and Customer Success have been challenging. The truth of the matter is it all starts and ends with the leadership team. When Sales and Customer Success align around the value of the customer and embrace Customer Success as a mindset, amazing things happen.

There is a lot of talk about the Customer Experience, and for the most part this falls to the CS org. However, when you look at this from a holistic view, the customer is evaluating your organization and your product from the moment they see the full demo. If your Sales team and your CS team are aligned appropriately, the customer has the best experience from pre-sales through post-sales. The “Handoff” from Sales to CS has often felt like trying to skip through a field trying to avoid landmines. Some handoffs are full of great information and the CSM is introduced to the customer by the Sales team member. This type of transition is the standard at Forecastable.

I’ve worked very hard to overcome the stigma around cross-functional partnership with sales by simply caring about my sales counterpart and ensuring they stay informed and updated on what’s happening within a customer account we share. We all want to be heard, and valued for what we bring to the table so if we agree we both want the same things, then developing and maintaining a healthy and positive relationship between these two departments isn’t difficult to achieve.

I think it also has a lot to do with the company and the “Ideal Customer Profile.” At the organizational level, having a clear and firm ICP ensures both Sales and Customer Success are set up and enabled to win together. I love Sales! Throughout my entire career, my Sales counterparts were some of the most amazing people I’d ever met. My current CEO and Co-Founder of Forecastable was a sales counterpart at Adobe. He and I worked together on several customer accounts, developing a shared vision to offer the best possible customer experience. We addressed risk and customer issues head on, together, always staying in communication and helping each other solve complex issues. We traveled together to meet customers in person to run workshops, training programs and partner with other vendors maximizing the time to achieve the customers’ desired results.

I should also mention my husband is a Sales Leader, and I’ve learned so much from him and how Customer Success impacts his job and his team. We all want to know we bring value to our company and our teammates. The Sales team has the burden of bringing more customers to the table, while the Customer Success team then carries the burden of keeping the customer productive and successful. It honestly has the potential to be the strongest partnership within your organization, and I have seen first hand the extraordinary results that come from a Sales/Customer Success partnership.

How do you see the role of CS technology come into play in the coming years?

Technology is exciting to watch, as it grows and gets smarter. I think there is a ton we can automate using tools like AI in the management of our customer accounts. Gainsight put CS tech on the map for process mapping and reliable output on success metrics that have helped us all achieve better results. My hesitation in investing more money into another CS tech tool is that the tool itself isn’t going to solve some of the core problems we are facing today.

There is a documentary I watched recently on Area 51. In it, they explained that during the Vietnam war, we were losing our Navy pilots 8 to 2 against the Mig. The US military was lucky enough to capture a Mig and then start breaking down its tech. We realized our losses weren’t coming from our planes being subpar – it was our pilots! We were not training our pilots adequately to match the skills of the enemy. Hence, Top Gun. After Top Gun, the US Navy pilots that emerged began to turn the tide and not a single pilot was lost during the remainder of the Vietnam war.

I think there is an incredible parallel from this story to the current Customer Success program.
Tech is great, but if we are not training our CSM’s to be expert level, intelligent, educated and motivated team members, all the tech in the world cannot make up for this deficiency. 

The few companies that have tools to help Customer Success need to look at the entire workflow of a CSM. Right now, we need companies to give the CSM a single point of reference for their entire book-of-business. We lack a single point of truth that will allow us to manage the day to day tasks, understand our book-of-business from a risk and expansion perspective and offer valuable and critical insights into our customer base. I still use excel spreadsheets and have multiple tools/windows open in my browser all day. Leadership in essence is blind to the context behind the data they’re managing which can lead to inaccurate forecasting, product enhancements or features that don’t increase or drive adoption which inevitably increases the risk for churn.

I think RevSetter is addressing this issue head on and I’m excited to see how it continues to develop and make a dramatic impact on our industry.

What major trends do you expect to see in the CS space in the coming years when it comes to driving revenue in the customer base?

Trends pop up quite a bit in the CS space just due to the short runway we’ve had. Right now there is a trend around “Customer Lead Growth” instead of Product Lead Growth. I think company leaders are beginning to realize that Customer Success, when executed properly, is a game changer. In most organizations, Customer Success owns anywhere from 60-70% of ARR, making them the majority owner of the company’s total ARR. The CS leader should have a seat at the revenue table simply due to this fact. The voice of the customer deserves to be represented at the highest level in order for real and sustainable growth to occur. We are now seeing more CCO’s and VP’s of Customer Success being given ownership of the Customer Experience forcing collaboration internally and externally.

Another trend I’m following is “Active Listening.” Sales has been deploying the skill set of active listening for a long time. Customer Success can learn a great deal from Sales around this core competency. I have sat through many sales training programs and acquired skills I use in my role on a daily basis, so another reason to partner with sales!

If you’re only talking to customers to push your predetermined outcomes, agenda or goals, and you’re not actively listening to what your customers’ needs are, the likelihood of closing your deal, or empowering your customer to find success is extremely low. A CS engagement point isn’t just simply checking in with the customer to make sure there aren’t any new issues – every engagement should add value to the customer or you’re wasting their time.

You are one of many vendors/partners your customer is working with, and their time is valuable. You should be discussing your customer’s business outcomes, change in leadership or company direction, and overall strategy for how your product can increase their sales or productivity and offering insightful recommendations based on real data to inspire and encourage the customer towards continual and productive engagement. They are paying for your time/service/product so respecting their time by bringing meaningful and valuable content to your conversations is how you reinforce your value and create a customer for life.

Customers are people facing pressures and deadlines just as you are. If you’re actively listening during every engagement, the customer will feel heard, valued and tend to share more information that could prove vital to their ongoing health and continued partnership. Put all this together and gone will be the days when a renewal pops up in your queue and the customer sends you a cancellation notice out of the blue. None of us can afford that type of customer journey.

If you had to share, “words of wisdom,” with a revenue leader, what would they be?

Honestly, my advice to a revenue leader would be to shadow a CSM for a week or so. Understand their role, and what your organization is requiring of them. So much money gets poured into Sales and Marketing that CS is sometimes an afterthought. If Customer Success owns more than 60% of your ARR, they are your growth engine and should be valued appropriately.  

The CSM is so much more than a smiling “make the customer happy” role – if done well, they are the first line of defense when things get complicated. They become Trusted Advisors to your customer base and oftentimes drive your upsell/expansion efforts simply by having strong and trusted relationships. They will identify risk well before that risk results in a downsell or churn.  They are the voice to listen to when it comes to product development or road map planning since they have your customers’ attention and trust. CSM’s should be viewed as a critical role thus resulting in proper training and education to ensure success.

Investing into Customer Success is so much more than hiring CSM’s or buying more tech.  There are critical roles in CS like Support, Professional Services and Onboarding teams that need financial support. A great CSM shouldn’t be spending their time chasing support tickets, that is not a good use of their time. Having strong and knowledgeable infrastructure within the CS organization will continue to ensure the customer has the most amazing experience.

How can our readers follow you on social media or elsewhere?

You can find me on LinkedIn here and I welcome all new connections!  You can also contact me directly at [email protected]

The post I love Customer Success because People Matter! It’s not just business, it is absolutely personal. appeared first on RevSetter.

The Customer Success Platform Built for Revenue Retention

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Plan, strategize, and manage like never before by leveraging a powerful toolset, including:

• Customer Data Hub
• Detailed Task & Interaction Management
• Customer Insights, Playbooks, Profiles, & Journey Mapping
• Forecasting, Prospecting, & Expansion
• Short- & Long-Term Goal Setting & Success Plans
• Visual Growth Matrix
• Integrations With the Tools You Already Love

Book a Demo

Our experts are here and ready to help you grow your company from within. Schedule a demo today to get custom insights on how RevSetter can fuel your growth.

The post <strong>Grow Your Business From Within with the Premier Customer Success Platform</strong> appeared first on RevSetter.

What is the Rule of 40 and Why Does it Matter for B2B Tech Companies?

The Rule of 40 is a formula that takes into account a company’s growth rate and profit margin. A result of 40 or higher indicates a healthy and sustainable business. B2B tech companies often strive for a Rule of 40 result as it demonstrates to investors, stakeholders, and customers that the company is financially stable and has a solid growth trajectory.

The Key Role of Net Revenue Retention (NRR) in Achieving a Great Rule of 40 Result 

Net Revenue Retention (NRR) is a key component in achieving a great Rule of 40 result for B2B tech companies. NRR measures the amount of revenue a company retains from existing customers over a period of time. By retaining existing customers and increasing their spending, B2B tech companies can improve their NRR and achieve a better Rule of 40 result. This is because it’s more cost-effective to retain existing customers than to acquire new ones.

To calculate NRR, companies need to track the revenue generated from their existing customers over a period of time, typically a year. This includes revenue from renewals, upsells, cross-sells, and expansions. Then, the revenue lost due to churn, downgrades, and cancellations is subtracted from the total revenue generated from existing customers. The resulting percentage is the NRR.

Understanding NRR: The Customer Success Perspective 

The success of NRR heavily relies on Customer Success. A customer success team is responsible for ensuring that customers achieve their desired outcomes while using a product or service. By doing so, customer success teams can improve customer satisfaction, reduce churn, and increase revenue from existing customers. This is where NRR comes into play. By measuring NRR, B2B tech companies can gain insight into the effectiveness of their customer success efforts and identify areas for improvement.

To achieve a great NRR, B2B tech companies need to focus on customer success. This involves:

1. Understanding the customer journey: B2B tech companies should understand their customers’ needs and challenges and how their product can help them achieve their desired outcomes. By understanding the customer journey, companies can provide the right support and resources at each stage of the journey.
2. Providing excellent customer support: B2B tech companies should offer a variety of support channels, including email, phone, and chat, and ensure that support agents are knowledgeable and responsive. Customer support should be available 24/7 to ensure that customers can get help when they need it.
3. Personalizing the customer experience: B2B tech companies should leverage customer data to provide tailored experiences and offer relevant product recommendations. By personalizing the customer experience, companies can increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.
4. Offering ongoing training and education: B2B tech companies should provide customers with resources, such as webinars and knowledge bases, to help them get the most out of their product or service. By offering ongoing training and education, companies can empower their customers to succeed

Summary and Conclusion: 

The Rule of 40 is a critical benchmark for B2B tech companies, and achieving a great result depends on several factors. Among them, Net Revenue Retention (NRR) is a key component that B2B tech companies should focus on to improve their Rule of 40 result. By understanding NRR and the importance of customer success in driving it, B2B tech companies can retain more customers, reduce churn, and increase revenue from existing customers. A customer success team that understands the customer journey, provides excellent customer support, personalizes the customer experience, and offers ongoing training and education can help B2B tech companies achieve a great NRR and Rule of 40 result. Ultimately, a high NRR and Rule of 40 result are key indicators of a healthy and sustainable business, which is critical for the long-term success of B2B tech companies.

The post <strong>Understanding the Rule of 40: How Net Revenue Retention (NRR) Drives Success in B2B Tech</strong> appeared first on RevSetter.

• Apple Podcast
• Spotify
• Google

Customer Success has evolved in recent years – from focusing on old-school, vanity metrics and being seen as a support or services function to focusing on value-creating, ROI-driven metrics and being seen as a revenue engine.

In this podcast, RevSetter’s CEO Haydar Al-Saad sits down with Pavillion’s CEO and Founder Sam Jacobs on his top-rated podcast, The Sales Hacker podcast, to discuss a variety of topics including how customer success has changed and how a successful Customer Success program can help you turbo-charge your company’s success.

Listen and enjoy!

Want to talk more CS and learn how you can turn it into a revenue engine?
Reach out today here!

The post The New Way to CS appeared first on RevSetter.

What is Customer Success?

Customer success puts a focus on the customers you have – not the customers you’re trying to land. According to Forbes, acquiring a new customer can cost up to five times more than retaining a current one. A customer success-oriented business saves money by nurturing the business they already have first, and developing new business second.

Customer Success vs. Customer Support vs. Customer Service

Customer Success, Customer Support, and Customer Service are often used interchangeably but have distinct differences in the context of B2B SaaS.

Customer Support and Customer Service are primarily focused on resolving any issues or problems customers face with a product or service. Customer Support teams act as the first line of defense for customer inquiries and requests, typically through phone, email, or live chat. Customer Service teams may have a broader scope, including managing customer complaints and working with other departments to resolve more complex issues.

On the other hand, Customer Success is a revenue-driving organization that focuses on ensuring that customers are realizing the full value of a product or service. This involves proactively working with customers to help them achieve their goals and objectives, prevent churn, and drive retention. A key goal of Customer Success teams is to ensure customers are successful with the product, leading to long-term loyalty and advocacy.

What Is CSM Software?

Customer success management (CSM) software enables business growth in four unique ways:

• Improving retention, renewal, and upgrades
• Reducing churn and downgrades
• Identifying and managing key accounts
• Highlighting growth potential through customer data insights

Unlike CRM (customer relationship management) software, CSM platforms focus on helping you nurture and grow your existing customers rather than managing new leads.

Let’s dig deeper into each of the four ways CSM software can help your business grow.

Improving Retention, Renewal & Upgrades

Increasing your net revenue retention is the bread and butter of customer success. From tracking customer health scores and interactions to creating goals and tasks, it’s all about taking care of your customers proactively to inspire renewals and upgrades.

Reducing Churn & Downgrades

Customer success management software helps you identify high risk accounts early and adjust your strategy proactively. By serving your clients before they come to you for support, you can encourage renewals and account growth without a target on your back.

Identifying & Managing Key Accounts

CSM software offers a complete view of your customer portfolio. It can help you identify key accounts, not only through overall value, but through growth rate, longevity, and a number of other factors. Once you identify those key accounts, you can manage and prioritize them more effectively to ensure continued renewal and growth.

Highlighting Growth Potential

Through customer data mapping and intelligent insights, your CSM software can help you identify missed potential for growth in your current customer roster. By identifying stagnant accounts, low value contracts, and more, you can grow your business without worrying about closing new leads.

Standard CSM Software Features

Every CSM platform is a little different. But there are a handful of standard features you should expect to see on every good option, like:

• Customer Data Import & Export
• Customer Insights
• Customer Journey Mapping
• Customer Profiles/Portfolio
• Dashboard
• Forecasting
• Goal Setting
• Growth Matrix
• Integrations
• Metrics
• Opportunities
• Playbooks
• Prospecting/Expansion List
• Success Plans
• Tasks & Interactions

Checking off these key features will ensure your software solution is both comprehensive and scalable.

What Should I Consider When Choosing a CSM Software Solution?

Deciding on the right software solution for your company isn’t easy. There are so many factors at play that it can be tough to know which option is best. Here are four key things to consider when making your choice.

• Company Size & Growth Rate – How large is your company now and what do you hope to grow to in the next 1-3 years? Choosing a CSM solution that is tailored to your business size prevents outgrowth, or getting a solution better suited for the largest Fortune 100 companies, and avoids having to switch solutions down the line.
  
• Industry Relevance – Most software solutions are designed with broad applications in mind, but many are ideal for certain industries. For example, RevSetter can improve the customer retention of nearly any business, but SaaS companies may find our solutions most applicable to their revenue models.
  
• Price vs. Features – Price is obviously a huge factor when it comes to choosing a CSM software solution. However, more expensive doesn’t always mean more features. Consider what features will truly be useful to your business, and don’t pay for what you don’t need.
  
• Integrations – Finding a CSM solution with the integrations you need is crucial to your success. Check and double-check not only if but how the tools you already love integrate with your new solution for a smooth transition.

Interested in trying CSM software for yourself? 

Book a demo with one of our experts!

The post <strong>What Is CSM Software? A Comprehensive Guide to Customer Success Platforms</strong> appeared first on RevSetter.

The post <strong>The Importance of Retention and Customer Success for SaaS companies</strong> appeared first on RevSetter.

Mary Poppen is the Chief Business and Customer Officer at involve.ai. Responsible for driving the Customer Intelligence category in the market, she is building a world-class team focused on helping companies leverage the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to become customer-centric.

Prior to involve.ai, Mary was Glint’s Chief Customer Officer at LinkedIn and Chief Customer Officer for SAP’s Global Cloud business before that. Mary holds a Master’s Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and has over 20 years of customer success, business consulting and executive leadership experience. She is a well-recognized customer and employee experience thought leader, speaking at global events and authoring several publications in this space. She recently published a book entitled “Goodbye, Churn. Hello, Growth!” In addition to her current role, Mary enjoys serving as a Board Advisor and executive coach, and has a passion for giving back through female mentorship programs.

Thank you so much for joining us!

Can you tell us about your journey within Customer Success?

I started in “Customer Success” long before today’s understanding. I began working for SuccessFactors, the first HCM SaaS solution, in the early days, before Software as a Service was understood. As expected, the traditional software delivery of the on-premise days was applied to SaaS and sure enough the customer received implementation services and technical support, but the actual adoption of the software was highly unmonitored. I like to say it was moving from “Building Houses” (on-premise) to “Renting Apartments” (SaaS). With SaaS, if you didn’t like your landlord or the apartment building, you could up and leave quite easily, unlike the traditional on-premise software deployments. SaaS changed the focus of software to become a customer-centric sale and delivery vs. a product-centered sale and delivery. It was an opportunity to put the customer at the center of the value proposition. This was the era of refining what customer experience and value meant and put Customer Success in the forefront of delivering on it. I had the opportunity to be involved in shaping customer-centric software and delivery from the beginning.

What is it that excites you about this space?

With SaaS, there is an opportunity to innovate and personalize around the customer’s specific unique business requirements and outcomes. I get inspired by the opportunity to do things differently to drive value for customers, for the company, and also for the employees who serve those customers. There is a significant linkage between employee and customer experience. This is something I’m very passionate about.

What are some of the biggest challenges you see CS teams face? And any advice on how to tackle them?

One of the biggest challenges is to align to revenue growth. CS teams don’t typically get investment and prioritization unless you can show revenue outcomes for the organization. CS Operations was created to be able to show the linkage to revenue and to scale CS team size. Any organization who has leadership that believes new logo growth is more important than ensuring existing customer success is a red flag in my book. Keeping and growing customers brings far more success at lower cost than focusing on new customer acquisition (I believe it’s 1/7th the cost to retain a customer vs. to find a new one). This can help the organization grow significantly at a fraction of the cost and an added benefit are the referrals and case studies that are created by existing customers. Once you get a customer, you should focus on keeping them for life! This starts at the top regarding priority and filters into the culture of the company. In today’s economy, this is even more important…growing NRR through existing customers vs. trying to bring in new customers.

How have you seen the CS space develop and change in recent years?

CS a decade ago was only CSMs and generally tied to adoption and/or renewal. Today, CS is typically the entire post-sale journey for a customer…onboarding, services, customer success, support, customer education and operations are critical to creating an ideal customer experience for your customers. Focusing on customer empowerment through training, community and digital touch have been a big focus for scale, and CS operations to help rollout new processes, systems and metrics has been a significant focus for many companies to build scale and efficiency. In addition, there is a much greater recognition that the post-sale journey for customers is key to retaining and growing revenue. This has made CS that much more important to revenue generation than ever before!

How do you see the role of CS tech in the coming years?

CS tech needs to take data and create insights so that teams can be proactive and personalized in their delivery. AI is critical to scale this and Customer Intelligence is becoming extremely important as a focus for organizations. After decades of collecting data on customers across functions, it’s time to bring the data together to tell a story on what drives customer success and double down on actions (across all functions in the organization) that will retain and grow customers. In addition, the tech stack needs to align to drive a meaningful and value add customer experience and outcomes for customers. Siloed data and processes are no longer going to differentiate the customer experience and create value for customers. The entire customer journey (from prospect to renewal/expansion) must align and be cohesive. Data and AI will help achieve this outcome. Customer Intelligence, applying customer behavior and sentiment to priorities and resources, will become more and more critical for organizations to compete and succeed in the future.

You have written a book about CS, “Goodbye, Churn. Hello, Growth!”, what can you tell us about the book?

I wrote the book to focus on the evolution of how far we have come with putting customers at the center of our businesses and what that means to revenue. Companies that still focus solely on revenue growth and product innovation are missing the boat on the true impact of customer success. When customers are at the center of your business, great things happen for the customers, the employees and the company results! The book is a guide for deploying a more customer-centric focus in order to create “WOW” outcomes for your company, your employees and your customers!

If you had to share, “words of wisdom,” with a revenue leader, what would they be?

New logo growth is awesome, but if you don’t keep an eye on existing customers, you could be facing an uphill battle for revenue growth. A leaky bucket on the backend means you have to sell that much more new incremental revenue to make up for contraction and churn. If you can work on both in tandem, the organizational revenue growth can be amazing! Customer Intelligence will help you focus on what is really important to your customers and therefore will help pinpoint where to focus investment and resources for maximum return. Consider the customer experience as a means to create your growth strategy!

How can our readers follow you on social media or elsewhere, and where can they buy your book?

You can find me on LinkedIn at: marypoppen/linkedin or email me at [email protected]. You can find a copy of our book by clicking on this link for a complimentary copy or going to Amazon at this link:

This was very insightful. Thank you so much for joining us!

The post <strong>Customer Intelligence is the key to unlocking revenue growth!</strong> appeared first on RevSetter.

Thank you so much for joining us!

Can you tell us about your journey in Customer Success, post-sales and operations over the years?

From a young age, I knew I eventually wanted to own my own hotel and was very fortunate to start my career at the Omni Mandalay in Las Colinas, Texas. There were so many reasons that I cherished the days at the Omni: the mid-level management team who actually worked to train me and wanted to help me grow, the colleagues that I worked with on a daily basis, the guests that visited and allowed me to try to make this stay the best hotel stay they ever had, visiting the pet swans at the hotel, and the list goes on. It was here that I became eager to provide the best customer service around!

Fast forward a few years and I actually pursued a career away from being on-site at a hotel and moved towards hotel technology. I loved that I could use my experience and training on software to relate to hoteliers who were now my customers. If I was working with a customer and could provide them tips along the way — unrelated to our project — which could help enhance their distribution setup or even a guest’s stay, that is what I strived for. My role has progressed from working in Implementations and Training to Customer Success and finally to the role of Customer Success Business Operations, where my customers are now internal.

What is it that excites you about this space?

Camaraderie and new ideas. Every customer has different expectations for their account. Is a Customer Success person an account manager? A dedicated support person? A partner in strategy? Regardless of what the customer expects, Customer Success — and I mean good Customer Success — people come together to make expectations a reality — and, if they must, help set new expectations. Together we are always looking for new ways to innovate and make our lives easier while making the customer’s lives better.

What are some of the biggest challenges you see CS and operations teams face? And any advice on how to tackle them?

Finding a fair KPI for a Customer Success Team Member — and, operationally — how we measure it. I think the NPS (Net Promoter Score) is one of the most common KPIs assigned to a CSM. But, should a CSM take full responsibility for the survey’s results? Is that really a fair measurement? What if the customer just had a horrible experience with the product and they happened to receive your NPS Survey right after?

From what I see, a lot of customers use that NPS to provide feedback or to give an experience rating rather than giving a score based on their overall journey. I think one better idea could be customer engagement from the time a CSM took over an account and the trend over time. Is that something that can be tracked? And would it give a good idea of how hard a CSM is working with the customer? I think so. Or, if we really want our CSMs to be strategic, perhaps we measure them on software-specific trends for that specific customer. How was that customer doing in XYZ when they joined your SaaS company, and now that they have used the platform for n months, where is that number now?

Whatever the KPI, I think we need it to be based on how much time the CSM spends on that account and how that account changes over time; churn may not be the best representative — especially in the current global financial climate.

You have a long background in CS and CS operations, as well as in hospitality — how do you see these intersect?

I think it’s all about the customers — knowing who they are and knowing what their end goal is.

It is B2C and/or B2B. At the hotels my customers were the paying guests. At the hospitality technology companies, my customers were the hotels/hotel groups trying to attract and retain those guests.

In CS Operations, my customers are the CSMs, Support Team, and Implementations Team trying to attract and retain the customers who are trying to attract and retain those guests.

Having the self-awareness to deep-dive into what the customer’s end goal is will ultimately allow you to make a connection with your customer in order to strategically help them achieve their goals. And who doesn’t want help achieving their goals?

How do you see technology impact CS and the broader revenue engine moving forward?

Every customer wants to have a specific contact that they can reach out to when they need help. And why? Because on SaaS platforms the customer is typically trying to achieve something for immediate completion.

If you had to share, “words of wisdom,” with a CS or operations leader, what would they be?

Fight for your current customers. If your goal is primarily focused on new sales rather than pleasing your current customers, soon those current customers will churn and you’ll be pushing for their sale again. A lot of companies are sales oriented — which is an obvious need — but don’t forget that being the best means that you continue to evolve and solve needs for your current customers, too.

This was very insightful. Thank you so much for joining us!

The post <strong>Customer Success goes beyond a function — it is a mindset</strong> appeared first on RevSetter.

Thank you so much for joining us!

Can you tell us about your journey in Customer Success?

I got into Customer Success in a roundabout way. I was initially leading the Professional Services and Technical Support teams at a B2B software business unit of Experian. One of the things that happened shortly after I started is that the business moved to a “One Sales” model, which combined the Hunter and Farmer sales roles into one, effectively eliminating the Account Management team. You can probably imagine what happened as a result of this — the obvious thing is that our Gross Revenue Retention took a nosedive almost immediately. However, the other thing that happened was even more interesting. All of a sudden, I had Project Managers on my team coming to me saying that they didn’t have enough time to complete their work. I thought to myself — “how is this possible? Did I really do such a bad job at capacity planning?” I investigated, and I found that they were spending up to 40% of their time on what is essentially Customer Success work. I realized that we needed a Customer Success function; however, I was not an expert in CS at the time, so I started talking to a lot of CS leaders, read a lot of books, and attended conferences to learn more. I ended up putting together a proposal to create a CS team; we started with just our Enterprise clients (about 200 of our 2,000 customers). The team was extremely successful in driving our GRR numbers up significantly in a very short period of time.

What is it that excites you about Customer Success?

At the end of the day, Customer Success is one of the greatest revenue protection and revenue growth engines ever thought up. By something as seemingly simple as ensuring that customers achieve their desired outcomes and value from a tool, we can not only protect our existing revenue, but we can drive the creation of net new revenue, quarter after quarter. It’s really rewarding and exciting to be a part of something that has such a large impact on a business.

What are some of the biggest challenges you see CS teams and CSMs face? And any advice on how to tackle them?

One of the biggest challenges I see is that CS teams often end up being Tier 2 Technical Support rather than Customer Success. Meetings devolve into support ticket reviews, feature request reviews, or even worse — become the dreaded “check-in” meeting with no business purpose. A very simple way of changing the conversations with your clients into something more strategic is to create Success Plans. These should be created jointly with the client and become an agreed upon set of goals and outcomes. Then, you should have an Executive Business Review with the client (frequency will vary based on the client) where you track back to those goals. This is a great time to show value to your client’s executives!

What major trends do you expect to see in Customer Success in the coming years?

One of the biggest ones that I see is moving towards becoming a revenue driver inside of a business, as I discussed before. Some companies worry about CS teams losing their “trusted advisor” status with clients if they get involved with revenue generation; however, if a customer just needs a few more licenses, isn’t it easier for them to acquire it via their trusted CSM instead of going through a sales process? And, for adding new products, the CSM doesn’t have to be the one selling, but they can be a great force for identifying opportunities for a sales team (and should be comped for it). CS teams need to own some kind of number, or their value to a business will be murky.

If you had to share, “words of wisdom,” with a CS leader, what would they be?

The biggest thing is this — don’t get wrapped up in metrics like CSAT and NPS. While they can be valuable, they have been proven to be unrelated to churn. Customers churn because they’re not receiving value from your tool; you can always think anecdotally of “happy customers” that churn and “unhappy customers” that continue to renew year after year. It’s much more worthwhile to figure out why your successful customers are successful than to chase churn.

How can our readers follow you on social media or elsewhere?

The only social media that I use is LinkedIn — however, I love making new connections there, so feel free to send me a connection request!

This was very insightful. Thank you so much for joining us!

The post Customer Success — one of the greatest revenue engines ever appeared first on RevSetter.

Thank you so much for joining us!

Can you tell us about your journey in Customer Success?

For most of my career, I worked in startups wearing many hats, including customer success and sales engineering hats. The significant shift occurred in 2011; after ten-plus years of building QA automation departments, I wanted to do something more business-oriented.

Back then, I worked in Cotendo. I spoke with the CEO, who not only gave his blessing but pushed me further to relocate to the US to manage the hybrid team of Sales Engineering and Customer Success.

Once I made the change, I fell in love with the worlds of Sales Engineering and Customer Success. Both worlds are similar from my point of view but have different timelines for building relationships and demonstrating value.

I also understood that I love to build those departments from scratch as it allows me to have multiple challenges that make my day-to-day more interesting and scalp the department with the values I believe in.

Since then, I have joined startups to build either customer success or sales engineering departments. My roles over the years led me to StrongDM, a hyper-growth startup that not only allows me to bring my experience to the table but also brings the ultimate challenge for a CS leader. The day-to-day challenge is building a scalable CS organization with a mix of high and zero touches.

What is it that excites you about this space?

There are two analogies that I believe can explain the excitement I have working in the CS world:

1. Customer success is like a Chess game. You need to plan seven steps where you want to navigate your customers to build a deep partnership and to be able to penetrate the customer entirely. You want to guide your customers in how they use your service in their day-to-day life and see your service as a valuable and must-have solution. When you succeed in doing so, two things happen, the churn probability goes to almost zero, and you maximize the revenue without causing the other side to feel they are paying too much.
2. Customer success is like marriage or a long-term relationship. You can keep the flame of love only by continuing to work on the relationship and not taking it for granted. In the customer success case, it means demonstrating the value of the product and CSM every time. When you look at your customer as a relationship partner, you start to care about the people on the other side, not their wallet.
   Like any relationship, over the years, you need to think more outside of the box about keeping the relationship honest, exciting, and valuable.

What are some of the biggest challenges you see CS teams face? And any advice on how to tackle them?

The current recession challenges all companies and CS organizations. CS leaders face a rare churn situation where they often don’t control it. You lose seats because your customers are letting users go. CFOs are taking an extra look at every expense, challenging renewals and new deals. In addition, many companies are reevaluating their services and tools. They consolidate tools and choose the ones that provide the most significant value for their needs.

Last is that CS teams may have had to lay off CSMs, and now they are facing the situation of doing more with fewer people, and the feeling can be unpleasant, scary, and stressful both for the CS leaders and the CSMs themselves.

There are several pieces of advice I can share from my experience as a vet of the 2001 and the 2008 crisis:

🞇 Focus on the value — CSMs must understand the value of your service. It’s a brainstorming that needs to be done between the CS, Product, Marketing, Sales, and the executive team. If our service is nice-to-have, it’s time for a cross-functional effort to understand the following:

• Where can we bring value?
• What should be our Ideal Customers Profile (ICP)?
• Who are the executive sponsors we want to target?
• What evidence can we put in front of them to demonstrate our value?

Talking about value is not good enough; we need to demonstrate it by working with the champions and understanding the ROI we bring. Then, we need to leverage our relationship with the champion to put the ROI results in front of the executive sponsor and buyer.

🞇 Focus on scalability — Everyone’s business will be weaker during the recession, but we can invest the efforts to build the CS organization’s scalability:

• What do we need to manage customers with fewer CSMs?
• What automation do we need in place to support hundreds of customers?
• How can we manage customers’ health and pulse in scale?
• What can we do to make the onboarding of customers faster and demonstrate our service value more quickly?
• How can we work together with the marketing team, the support team, the sales team, and the Product team in a way we all help each other at scale?
• Which processes and decks need improvement to take the CS to the next level?

🞇 Focus on people — When our customers have tough times, the last thing they want is a service provider trying to push their agenda. This is the time to be human. Give them the shoulder to lean on, and suggest leveraging your network to help them and their colleagues who lost their jobs. The business can wait a bit; if you do that, you will gain credibility and build humanistic relationships that can later pay off in stronger business relationships.

Focus on your team members, providing them confidence in the company and the changes that happen. To do so, you must also believe in those. Build your team members to feel comfortable taking risks, trying out things, and failing. Your team members can often have great ideas that can reduce churn and increase value, but they need to feel empowered to try out their ideas.
It does not mean not challenging them. Our job as leaders is to build our members to their next role, to be able to replace us at any given moment and to learn how to challenge themselves.

You have a background in building and scaling teams. Can you tell us more about your approach to doing so?

When I join a company to build a customer success organization, I invest my first 30 days in understanding how things are working today and learning the service well.

I interview the Product, Sales, and Marketing leaders and teams to understand our service value, ICP, roadmap, and the challenges they see. Then I speak with as many customers as possible to see if there is an alignment between what we see and what they see.

The calls with the customers also help me understand their pains with our service and identify risks and opportunities.

Then, my first focus will be customer onboarding. The onboarding period is the most critical time for a new customer and can impact the future penetration and success of the customer.

If the onboarding is too slow, we lose momentum to move our service across the customer’s teams; the customer frustration levels move higher, and we increase the probability of churn.

At this stage, I will implement the handoff between sales and CS, onboarding kickoff, the onboarding phases, how to demonstrate the customer’s reasons for buying, and the overall value of our service. I will focus on making onboarding as short and easy as possible for the customer without impacting the training and the foundations of growth. The onboarding retrospective will be the final step of the onboarding and the base for the development of the customer.

Then, I will focus on two essential areas in parallel:

🞇 The customer health and pulse — which parameters do we need to consider to measure customers’ health and pulse to predict potential risk and customer satisfaction?
At this point, I will build the churn, risk, and opportunities playbooks to help scale the CS group down the road.

🞇 The CSM profile — by now, we should better understand the product, the basic CS needs, and the customers’ challenges. We can now start defining what type of CSMs the department needs. We can describe the ideal CSM profile, the interview process, and the new CSM onboarding process. We will ask ourselves the following questions to help me build the profile:

• What type of customer handling will we do? (High touch, low touch, no touch, hybrid, etc.)
• What is the focus of the ICP? (SMB, Growth, Enterprise, hybrid, etc.)
• What is the complexity of the product and the technical knowledge required to be a successful CSM?
• What technical knowledge and skills do the CSMs need to have if it is a technical product?
• What background and previous experience do they need to have to be successful?
• What time zones do we operate by, and do I need the CSMs to be in specific time zones?
• What is the company’s DNA — remote work, in-office, or hybrid?
  Personally, even before COVID, I managed people remotely.
  I can hire the best people globally when not being tight to one place. This allows me to control expenses smartly and build a better team that is diverse and unique and, as such, can be more innovative in CS activities.

The above steps, on average, will take between 4–9 months, depending on the company, customers’ situation, and the other departments’ maturity level. After that, I can start focusing on the growth activities such as QBRs, customer advisory boards (CAB), and more activities that create more stickiness to post-onboarding customers.

It might sound like I build everything myself, but it is a CS team effort to help develop the processes and the playbooks. When involving the team, we gain:

• I can coach the team members to think strategically.
• Mutual brainstorming creates better processes and playbooks than any idea from a single person (regardless of their title).
• It is the first step to building a team that works together as a team, and the members are empowered to impact how the department will look.

What major trends do you expect to see in this space in the coming years when it comes to driving revenue — renewals & expansion — in the customer base?

The power of AI and NLP can bring massive value to the CS world. It can help drive revenue by giving the CSM and the manager the ability to look at all the customer data, identify risks better and help the CSM to be on top of things.

The amount of data per customer is getting more significant over time. There are multiple points to consider both for opportunities and risks. Static alerts are good up to a point; you need to fit it by the customer size, vertical and other parameters.

Also, usage tracking tells part of the story; you want to measure the engagement of the customers and the engagement’s tone, questions, and tasks that were asked during a call, email, or Slack channel.

It is not an easy task, but we need more intelligent tools that help give real insights and smart alerts (static and anomaly/pattern-based), measure engagement quality, and help the CSM identify risks and opportunities faster.
Those kinds of tools can positively impact identifying CSM weaknesses and help the manager build a better coaching plan for the team members.

Here is an example of my wishful thinking. The CSM gets an email from the tool telling her that on customer X, the health is being reduced because there is a recurring request, and in the last call, the tone of the speaker, who is the CTO, was a bit upset. In addition, there was an email sent from the customer three days ago to which we have yet to reply with an answer to the question.
Last, the risk is higher as in the past three weeks, more users were deleted, while in the news, the company announced closing round B of $50M.

The CSM manager gets statistics that over time one of the CSMs has difficulty following through emails and requests and suggested a coaching plan should be around time management and tasks management.

If you had to share, “words of wisdom,” with a CS leader, what would they be?

Look at your customers as partners and people, don’t look at them as goals and revenue targets.

When you look at them as partners, you care about them, and they will start to care about you.

That helps to build honest relationships and build more vital communications.

Part of it is always to bring value before asking for favors — demonstrate value in everything you do as a CSM, not only from the product point of view.

How can our readers follow you on social media or elsewhere?

People can follow me and reach out through my LinkedIn page.

This was very insightful. Thank you so much for joining us!

The post Customer Success — the art of putting value & people first appeared first on RevSetter.

Thank you so much for joining us!

Can you tell us about your journey in Customer Success and post-sales?

I often say that I’ve been in customer success my whole career, I just didn’t know it.

I started my professional career in accounting at both small and big firms doing non-technical things — auditing and compiling financials for IPOs. My tech savvy skills helped keep those projects organized. That led to an early, small fintech where I was on all sides of the customer — presales, product planning, capturing customer needs, implementation, field delivery, support and upgrades. I learned I could translate between customer needs and technology to guide both customers and dev teams to a common solution.

My post-sales work started with a decade on Progress Software’s Professional Services (PS) team — a company making tools for software companies and in-house development teams — and another five years at NCR’s Travel and Hospitality PS team. That was a huge challenge working with federal agencies, global airlines, airports and other travel providers to simplify for travelers all the complex tech behind the scenes.

Formal customer success (CS) roles started in 2014 when I saw Lincoln Murphy on-stage at a conference. I sent pictures of his slides back to my team saying, “Hey, I know what we do now!” My CS roles have ranged from monthly subscription models for enterprise customers (just like your current cell phone plan), jump-starting a CS practice from scratch, all types of CS touch models and helping CS teams guide customers to their goal. I use a lot of mountain guide and GPS-map analogies when talking about what CS does.

Tell us more about your current role and company, what makes it unique?

I’m currently the VP of Customer Success at Vanta, the leading security and compliance platform that automates compliance and simplifies cybersecurity.

What makes Vanta unique — and well aligned with a Customer Success mindset — is that we actually start with the customer’s desired outcome. In our case, that’s helping our customers quickly achieve the cybersecurity industry’s most important standards — SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA and others. By staying focused on that outcome, and aligning all of our post-sales work to that goal, we help customers get there faster, saving them time and money.

But Vanta doesn’t stop delivering value once the desired outcome is achieved. Through continuous security monitoring and automated evidence collection, Vanta helps companies stay secure. And when it comes time for an annual audit or test, Vanta enables companies to keep finding success again and again. That’s great value and it’s the real driver behind our tremendous growth — growth that just had us named #25 on the Inc. 5000 list.

What is it that excites you about this space?

Making cybersecurity and compliance — which are pretty complex topics — easy for most companies to accomplish. The good news is that these problems are very process-centric and data-heavy — they’re perfect for using a technology platform to automate that work. It makes it easy for our users to focus their precious time on the biggest risks and problems instead of crunching data and manually performing process steps.

What are some of the biggest challenges you see CS & post-sales teams face? And any advice on how to tackle them?

First, stay focused on the outcome or goal. Customers do not invest in technology to add more work, they invest to be more efficient and work smarter. However post-sales teams often lose sight of that and end up making things more complex for customers.

Next, walk in the customer’s shoes. If you are not considering the problem from the customer’s view, you’re not making it easy for them — you’re just making it easy for you.

Finally, be one team to the customer. Post-sales teams are often the tangible part of the company the customer sees and interacts with. Embrace that special position and be the voice of the customer inside your organization. This also helps spread the CS story internally and reinforces that customer success is everyone’s mission.

What advice do you have on how to prioritize as a CS leader and operator?

High growth companies are like a race car — all the gears in the engine need to align for the car to go fast. CS leaders need to prioritize keeping that alignment with the other gears — product, engineering, marketing, ops, sales and leadership. If those touchpoints are working, you will be able to throttle the whole company up or down accordingly.

While focusing on the customer’s desired outcome, don’t neglect focusing on your goals. Find that north star metric for your CS team — gross retention, net retention, health score direction, etc. — and relentlessly validate and align all CS efforts to that north star. Data trends and directional changes will show you where to prioritize.

The biggest prioritization skill is learning to say no. This is for both you as a leader and for your team. While CSMs always want to do whatever is needed for the customer, the question is: does that task align with keeping your gears aligned and being data-driven? Start-stop-continue exercises are great at getting consensus on what to say no to or to make room for.

What major trends do you expect to see in this space in the coming years when it comes to driving revenue — renewals & expansion — in the customer base?

Customers will continue to increase control of the buying process. Companies will need to continue reducing customer friction — those points where your product is not easy for them — so the customer will continue using your solutions at their pace.

CS will continue to provide Voice-of-the-Customer insights to the whole organization to simplify the digital experience — auto-renewals, easy push-button or automatic upgrades, just-in-time dynamic services — all things that reduce the time a customer needs to solve their problem.

That will evolve the post-sales function from today’s solution onboarding and adoption-centric models into how to best use your solution to evolve the customer’s organization faster than their competitors.

How do you view the importance of CS tech as part of your resources tool belt?

Tech helped the auto and manufacturing industries evolve from human-run assembly lines to master just-in-time, automated operations. Our CS teams cannot scale without CS tech to provide visibility into the customer’s journey — our version of the manufacturer’s assembly line — and to provide the right information, to the right user, at the right time in the journey. That enables CS to provide just-in-time value and scale without crushing CSMs with mountains of work.

If you had to share, “words of wisdom,” with a CS leader, what would they be?

Stay customer-centric — if you’re not making it easy for your customer, someone else will.

Remember to iterate — we’re never perfect on the first try. That’s OK. A first-generation process that’s in use is great, but soon it will become outdated and a barrier to growth.

How can our readers follow you on social media or elsewhere?

Readers can find me on LinkedIn or on the Vanta blog.

This was very insightful. Thank you so much for joining us!

The post <strong>Value is all about the outcome, not just the journey.<br>(Although he loves customer journey’s too!)</strong> appeared first on RevSetter.

Thank you so much for joining us!

Can you tell us about your journey in Customer Success and post-sales over the years?

In my early years as an analyst at WebEx, my focus was on identifying trends and anomalies in our data. Customer Success Managers’ KPIs were determined by who had the most activity with customers, number of calls, number of meetings, and more. I quickly realized that volume of activity does not necessarily equate to success. Some of our highest-performing CSMs were reporting activity much lower than others on the team . When examining the behavioral aspects around why this could be, I quickly realized that the high performing CSMs were focused on outcomes and the value of the customer, while the remaining CSMs were simply focused on checking the boxes. They were not focusing on the core things that would help drive continued relationships beyond the first year.

After over a decade at WebEx, I had my first opportunity to join an early startup, Act-On Software. I was able to influence the company decisions around CS bysing data to determine what is a true customer fit, which persona renews at a higher rate, and what makes an ideal customer. By identifying these traits and focusing our CS teams with marketing and sales, growth came quickly since we knew our key demographic. Around this time, I started working with thought leaders in the conversational analytics space and business intelligence sector. Quickly realizing that there was so much more to a customer experience than what is on the surface, I was able to start correlating conversational analytics to day-to-day activities. Considertwo CSMs who come across as high performers, but the metrics don’t align. Realizing we could leverage conversational data thanks to Amit Bendov, CEO/Co Founder of Gong, we became early adopters and design partners and found staggering information around pacing, how to approach conversations around growth, and around risk. This was a lightbulb moment in my career with a stark realization that there was so much we didn’t know and hadn’t explored on how to perform at a higher caliber.

I spent the next 4 years working at Sisense in the business intelligence space helping Fortune 500 customers use analytics to storytell and improve company direction. This is when I knew I had found my true calling. Seeing how the information we collect can truly impact business decisions quicker and faster than ever before allowed my team to get in front of issues proactively. Most importantly, we were able to quantify the value a customer got from our offering.

Fast forward to the last 10 months, joining Axonius has been the crown jewel of my career. The opportunity to build out an entire Account Management function from scratch has given me the most growth of my career in the shortest amount of time. Axonius is the fastest-growing cybersecurity company in North America. This means we need to grow and scale at an exponential rate, and all while keeping our culture and values and ensuring we deliver a world-class experience to our customers.

Which inevitably raises the question: How are we doing it? It’s a combination of the perfect ingredients: a world class technical account management team and support organization, a laser-focused sales and marketing team, a product with irrefutable value, and a company culture that allows me to bring in the best and brightest into the account management team — all of which creates an ecosystem of collaboration that I’ve never seen to this caliber. Spending two decades in the CS space may seem like a long time, but due to the constantly changing climate, it’s the most transformative, exciting place for me to be!

What is it that excites you about this space?

Customer success is such a fascinating space. The amount of transformative tools and approaches available are what continues to keep me excited about it. Earlier in my career as an analyst, I would look for trends and data anomalies in which I could correlate to behavioral changes. These changes, or early detections, are where we started to see customer success really form into its own identity. That early insight is what sparked my interest in customer relationships and focusing on the goals and mindsets of our customers as they go through the customer journey. Getting into the mindset of a customer and understanding what value means to them is what continues to push the idea of customer success into a formidable powerhouse of change to an organization. The ability to not only tell important stories about the problems our customers are facing, but also focus our metrics on real insights that drive change is what continues to fascinate me. There is a real science to it!

What are some of the biggest challenges you see CS and post-sales teams face? And any advice on how to tackle them?

The biggest challenges facing CS teams today involve 3 major areas:

1. The constant state of economic change in market conditions. It’s not enough anymore to just focus on the value of the product you support, you must be proactive in understanding the economics and what is driving the customer outside of the solution you provide. This includes determining risk factors outside of mergers and acquisitions such as stock declines, layoffs, and structural changes. These are all risk indicators that we must focus on as a CS organization, and it takes additional skills to learn.
2. Definition of value, and the lack of clarity around what value actually is. It’s not enough to define use cases and value you perceive a customer will get from your product or service. The ultimate goal is getting into the mindset of the economic buyer. It is critical to understand the business needs both short-term and long-term, and then align your success plans to those business drivers.
3. Clear understanding of the Customer Journey. Understanding the customer journey and highlighting key milestones during the journey is critical to risk mitigation. It is crucial to uncover any value concerns long before any renewal conversations begin. These customer milestones are key touch points that provide guardrails to preemptively illustrate value, avert risk, and secure the renewal.

You have a long background in CS and have seen the space evolve over many years, what are some of the biggest changes that you have seen and continue to see today?

The most exciting thing about the evolution is that CS and Account Management are now a core component to churn mitigation and driving NRR goals. Fifteen years ago, CS was more of a transactional function, but it has evolved into relationship science. Companies that understand this core change are now focusing on customer success to be more than just relationship management.

Aligning company NRR goals and growth targets where the CS team has a stake in this number drives the right approach. My mentor Amir Orad, CEO of Sisense, taught me early on, “If a customer is not growing, it’s dying.” That mentality stuck with me. We cannot rest on why someone bought a product as priorities change, and so do budgets, and we constantly need to evolve our value proposition to get deeper and wider into the customers ecosystem. Just because the economic buyer loved the product at the sale doesn’t mean the decision maker three months from now will feel the same. Value needs to be seen and felt at every level of the organization.

What major trends do you expect to see in this space in the coming years when it comes to driving revenue — renewals & expansion — in the customer base?

The biggest shift to the CS space I expect to see is further adoption of the account manager model vs. a traditional CSM. The Account Manager is the quarterback of the relationship, responsible for value, growth, success, and renewal. Focusing on the right metrics and allowing that deep personal relationship to help grow the account financially is the future of CS. While still heavily relying on sales teams to help drive new products, get wider into organizations while the account manager ensures the client is seeing value at every stage. Account managers should have a financial component as well as a churn mitigation component. It’s not enough to save a customer if you aren’t growing them.

How do you see technology impact CS and the broader revenue engine moving forward?

A lot of our legacy CS tools were created over a decade ago, so I expect to see a complete overhaul in the focus and value that future tools provide. Too many tools try to do too much and be too much. Simplify the goals, allow the CS organizations to be agile, automate as much as you can, leave the personal touch to them, and most importantly, align your goals to the success of the customer. Using technology to build out a maturity model, measuring growth of the relationship is not always dollars first. You need to make sure you have adoption, enablement, and deep ties to the economic buyer and company goals. As much as we need to measure churn and expansion, we must focus on the maturity data that get us to that next growth milestone.

If you had to share, “words of wisdom,” with a CS leader, what would they be?

My team is my strength and source of inspiration. I am as good as my team is. Each team member brings a unique experience which drives team collaboration and improved processes. It is natural to fail, but the key is when you fail, fail fast. I encourage my team to take risks and try new things. And it’s okay if things don’t work out. Win and lose as a team is the best approach to growth.

How can our readers follow you on social media or elsewhere?

I would love to connect! Knowledge is power and it’s great to connect with other thought leaders. I can be found on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesmlevine/

This was very insightful. Thank you so much for joining us!

The post <strong>Axonius’ James Levine sees an exciting future for the Customer Success space</strong> appeared first on RevSetter.

What Are the Roles of a Customer Success Team?

The main goal of a customer success (CS) team is to improve customer satisfaction, retention, and lifetime value. The day-to-day tasks of a CS team will vary based on your business model, but they may include:

• Checking in with customers to maintain relationships and improve account health
• Building loyalty and preventing churn
• Preventing and fixing customer issues and problems
• Identifying opportunities for process improvements, upsells, cross-sells, and overall growth
• Acting as a strategic advisor for the customer
• Analyzing and reporting on customer success data

Your CS team may also be involved in prospecting and onboarding tasks to support leads as they move through the pipeline. And, they should be an internal advocate for a customer-centric mindset across your organization. 

What Should Your Customer Success Team Structure Look Like?

Every company’s CS team structure should be unique to their needs. Some teams may need a single customer success manager or specialist while others may need large, dedicated teams.

For example, a customer success team structure at a small company might look like this:

• Director of Customer Success
  • Customer Success Specialists/Representatives

In a larger company, it might look more like this:

• VP of Customer Success
  • Directors of Customer Success
    • Customer Success Managers
      • Customer Success Specialists
      • Customer Success Analysts
      • Customer Success Representatives

It’s also important to note that customer success is a mindset, not just a job title. Every hire you make within your organization should be familiar with customer success principles and ongoing education on the topic is highly recommended.

And, customer success goes far beyond your CS team. Customer support, account management, and implementation teams will likely all work in tandem to serve, retain, and grow your customer base.

What to Look for When Hiring for Customer Success Roles

While customer success principles are centuries old, the industry itself is relatively young, which means that many companies aren’t sure what to look for in a job candidate. In addition to looking for individuals with proven customer success and account management success, some traits and skills to focus in on include:

• Experience with reporting and analytics; a data-driven mindset
• Process-oriented individuals who are dedicated to continuous improvement and documentation
• Persuasive communicators who are strategic with their language and conversations
• Confidence in your business goals and vision
• A positive, professional mindset
• Problem-solvers at heart

How Do I Know If I Need a Customer Success Team?

Every company can benefit from a customer success specialist or team. However, there are a few key signs that your organization is in dire need of a CS program.

• Do you have low customer/net revenue retention? Do you feel behind the eight ball or like you’re constantly putting out fires?

• Have you lost confidence in the long-term success and stability of your current customers? Do you struggle to identify key accounts that present the opportunities for growth?

• Do you feel blindsided when you lose a customer? Are you unsure what you could have done to keep them? Are you spending too much on new customer acquisition?

All of these are signs that you have lost focus and could benefit in both the short and long term from a dedicated customer success team.

Empowering Your CS Team

Once you’ve found the right people, you need to set them up for success. From setting goals and outlining KPIs to providing them with tools to do their best work, a team is only as successful as its leadership.

RevSetter is an intuitive platform can help your CS team thrive and grow with tailored company insights, easy relationship tracking, visual customer mapping, and more. Create plans, set goals, and manage tasks, time, and priorities to make an impact on your overall customer success.

See for yourself how RevSetter can revolutionize your customer success team.

The post Building an Effective Customer Success Team appeared first on RevSetter.

What Is Customer Lifetime Value?

Customer lifetime value (CLV) is how much you earn from a single customer over the length of the relationship. It can be used to estimate the average value of a customer relationship and to predict the value of future customer relationships. For SaaS companies, CLV is a useful metric to understand the quality of both your solution and your customer experience.

How to Calculate CLV

There are a number of ways to calculate CLV, depending on what you sell, how much data you have, and how accurate you need your calculation to be.

In the case of a SaaS company, the simplest way to calculate CLV is to find your average monthly customer value and multiply it by the average lifespan of a customer in months. For example, the CLV of a software company with an average monthly value of $2250 and an average lifespan of 2 years (24 months) would be $54,000.

What Does Customer Lifetime Value Tell Us?

CLV helps companies make better business development, sales and marketing, and retention decisions. It helps quantify the amount of time and money they should invest in gaining or renewing a customer. And, it can be used to forecast profit by comparing CLV to average customer acquisition cost.

Segmented CLV

Finding your overall CLV is helpful for understanding your overall profitability, but it can provide so much more information with just a few extra calculations. One of the most helpful ways to break down CLV is by customer segment. This might include looking at CLV by software pricing tier, industry, or company size.

You can calculate average CLV based on these segments to get insights on what your best customers have in common as well as what increases or decreases CLV for your particular business.

How Can CLV Improve Customer Retention?

Knowing and understanding your CLV (especially by segment) can help you improve your overall customer retention and ideally, profit. With an accurate sense of your CLV, you can identify:

• Shared characteristics of your highest and lowest value customers
• Common drop-off points
• Key customers and accounts
• Best- and worst-performing sales and marketing tactics

These commonalities can help you make strategic changes to improve your customer retention and avoid overinvesting in new business.

Get Insights on Cross-Selling & Upselling Opportunities

By knowing your customer lifetime value, you can identify customers who have a longer than average lifespan but a lower than average value. These customers offer prime opportunities for upselling, cross-selling, and overall account growth.

Reduce or Avoid Customer Acquisition Costs

Knowing your CLV can also help you reduce or altogether avoid high customer acquisition costs. Since you know the expected value of a customer, you can set an acquisition budget to prevent overspending when signing a new customer and ensure long-term profit.

You can also identify customers who are similar or dissimilar from your ideal (high CLV) customers early on. Maybe your data shows that companies of over 500 people have a high monthly value but a short customer lifespan, causing a low CLV. Looking at the data qualitatively, you see that these customers often up outgrowing your offering faster than you can add the features they need, so they may not be worth extensive (and expensive) pursuit.

This knowledge enables you to put more time into your strongest relationships, provide additional training, take in critical feedback from key customers, and more.

Increase Customer Value

Once you know your average CLV, you can see if it’s enough to sustain your company and turn profit. You can also narrow in on key accounts to grow and explore common traits of successful customers to take on new business intentionally.

And, CLV can even help you make strategic company decisions. When monthly customer value and customer lifespan are both high, an increased CLV can let you know it’s time to raise prices or add new features.

RevSetter provides a deeper understanding of your customer lifetime value, so you can take control of your customer retention and success. See how with Customer Data and Insights from RevSetter.

The post How to Calculate and Improve Customer Lifetime Value appeared first on RevSetter.

What Is Customer Retention Rate?

Customer retention rate is the percentage of customers who remain customers for a certain period of time. 

How to Calculate Customer Retention Rate

The customer retention rate formula is:

For example, say you sell a software solution with four pricing tier options. If you have 8 customers at the beginning of the year and 5 at the end, your customer retention rate is 62.5%.

However, customer retention rate doesn’t take the value of each customer into account. In order to do that, we’ll need to take a look at gross and net retention rates based on your monthly recurring revenue (MRR) or annual recurring revenue (ARR).

Gross Retention Rate

Rather than looking at the number of customers you’ve retained, gross retention rate (GRR) looks at the value of those customers. With gross retention, we take downgrades and customer churn into account, but not upgrades.

How to Calculate Gross Retention Rate

The gross retention rate (GRR) formula is:

With this metric, we can get a better idea of our overall customer success through the value we’ve retained, rather than just the number of customers.

With the value of each customer now providing some “weight” to our data, we can see that our gross retention rate is actually significantly less than our customer retention rate.

Net Retention Rate

Net retention rate (NRR) is very similar to GRR, but it takes both downgrades and upgrades into account for a more full picture of your customer success.

How to Calculate Net Retention Rate

The net retention rate (NRR) formula is:

While GRR looks at how well we are retaining customers, NRR can give a more complete look at our overall retention and customer growth.

Now we can see that our NRR is significantly higher than our customer retention rate and gross retention rate. While we are not retaining all our customers, we’re doing a good job with expansion by upselling, and cross-selling existing customers, ensuring our lead pipeline maintains its current rate.

These three metrics are key to improving your net revenue retention and tracking your overall customer success.

How Can You Improve Your Gross and Net Retention Rates?

Once you’ve calculated your retention rates, you may be shocked at what you find. So how can you improve customer retention and grow your business through your current customers?

Set Achievable Goals

The first step is to understand your starting point by calculating your retention rates, and setting reasonable goals to drive your business in the right direction.

You can do things the old-fashioned way, or you can try a customer success platform that will help you set, track, and reach your goals. You can break them down into manageable tasks, assign them to team members, add deadlines, and track progress, all in one easy-to-use interface.

Track Customer Communication & Improve Account Health

Now that your whole team is moving in the same direction toward your goal, it’s time to talk tactics. First up – tracking communication with your customers to improve the health of your relationships.

Integrate your CRM with RevSetter to see your last contact with each customer at a glance and create a priority list for follow-ups. RevSetter can even remind you or your team members automatically to check in with customers on a schedule.

You’ll also be able to track the strength of your customer relationships over time. In turn, you can more accurately forecast retention, expansion, and customer churn.

Measure Customer Data

The better you know your customers, the more able you are to meet their needs and improve your customer retention rate over time. With Revsetter, you can explore customer lifetime value, renewal value, and more at a glance to see the bigger picture and identify key accounts.

With our growth matrix, you can explore high risk and high opportunity customers to maximize retention and prevent unexpected churn.

Keep Customers Satisfied

A huge element of improving your customer retention is being able to grow alongside your customers to offer them the things they need before they go shopping elsewhere.

RevSetter helps companies identify upsells and cross-sells to meet customer needs and prevent them from looking for other solutions. Happy, fulfilled customers mean stronger retention and less need to bring in new business.Improve your customer retention rate and net revenue retention with RevSetter.

Take control of your retention strategy with a modern, intuitive solution. Improve your net revenue retention with RevSetter. Book a demo today!

The post How to Calculate Customer Retention Rate: Exploring Customer, Gross, and Net Retention appeared first on RevSetter.

At RevSetter, we believe that the best customers are the ones you already have. Our customer success software helps you leverage your existing customer base and maximize the potential for renewal, expansion, and growth.

What Is Customer Success Software?

Customer success software helps you unlock the potential of your current customers to grow your business through a focus on customer and net revenue retention. It focuses less on lead generation and new business and more on health, renewals, upselling, cross-selling, and expansion of current customers.

Customer Success & Net Revenue Retention

Net revenue retention is a key indicator of customer success. It calculates how much net revenue your business is able to maintain over a period of time.

Companies with low revenue retention will constantly be seeking new leads, which can be costly. On the other hand, companies that can maintain a high net revenue retention rate focus their efforts on maintaining and growing their current customer base. This can be significantly more cost-effective while still fueling growth.

How RevSetter Works

RevSetter is the first customer success software that is built for the net revenue retention era. It focuses on both renewals and the expansion of current customers to increase revenue growth. It is a modern and easy-to-use platform that is completely customizable to help you access the insights and workflows that matter most.

Manage Your Portfolio

With RevSetter, you can create customer plans, track your relationships strength, and identify high risk customers to improve your customer retention rate. Keep key accounts at top of mind to ensure optimal health and track renewals and expansion opportunities.

Discover New Opportunities

Identify new opportunities at the right time within your existing customer base. Sort and filter customers by industry, revenue, and more to find actionable growth opportunities, then get to work setting goals and devising a plan, all within our user-friendly customer success software.

Explore Cross-sells With Customer Mapping

Unlock the potential for cross-sells with easy-to-use customer mapping and insights. Build out a company map to pinpoint key stakeholders and decision makers and identify opportunities for growth across teams and business units.

Prospect Renewals & Expansion

Track time to close, deal size, and more for recurring business from current customers. Forecast incoming revenue and manage your leads pipeline for more predictable growth.

Is RevSetter Right for My Business?

RevSetter is a highly-customizable platform that can be adapted to fit a number of business sizes and models. However, our customer success software is optimal for:

• Small and mid-sized B2B-focused businesses
• Enterprise B2B-focused businesses looking to unlock customer expansion
• SaaS and other subscription-based companies
• Companies prioritizing retention, expansion, and customer growth 

Explore how RevSetter can help you by booking a demo with our team and see how it may fit your needs. We have flexible plans to adapt to your scope, whether you have a single client success manager or a large customer success management or account management organization.

Business Growth Through Customer Success Software

RevSetter’s intuitive tools and focus on customer retention can help you grow your business more effectively. Improve your net revenue retention, avoid costly lead generation tactics, and take your business to the next level.

Learn more about our cutting-edge customer success software and book a demo at rev-setter.com.

The post Why Investing In Customer Success Software Is Key to Business Growth appeared first on RevSetter.

What Is Upselling?

Upselling is a sales technique that provides additional value to existing customers to expand their total relationship with you by offering options that are more expensive than the purchase the customer is currently making, or by offering complementary products or services to the existing buying center.

The goal of upselling is to have the customer swap or upgrade their planned purchase for the more expensive option or adding additional products or service, therefore upping the overall value of the order, deal, or commitment.

Examples of Upselling

Examples of upselling include convincing customers to:

• Add an additional offering to their core or initial purchase 
• Trade a “basic” service plan for a “premium” plan
• Subscribe for a 12-month service term instead of a 6-month term

What Is Cross-Selling?

Cross-selling is a sales technique that offers services or products that satisfy related needs or wants based on what the customer is already buying, mainly to a different buying center or team.

The goal of cross-selling is to have the customer expand their purchase beyond their planned purchase and into other buying centers or teams, therefore upping the overall value of the order.

Examples of Cross-Selling Opportunities

Examples of cross-selling include offering customers:

• Selling to different entities or departments within the same company
• Offering complementary services like technical support
• Bundled service deals

Which is Better? A Cross-Sell Opportunity or an Upsell Opportunity?

Both upselling and cross-selling opportunities can grow your average customer value and improve your net revenue retention. So which one should you invest your time and resources in? The truth is, it all depends on your business goals and the profit margins of each service or product. However, there is often space to offer both cross-sell and upsell opportunities within your business.

For example, if your enterprise software has a higher profit margin than your premium package, upselling may be the best way to increase your overall customer value. However, if your goal is to expand your sales to new business entities within a company, cross-selling may be best for you.

Why Are Upselling and Cross-Selling So Important?

Acquiring new customers can be an expensive business – according to Forbes, it can cost up to 5x more than retaining and growing your current customer value. Upselling and cross-selling opportunities are essential because they improve your net revenue retention, or the percentage of recurring revenue from selling to existing customers.

By investing in your current customers through these sales techniques, you can increase your revenue in an incredibly cost-effective way.

Upselling & Cross-Selling Best Practices

The key to these two valuable sales techniques is figuring out how to make them work for you. Here are some ideas to maximize the impact of your upselling and cross-selling campaigns.

Upselling Best Practices

Check out these four best practices to improve your chances of successfully leveraging an upsell opportunity.

1. Talk benefits, not features. E.g. Upgrading your subscription will provide you freedom and flexibility – not 3 new features available on your software’s mobile version.
   
2. Solve a problem. E.g. Offer a higher-end option whenever a customer is considering a service that they will quickly outgrow (e.g. limited software seats).
   
3. Use social proof. E.g. Opt for language like “customer-preferred” or “most popular pick” to encourage your upsell.
   
4. Create urgency. E.g. Offer a more premium upsell at a reduced price for a limited time.

Cross-Selling Best Practices

Here are four best practices to improve your chances of capitalizing on cross-selling opportunities successfully.

1. Discuss added features or offerings that may be useful to another business unit within the company. E.g. Selling the same software that can meet unique needs for two different teams within a company.
   
2. Offer a discount on your cross-sell add-on. E.g. Get 20% off when you purchase a software solution for two of your company’s teams.
   
3. Keep cross-sell cost low (relative to the initial purchase) to minimize objections. E.g. Get low-cost technical support with the purchase of a software plan.
   
4. Show how the cross-sell adds to the utility of the initial purchase. E.g. Demo your software with add-ons enabled to show how they work together to improve the overall experience.

How Can You Identify the Best Upselling and Cross-Selling Opportunities for Your Business?

Increasing your revenue without fielding new business sounds like a no-brainer. So how can you best identify upselling and cross-selling opportunities within your specific industry or business model?

RevSetter is an intuitive customer platform that offers a broad selection of features to help you maximize revenue from your best accounts. These features include:

• Customer Plans: Manage sales efforts seamlessly. Create customer plans, assign due dates and goals, add notes, and track points of contact.

• Company Map & Insights: Understand your customer’s organization and where stakeholders and decision makers are located within their business. Grow your sales across business units and teams.
  
• Command Center: See the bigger picture and make educated decisions on the best actions to take within your sales pipeline.

Looking to identify new upselling and cross-selling opportunities for your business? Check out how RevSetter can help you grow the revenue of your existing accounts.

The post How to Identify the Best Upselling & Cross-Selling Opportunities for Your B2B Business appeared first on RevSetter.

Well, there are many things of course. But fundamentally one of the most important differences is that the (pre-) sales process is mostly linear in nature – you find a lead, you engage it, you close it – while the customer (post-sales) process is not – while you start with a lead becoming a customer and end with them renewing or churning at the end, what happens in-between those two end-points is more complex.

Let’s use an example: Company A gets signed on to your SaaS product with 5 users with an annual subscription. You onboard the company, train the users and implement the product.

Great!

But along the way a lot of things can and will happen. Users leave. New ones come in. They buy more products, those now need to be implemented. They change strategy. They have a great experience. They have a bad experience. Usage goes up, or it goes down. They give a good NPS. Then the Decision Maker leaves. Etc etc.

Simply put, a lot of things happen in the post-sales stage and a lot of people are involved, on both sides. Definitively not a linear process.

So given that, why do most customer success teams still use a linear, static Customer Lifecycle approach?

E.g. Day 0-90 Onboarding – Day 90-180 Adoption – Day 180-360 Renewal – Day 360+ Growth

It simply does not tell the full story and it does not align with how your customers “live” with you over time.

Instead, you should use Dynamic Customer Lifecycles.

Where each part of the lifecycle is dynamic and agnostic. Meaning a customer can move back and forth between phases of the lifecycle, new branches of the lifecycle can be created (i.e. when buying an additional product or onboarding a new user). Playbooks/plays/actions are run based on this dynamic data & movement, and not just on static, time-based data (e.g. day 1-90 customer is in onboarding and we do XYZ…what if customer is not onboarded still on day 180?).

You can organize the Dynamic Lifecycle around three key parts:

• The primary product/contract
• Secondary/additional products being added
• Users and their journeys

In a Dynamic Lifecycle, you should have Lifecycle Phases that are:

• Determined by behavior and data, not by time as a customer
• Moveable, where a customer can be moved back and forth between phases
• Flexible, where parts of the customer can be in different Phases (e.g. a user can be in Adoption while the overall account is in Renewal)

And of course, you should define what phases and criteria for each phase you should use.

Example of phases to use:

• Onboarding – setup of users and product(s)
• Adoption – customer and users adopt the product(s), set criteria for what adopted means
• Success – products are adopted, other indicters are positive, customer heading towards renewal/growth
• Renewal -high risk – customer in renewal window, but deemed as high risk based on criteria like adoption, interactions, feedback
• Renewal -happy – customer in renewal window and deemed as happy
• Growth – in prime position to grow, can be at any time during their tenure

Here is an example of a Dynamic Lifecycle:

Using Dynamic Lifecycles as opposed to the old-school, static lifecycles will allow you to better understand where your customers really stand and allow you to more proactively and intentionally work with each customer and user.

Start today and you will get happier customers and users, find more expansion opportunities and renew more customers, for longer.

Want help? Reach out to [email protected] for a free CS Audit.

The post Ditch the old-school Customer Lifecycles appeared first on RevSetter.

At this moment, the truest measure of value is when a customer decides to invest money in your partnership a second (or more!) time – or even better – increase their investment in that partnership.

Happy customers renew and buy more. And when your customers expand their investment, you grow your business.

Everything else you do is ultimately driving towards that main goal of renewal & expansion.

This is not an easy challenge for most companies though, especially growing and large organizations. Solving it can yield fantastic returns and success for the company.

First, let’s take a few steps back to better understand how we got to where Customer Success is today…and where it is headed tomorrow.

7-10 years ago most companies were product-, service- or hardware focused using a more traditional business model. Customer Success did not broadly exist in its current form. Customer Relations and Customer Support were mainly support functions. However, over the coming years, industries and businesses became more and more software-, cloud- & digital focused and started using new revenue models such as a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) model.

These new models took off and companies now had more recurring-, subscription- or long-term partnership-based customers than ever before. As this customer base grows over time, the recurring customer revenue becomes a larger part of the company’s total revenue, eventually becoming the largest part of that revenue.

This led to companies investing more in their customer portfolios and teams. Companies have gone from only having customer support teams (reactive functions) to creating customer success teams (proactive functions) that are increasingly focused on creating value and improving churn versus only managing issues and incoming requests.

With that, a new software category has fully emerged, Customer Success Tech, with products ranging from more specialized software solutions (focused on onboarding, survey, usage etc) to more holistic solutions (CSM platforms), which has helped companies in this first transformation going from support to success.

Now, we are in the beginning of the next transformational part of this journey. Companies now realize that the true success of their Customer Success team ultimately comes from driving revenue: lower churn and in particular higher expansion (which of course is a function of renewed and new revenue).

But no one is truly helping companies solve the challenges in this transition.

• How can you help every rep (CSM, Account Manager, AE, Renewals Manager etc) work like an Enterprise-level superstar to maximize revenue and expansion? And how do you scale it?
• How do you optimize every customer relationship to tap into the opportunities in your customer base?
• How do you reduce or remove all the manual work your reps are doing to drive expansion – from mapping companies in manual sheets to forecasting in a Google Doc to collaborating on plans & goals ad-hoc?

These, and many similar questions , have not been answered in solving how companies can drive, optimize and level up their customer revenue and expansion.

Until now.

RevSetter is the first software truly focusing on helping you drive Customer Expansion and taking your Net Revenue Retention and growth to the next level.

Regardless if you are part of starting your company’s journey into Customer Success or if you are part of a major global brand, RevSetter can help you streamline your processes, find more opportunities and close more expansion deals.

Learn more or book a demo to see how RevSetter can help you.

The post The Next Transformation of Customer Success appeared first on RevSetter.

You need to be organized to succeed long-term.

Mastering organization in a fast-moving and complex CS world can be tough. It takes time to find a repeatable and scalable way to keep yourself and your team organized.

And often many CS people struggle with this because they don’t cover all dimensions of CS organization.

Here are four things that – done together – will help your team stay organized in CS:

• Structure – Provide guidelines and direction. When to focus on what.
• Methodology – Make sure your team knows the methodology. How to implement and get it done.
• KPIs – Use data to get insights on what your team is doing well and what they can improve on. Measure the progress.
• Accountability – Follow-up consistently and hold people accountable. Execution and follow up is key!
• Bonus: Systems – Use CS tech to enable and systemize many of these things (i.e. KPI (goal) setting, workflows, analysis, follow-up)

Keep ALL these in mind, and you will create a consistent environment for success.

And avoid the biggest pitfalls:

1. forgetting/neglecting one of the steps (i.e. structure does you no good without methodology)
2. not being consistent over time (i.e. losing focus when things get – as they always do in CS – hectic).

So, get organized, be consistent and see results improve!

The post How to stay organized in Customer Success appeared first on RevSetter.

Go to a few of your CSMs/account managers individually and ask them (or yourself) a simple question: what is the single thing that creates the most value for our customers?

Start with “what”, not “how” – because if you don’t know the “what”, the “how” is not as effective.

If you are one of the lucky few, all your reps will give you the same exact answer. Congrats! You can focus on the “how” and everything else in the CS game.

If you are like most CS leaders, you will get a varying range of answers from somewhat similar to completely different.

Sometimes it is easy. E.g. if you sell a lead gen software, finding a lead that your customer closes is the clear answer.

But for most companies out there the answer is not as straightforward, so it can be hard.

For you, the work should start here. Because if your reps do not know what truly creates value for your customers, then the rest of what you do won’t be as impactful as it could, and should, be.

If you already know the answer to what truly creates value for your customers…great, teach your team!

If you are not completely sure yet, here are a few questions to ask yourself/your team:

• Do we sell a commodity or a sticky product? (nice to have or must have)
• Why do our customers buy our product in the first place? (buyer intent)
• Who are our buyers, what is important for them? (ICP, department, persona)
• How do we impact the customer’s business goals (and/or bottom line)?
• Does our product create value by itself or in large part thanks to our CS team? (PLG or SLG)
• What is the one thing our customers say they can’t live without? (yes what they say, not what we say that they say)
• Do we have data that can help us understand this better? (churn reasons, VOC, win-loss data, usage data etc)

Start here. Then move on to the many other things to focus on in cS=)

The post Does your team know what truly creates value? appeared first on RevSetter.