6 Critical Customer Success Challenges and Solutions from Madrid

“Customer success is not just about keeping customers happy; it’s about helping them achieve their desired outcomes with your product or service.”?

However, this phase requires a deep understanding of the challenges ahead. During our recent CS Snack breakfast event in Madrid, over 50 Customer Success (CS) executives gathered to discuss these challenges and collaboratively devise solutions.

Our event in Madrid was filled with insights. We also learnt from various CS professionals on LinkedIn, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Personio. Our host and great moderators, Rafael Escano, Pablo Molano and Jose Luis De Roa Calvo, powered this article.

We started the morning with numerous learning opportunities for the attendees. They started their day by selecting from six dynamic breakout sessions, each addressing a unique topic. This variety allowed participants to personalise their learning journey according to their interests and objectives. Below are the topics covered in these breakout sessions.

1. Scaling CS through digitalisation
2. Retaining revenue in more challenging times
3. Building a customer-centric business (Leadership only)
4. Building ROI for your customer as CSM
5. Strategic/enterprise account management (100k+ ARR)
6. Influencing organisational change as a CSM

Below, we will share our learnings from the above topics:

Key Challenges and Solutions

1. Overcoming Measurement Challenges

Measurement challenges are brought by inconsistent data collection, the need for more standardisation, and fragmented information systems.?

One example of a company that faced overcoming measurement challenges is Deutsche Bank, one of the largest banks in Europe. The enormous volume of data it handles daily necessitated better analysis and management. To address this, Deutsche Bank implemented advanced analytics and machine learning tools to enhance data processing and improve risk management.?

These technologies have enabled the bank to process vast amounts of data more efficiently, leading to better decision-making

Solving measurement challenges poses numerous benefits to the business; while challenging, this is not an isolated problem.?

? Challenge: Implementing Consistent Data Collection and Customisable Dashboards

Solutions:?

??Standardise data collection protocols across the involved departments—marketing, sales, customer success, and customer touchpoints. Ensure that every team member is trained on these new practises for maintenance and reliability.?

??Invest in easily customisable software. Allow each team member to adjust the dashboard based on preferences, views, and specific segments and objectives.

2. Building and Maintaining Trust and Value

Studies say 87% of consumers will purchase from a brand they trust, and 68% will pay a premium for products and services from a trusted brand. Building and maintaining trust and value is one of the most crucial factors in customer success, and it becomes even more challenging during rough times.?

Many customers feel that automation has led companies to treat them as numbers rather than individuals.

? Challenge: Retaining customers in challenging times requires maintaining trust and demonstrating the ongoing value of the product or service.

Solutions:?

?? Offer extra services and customised solutions. Enhance the value of your products or services by adding additional services and customised solutions. This can go as simple as a free trial or early access to a new feature. Where discounts are short term focus and can work counter productive added value and services often work better.

?? Observe Frequent Communication with Customers. Renewal periods aren’t the only time you should reach out to customers. You want to become the main point of contact when a customer perceives specific needs, so ensure that regular contact is maintained, whether it be through emails or small conversations. Make sure to deliver impact at every touchpoint. Ask yourself: “What is in it for my audience”. Check ins are deadly.

?? Retain high-value customers through Selective Discounts. Make your enterprise customers feel more valued by offering discounts exclusive to them. While we want to avoid discount strategies, selective discounts boost exclusivity for customers.

3. Understanding and Engaging Stakeholders

Fruitful communication with stakeholders is also beneficial for customer success.?

Let’s take the Boeing 737 crisis as an example. The company faced significant stakeholder engagement challenges during the 737 Max crisis. After two fatal crashes, it needed help communicating effectively with regulators, airlines, and passengers.?

An apparent lack of transparent and timely communication caused the loss of trust among stakeholders, a substantial financial loss, and long-term reputational damage. Now you get why understanding and engaging stakeholders is very important.

? Challenge: Identifying and engaging Key Stakeholders who have the power over purchase decisions.

Solutions:

?? Conduct regular Stakeholder Mapping. Start from the organisational chart and see how each stakeholder is involved. Each stakeholder’s role is different, and so is the brevity of their decisions. Identify and understand all these factors to know who plays the most crucial roles in purchase decision processes.

?? Do frequent check-ins with stakeholders. To better understand each stakeholder’s decision-making, regularly communicate with them and analyse their point of view in certain decisions. This approach will help you learn about their needs and concerns and the organisational context. Good enterprise governance is 3 champions /stakeholders on 2 levels.

4. Generating Trust and Empathy

Building trust and demonstrating empathy are crucial elements of customer success. Trust promises long-term loyalty, while empathy enables companies to understand and address their customers’ needs and concerns. Nevertheless, it’s also crucial to realise that generating trust and empathy can be challenging, especially in today’s fast-paced and digitally-driven world.

? Challenge: Building trust and empathy with customers to foster long-term relationships.

Solutions:

?? Create Valuable Interactions. Depending on how you connect with your customers, utilising every interaction as a gateway to provide valuable information, data, and insights is crucial. A small chitchat can go a long way, especially in building connections and adding value to the product.

?? Host face-to-face and video calls. Creating single sessions is unnecessary, but face-to-face interactions can build personal connections and demonstrate commitment. To do so, you can opt for seminars, Video Conferences, and Live Q and A’s instead.?

5. Effectively Managing Change

All organisations need to retain their competitive nature to achieve customer success. For companies to manage change, it’s equally important to focus on several aspects, such as training, stakeholder engagement, and strong leadership.?

A practical framework to follow when managing change is Prosci’s ADKAR model. ADKAR is an acronym for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement.?

1. Create Awareness on why change is needed.?
2. Foster the Desire to participate in and support change.?
3. Offer Knowledge on how wo change.
4. Show your Ability to implement the change.
5. Reinforce change and Sustain it.

In connection, according to Prosci’s benchmarking studies, organisations with excellent change management practises are six times more likely to meet or exceed their project objectives.

? Challenge: Managing change within the Customer Organisation to ensure smooth adoption and satisfaction.

Solutions:

?? Identify and Support Champions. There are many people on the team, but identify the champions as they are the most able to promote change. In an organisation, there are vital persons whom you should determine to help implement change effectively.?

?? Communicate Benefits with the Organisation. Change has benefits, but you should promote it with the team so they can digest these changes proactively and positively. Leverage success stories and process comparisons to get your team on board this organisational change.

6. Offering Solutions that meet Customer Needs

Offering solutions that meet customer needs is a massive factor in ensuring loyalty, customer satisfaction, and long-term business growth.?

Amazon exemplifies a business that anticipates customer needs. When developing Amazon Prime, the company identified the growing customer demand for faster delivery services and additional benefits. By combining expedited shipping with perks like Prime Video, Prime Music, and exclusive deals, Amazon created a comprehensive membership programme that significantly enhances the customer experience.

The success of Amazon Prime was brought about by its ability to effectively meet customer needs, leading to Amazon becoming one of the most valuable companies globally.

? Challenge: Offering Solutions that are in line with Client Expectations

Solutions:

?? Gain a contextual understanding. Study the customer’s context, analyse their current situation, and align with their goals and challenges to offer relevant solutions. Segmentation and surveys can help analyse preferences for improved offerings.

?? Offer consultative selling. Rather than pushing products to your customers, take a consultative approach. Understand their needs profoundly and make them feel you’re not only after profitability.??

If you think you can use what we’ve written here, then it’s best to join our events and take part in a meaningful exchange with Customer Success professionals all over Europe.