6 Ways Customer Success is Like Raising a Bunny: An Exercise in Specious Reasoning

Let’s be honest.

Customer success is not like raising a bunny. But you came here for the very cute photo of our bunny, Juniper. And, since it’s LinkedIn, I feel this intense pressure to make sure you learned something too.?

1. Earning Trust Takes Time

When we first got Juniper, she often wavered between having a mild skepticism of us to bouts of outright terror. These weren’t the reactions we’d hoped for. But over time and with a fair share of bribery, she recently stuck her nose onto my wife’s nose for 3 seconds. The moment felt like a client signing a 3-year renewal at twice the spend.?

—> Just because a client has signed a contract with your company, it doesn’t mean that trust is fully there yet. They may have chosen your tool in a pinch, for only one project, or just had extra budget that year — and now the real evaluation begins. Not suggesting you treat your client with the same skepticism or keep them at arm’s length. Just that they may not be where you’re at and that’s ok. Part of the joy of Customer Success is watching the client relationship get earned and grow over time. And, eventually, you will touch noses.?

2. Ask Many Questions and Eventually the Right Questions

“Why does she scratch me anytime I try to pick her up?” was a question my wife would ask often early on. Chasing this question down, we learned that rabbits are prey animals. So perhaps we should change our approach to appear from in front and not behind. While this made her more approachable, she’d still scratch us when being lifted. When we finally asked “is there something wrong about how we’re lifting her?” we learned that bunny spines are curved like a “C” as opposed to our “S”-shape and any kind of lifting without proper base support is very painful for a bunny.?

—> Look. Sometimes we view a negative client reaction as unreasonable or over-the-top. And even when you try to help, it feels under appreciated or maybe even makes things worse somehow. As you gather support internally, there’s a tendency to demonize them as “one of those clients” or the opposite—various departments will drop all priorities to put out this fire (see Bunny Lesson 4 for what’s wrong with that). I’d invite you to ask your client questions like “how does this issue impact your business?” or “of our three outstanding issues, how would you rank them in priority?” Basically, learn as much as you can about the unique shape of the client’s spine. And, in asking tough, uncomfortable questions, you’ll grow one of your own. ;)

3. Show Your ROI

I have been trying to cultivate a real relationship with Juniper where just petting and nose-touching is how we bond. My wife puts food in her hand and bribes our bunny.?

Guess whose strategy is working?

It’s my wife’s. By miles. It’s not even close.?

—> It’s important to remember that behind these client relationships is a business transaction between two companies.?

• Is knowing the client’s son’s intramural soccer team’s name important?

Yes.?

• Is showing that your tool is a profit (not cost) center which delivers 10x value MORE important?

Yes.?

4. Don’t Lose Yourself

If you ignore our pandemic-inspired sourdough starter, Juniper is the first living thing my wife and I have raised together. It’s taken up a lot of our time so far. Pre-bunny, when I wasn’t on the job clock, I was completing my first book (available here), losing storytelling competitions, and performing standup across the US. My wife was painting, woodworking, and learning embroidering (viewable here).??How we’ll balance those things back into our lives, eventually travel, and perhaps make room for a new human one day, are all questions we need to work out. And so the amount of time and effort put into Juniper is part of a larger equation.?

?—> I’ve worked at companies where one client represented 25% of the company revenue. Some of those mega-clients would expect custom work not contracted for, a seat at the table w/r/t product roadmap, and countless other things that essentially steered the direction of the company. I’ve often mentored CSMs towards the mindset of becoming advocates for their clients in internal meetings. That a client should feel like the CSM is in their corner.

But just like Juniper, this can be taken past a healthy point where your internal advocacy is pulling the company away from its larger goals. When appropriate and relevant, reminding a client of what your company’s strengths, direction, and priorities are can be an important step in maintaining your company’s autonomy.??

5. Clients Don’t Know What a Raspberry Is

Juniper prefers timothy hay over all other hays. That is until she had her first pellets which she now prefers over timothy hay. She was skittish about spinach but now loves it more than pellets. And while she avoided raspberries at first, when she finally ate one, she went ballistic with joy as her mouth looked like the Joker’s from Dark Knight. Since I starting jotting these ideas down in my notepad, blackberries have already replaced raspberries as her favorite. (And she doesn’t prefer celery at all, making her very much like her father.)

—> if you’re a CSM who is expected to help expand business with your clients, it can be a harrowing feeling trying to find the right time or place to offer new solutions. Especially if you don’t come from a sales background and view sales (incorrectly) as icky somehow. Remember that your client knows many things but doesn’t know your product as well as you do. And certainly not the products they don’t have access to yet. Like a raspberry you know they’ll go crazy for, it’s important to describe its value and proactively have them consider it because clients truly don’t know what they don’t know.?

6. Don’t Judge a Bunny or Client for What You Think is Weird Behavior

I’m just going to write the word 'cecotropes' here. If you search the term, that’s on you and you have no right to judge me for writing about it. The point is, bunnies do some weird stuff. But it’s actually good for them.?

—> Stay curious. Keep an open mind. And keep learning about your client’s business even if it doesn’t seem logical to you or comport with your world view. Remember that we all view things from our own colored lenses. You might learn something.?

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I mean…you just read an entire essay on bunny care as CSM strategy. You’re already way above average at keeping an open mind.

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(I’ll be mostly posting about insights into workforce trends across specific industries, nationally and globally. So if you enjoyed this aberration, please speak up as it’ll inform how many more you’ll see :) )