CS = CX + CO

I had a conversation the other day with a CS Leader about naming her customer-facing team. She was considering "Customer Experience" vs. "Customer Success." I advocated sticking with Customer Success or something else, but I didn't love the sound of "The Customer Experience Team" but I didn’t think I articulated very well why, so I wrote out my thoughts. Before I knew, my email started to look like an article and I realized that I'd love to have the input of my network on the discussion. So here we are!

Gainsight once had some great slides on this topic with the equation, "CS=CX+CO." The resulting 2x2 framework looks like the following. (Thank you to Nick Mehta , Ashvin Vaidyanathan and Nadav Shem-Tov for this brilliant framework!)

1. Top left customers are Accessible to competition. It's really hard to justify the expense of something you "just like."
2. Top right customers are Happy and Successful. We'll be able to renew and expand them because they enjoy working with us and they are enjoying the promises of what they were sold.
3. Bottom left customers are at High Risk.
4. Bottom right customers are Trapped. It may be difficult for these customers to justify the cost of switching solutions because they're getting what they need from us, but they don't like it. These customers will definitely not expand and they may tell their friends about their negative experiences. I see these customers as great opportunities!

I believe that the goal of the Customer Success team is to ensure customers are realizing?the promise of what they were sold, e.g. the Outcomes. Outcomes are on a long timeline, they hold the value and they keep check-writers re-writing checks.?The Experience, on the other hand, is also part of a long term journey, but it happens in moments.?I love this quote from Scott Hudgins , Chief Commercial Officer at Walt Disney World, "No one owns the customer, but someone always owns the moment.” In our world, that’s sometimes the Customer Success Manager. Often it isn’t, though, because a lot of the factors within the customer’s Experiences are outside the CSM's sphere of control.

A series of small moments make up the full Experience/Customer Journey that I'll express in questions our customers are asking themselves:

1. Buying?Moments:

• How did the Sales team engage?
• Was the Sales people a human being I can relate to??

2. Onboarding?Moments:?

• Was there solid project management? Was the project well organized? Were my team and I prepared for what to expect? Was the project delivered on time, on budget and to the quality I expected?
• Did I get everything I expected and/or was promised?
• Was the solution easy to onboard??
• Are my end users ready to rock and roll?

3. Adoption Phase?Moments:

• Is my CSM a human being I can relate to?
• Do I (or do my end users) enjoy using the solution??Is the UI easy to understand and pleasing to look at? Does the workflow make sense to me?
• Do I get the (timely) help I need when I need Support?

4. Renewal Journey, etc etc...you get the idea

Another question Adoption Champions and Sponsors are asking themselves is, “How can I leverage this project to get promoted?” I might argue that that question falls more into the “Outcomes” bucket than the Experience one. What do you think?

Assuming the Moments are positive, the Experience side stuff should be?leading to?the desired Outcomes.

Without?both CO + CX, the customer can end up either Accessible (to competition), High Risk or Trapped. As Jonah Hill said in Moneyball, “Are those my only?options?” Yikes.

Another way I think about Experience vs Outcomes is in the retail world. I shop at Target. My whole Target engagement is really about the Experience. Do I find parking? Is the store open? Do they have the items I need? Do they suggest items I do NOT need (Expansion!)? Can I navigate/find my items easily? Can I check out easily? Target can control the Experience, but not so much the Outcome.

If the cold medicine I buy doesn’t relieve my symptoms, I might ask for my money back…but realistically I probably won’t and that Outcome wouldn't impact whether or not I shop at Target in the future. If I do return the cold medicine, that would come back to the Experience - in returning the item.

In fact, that’s the thing - Target sells?items. Other than to ask me to write an online review, Target has never checked in with me to see whether I got the Outcomes I wanted from what I purchased. The item isn’t even their product…Target doesn’t actually?make?cold medicine - they only make the Experience.?The “renewal” event at Target is just about me coming back to the store, which I’m going to do anyway because sometimes what I need is only available at Target (Trapped?). Long story short, their business is sustained by the Customer Experience.

I believe?B2B SaaS companies’ businesses are sustained by the Customer Outcome. The Customer Experience is a very important leading indicator.

Thanks for reading and what do you think?