Customer Delight: Should It Be Chargeable?

When you hear “customer delight,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind?

For many, it’s the idea of going above and beyond, exceeding expectations, and delivering a personalized experience. We often associate it with the notion that a delighted customer is one who will remain loyal, sing your praises, and never consider your competitors.

But here’s the question that we, as customer success professionals, rarely ask ourselves:

??Should customer delight come at no extra charge?

Let’s set the stage. You’ve got a high-paying enterprise client who’s invested heavily in your SaaS platform. They’ve signed the contract, experienced onboarding, and they’re using the features they’ve been promised. The relationship is running smoothly, but then, they request something outside of the original agreement—custom features, tailored UI, or specialized reports.

As a CSM, the reflex might be to bend over backward, free of charge, to accommodate this request in the name of "delighting the customer." But here’s the hard truth: delight does not come for free, nor should it.

SaaS businesses operate in a complex environment where any new feature or customization impacts the product architecture, engineering efforts, and cloud storage. The additional time spent by cross-functional teams can strain resources, and more importantly, the line between offering value and overextending starts to blur.

Consider the case of a large SaaS company in India, where the cultural mindset often revolves around the belief that "the customer is king." One CSM, eager to ensure customer happiness, continuously offered small customizations to a high-value client at no extra cost. It began with minor tweaks, but soon escalated into significant changes requiring substantial engineering work.

The client was thrilled—until one day, the product performance took a hit because of the multiple custom features added just for them. Not only did this create friction with the development team, but it also impacted the overall product experience for other customers. The CSM had unintentionally damaged the very thing they were trying to protect: long-term customer satisfaction.

? The lesson ???

??Delight should be strategically delivered and, where necessary, chargeable.

The cost of delight is not just a financial one—it’s about ensuring sustainability. When we allow clients to ask for unlimited custom features at no extra cost, we diminish the value of the product and undervalue the hard work of our cross-functional teams. Customer delight should not be confused with customer pampering.

??So, how do we balance customer delight with business sustainability?

Delight can—and should—be achieved in several ways that don’t require bending your company’s resources:

?? Exceptional communication and support: A good CSM can delight simply through proactive outreach, thoughtful problem-solving, and effective communication.

?? Mutual success stories: Sharing case studies, social media recognition, and business collaborations can strengthen the client relationship.

?? A robust product: Sometimes, delight is found not in extras but in a product that simply works as intended, helping the customer meet their business goals.

Yes, customer delight can be chargeable, especially when it involves additional work outside of the original agreement. The key is to set expectations, communicate transparently, and ensure both the client and the business benefit from the investment.

??How CSM can approach the customization chargeable conversations?.

Here’s a simple framework:

? Acknowledge the request: "I understand this feature would be valuable to your business."

? Explain the impact: "Implementing this customization will require additional development time, which impacts our engineering and product teams."

? Highlight the benefit: "To ensure we deliver a solution tailored to your needs, we offer this as a value-added service."

? Set expectations: "Let’s discuss the costs and timeline so we can deliver this enhancement efficiently."

In the SaaS world, delight isn’t about constantly giving more for less. It's about delivering value in a way that sustains both the client and the business.

However, it’s crucial to remember that this advocacy comes at a cost, not just in terms of money, but in product impact and resource allocation.

Delight, after all, is not a freebie—it’s an investment. And any good investment requires both parties to share the cost.