Customer Success as a change agent

The second thing that I did when joining Perimeter 81 was to send a batch survey to all of our active users asking them to tell us how they position our company and product.

Many of our distinguished CS colleagues wrote about the CS position in driving adoption, expansion and preventing churn. But it seems that we are not focusing on the CS position as a change agent in every company.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world" said Mahatma Gandhi.

Well, I'm definitely not Gandhi and probably not going to change (most of) the world. But think about it - in "our" world CS are the ones that can actually identify the day-to-day market fit of the product, flag missing features and provide valuable feedback to the product team on how customers really see and use the different features and, hence, drive change.

A good CS knows their portfolio inside out. They know the business needs of their customers and how the product actually addresses pain points and generates value. Each CS also knows what features are missing from the product for each customer, how the solution is being positioned by stakeholders and users and, to whom it is being compared to.

This information is pure gold for Product Management. It gives them priceless insights on actual product fit (expected vs. actual), product gaps, opportunities and who / how the competition is viewed by actual users. Those insights, if communicated correctly, are also the main engine that should drive the change within the organization.

The change can be in the way the company releases new features, the way the company communicates with its users and/or how a company prioritizes its development priorities and resources. And, this change can be the differentiator between a successful year or an avalanche of churning accounts.

A product-led customer-focused company should constantly fit the product based on their customers' needs, and what a better way of doing it if not by having the CS as a partner and a change agent that will advocate the needed fit.

What do you think? Is this something we ought to do? Are we stepping on the Product Management's toes?