CUSTOMER SUCCESS IS A CUSTOMER FACING JOB

In a subscription-based business model user adoption is key to success to secure a recurrent revenue.

If a service is not used ?the risk of a recurrent revenue cancellation is right over there, as simple as that.

The main task of a good Customer Success Manager is to increase the users adoption and mitigate the risks cancellations and it is not as easy as you could think.

Customers agenda are always very busy and, after Covid, face to face meetings ?are less frequent than before.

We are using Teams calls in almost all our interactions with customers as it is the most popular and productive way to have a meeting: no traffic delays, you know when it starts and when it ends, it is easier to have many attendees, sometimes spread all over the world, and you can schedule back to back calls throughout the working day.

Still in a Teams call you miss the body language, sometimes the video camera is off and due to a scarce network the audio is bad.: you can share words and slides ma you do not really understand the reaction of the people attending the call.

Emails are only one-direction communication tools and in the majority of the cases, if they are really read among hundreds, ?are misunderstood and ignored.

I am a strong supporter of “face to face meetings” because only in this case? you can strengthen the relationship and build a solid join customer success plans: emails, teams, … are much more less effective than a real meeting.

The best outcome of meeting a customer in person is when a true bi-directional conversation starts and at the end provides value, both technical or commercial.

Remember: if you do not provide value there won’t be a second chance.

It takes time to prepare such a meeting, and depends on the type of user you are going to interface: if the user is an experienced technical person you will need to have a full picture of the installed base and the history of the client and be ready to answer all kind of questions you may receive.

The users adoption conversation is made out of three steps:

1.?????? Listen listen listen: be curious, ask how he/she is using the technology and wait for an answer without overwhelming with your own words. Try to sincerely understand if there is a good level of knowledge and usage of the service. The art of active listening requires practice over practice,? it is not an easy task. We always learn a lot from our customers if we just ask the right questions and let them talk and reply. Less reporting more active listening.

2.?????? Take a written note of the needs and the asks that have been shared and agreed and come back to the office to work for a clear action plan.

3.?????? Provide feedback to the customer of how the action plan is progressing and when the first results will be delivered, step by step, never at the final end of the work. This is very important as we often use the Agile methodology to check if the deliverable is still valid and aligned with the on-going requirements.

It is mandatory to use the customer’s language, that is the Customer Success Manager ?must have a specific industry knowledge: a telco company is different from a pharma or a public institution and within a telco, the network dept is very different from mktg.

Moreover you must get to the point in which you discuss the customer’s ultimate goals and plan use cases that will take you to those goals.

You can leverage multiple tools: performance assessment , training on the job, specific workshops and presentations of the short – mid term roadmap, engagement with industry experts and many others.

If ?the client perceives that we can really help him to reach his goals than the adoption process turns into a real win-win game and you can really secure a positive future for the client and for us.

Remember: a solid recurring revenue is made of a solid & tangible value well perceived by our clients.