How to Automate Value Validation and QBRs

It’s always been important to prioritize value validation to ensure renewal and expansion but it’s even more crucial in today’s market where companies are reducing their tech stack to cut costs. Demonstrating value, ROI and getting it in front of decision-makers has proven challenging for most SaaS companies even in high-touch models. So how do you even begin to think about scaling value validation? Thankfully, a digital customer success approach can improve the customer experience, save CS time and cost, and increase the likelihood to renew regardless of your customer segments. I’m here to show you how.

First, let's talk about how value validation works in a high-touch model.?To start, you'll want to collect baseline information, which should include things like business objectives, KPIs, baseline data, and desired outcomes. Ideally, this information should be gathered during pre-sales and then handed off to the CSM to be validated during the kickoff call. Click here for a free slide template to include in your kickoff decks. Throughout the customer lifecycle, you should refer back to this information during key moments like kickoff, launch, QBRs, and renewals. Using KPI metrics, you can calculate the ROI for each business objective and then get signoff from the decision maker, not just the POC. Finally, you can use QBRs to gather more information and identify underutilized or new features that can help expand ROI, forming new business objective statements as needed.

Now, let's kick it up a notch with Digital Customer Success. First, baseline information is collected using a form, such as Typeform , which writes back to the CRM. Ideally, this happens pre-sales call, so the information can be used for value selling and accelerating the deal cycle. The salesperson can then validate or change these answers throughout the deal cycle. This information is then pushed to an onboarding tool, customer portal (such as EverAfter ), in-app checklist ( Pendo.io ) or dashboard ( Candu ) for the customer to validate during onboarding. By showing that you listened, understand, and documented their business goals, you establish early trust with your customer. Building an ROI calculator or automatically calculating ROI (and being transparent on how you calculated it) is the next step. This can be sent out via email or put into the customer portal or in-app dashboard once the customer has hit a milestone in their lifecycle. Remember to reference their original business objective statement so they can connect the dots between their goals and the number. Finally, surface and get DM signoff and identify underutilized or new features to maximize ROI. Here are some of my preferred methods and tools for this step:

• Email - Send custom email templates in a MAP ( HubSpot , Adobe Marketo etc.) using SQL to query your customer data and surface personal metrics into a beautiful format. Great for recurring account reviews.
• Interactive Video - Cast.app AI CSM creates personalized and interactive video account reviews. Great for fully automated QBRs.
• Slide Deck - Matik generates personalized presentations in minutes with account data. Great for cost-savings and minimizing errors for High-Touch QBRs.

Common Pitfalls and Solutions:

When a customer is slow to provide real numbers, it may be because they don't fully understand the value of the data-gathering process and are eager to start implementing the solution. To help them see the benefits of this task, it's important to use the WIFIM approach, which stands for 'What's In It For Me.' For example: “By collecting this information now, we can enhance your onboarding and implementation experience by incorporating best practices that align with your business goals. In addition, we can calculate the ROI post-launch, which can be leveraged as an impressive career achievement!”

Business goals can change during the implementation phase. To avoid wasting time going back and forth on changing objectives, it's essential to keep the business objectives statement (BO statement) at the forefront and continue validating it throughout the customer lifecycle. This will ensure that everyone is on the same page and that the solution being implemented is aligned with the customer's evolving business goals. If you’re taking a digital approach you may consider sending a Digital CSM a notification if the customer has changed their BO statement during implementation so they can reach out and understand the reason for the change and advise them on if they should continue to focus on their original goal or switch and what the implications of doing so may be.

If a customer doesn't agree with the ROI calculation, it's important to give them the tools to tweak the inputs to reflect their business more accurately. Emphasize that you are on the same team and want them to feel comfortable explaining this number to the rest of their business. By providing the customer with the ability to adjust the inputs, they will feel more invested in the process and confident in the ROI calculations, which can lead to more successful adoption of the solution.

If you're having trouble getting in front of the decision-maker, there are a couple of approaches you can take. If you already have the contact identified through sales or customer success, you can send an executive summary directly to the decision-maker with a CTA to validate this ROI or schedule a QBR. This can help you get their attention and highlight the key benefits of your solution. If you don't already have the contact identified, you can use a tool like UserGems to identify and connect with them.?

UserGems can also notify you when a decision-maker contact changes. If this happens after value confirmation, automate an email to the new contact that explains what their company was using your solution for, the results, and the project's next steps. Include a call-to-action to set up a call. If the decision-maker changes before value confirmation, you can still engage the new contacts by using an estimated or average ROI based on other customers. This can help you continue building the relationship and demonstrating the value of your solution.?

If you're having trouble activating a customer for their next business objective, it's important to focus on the WIFM (What's In It For Me) factor and use numbers as much as possible. Since you’re using a digital approach, you’ll have a wealth of customer data to create claims and drivers that prove the value your solution can bring. For example, you can say: 'Customers with a similar business objective to you typically see 150% ROI. You currently see 90% ROI. Here are some areas that they are utilizing that you are not: ...'. This approach can help illustrate the potential benefits of utilizing the feature for their next business objective and encourage the customer to take action.

In today's market, it's more important than ever to show your customers the value of your SaaS product. With companies cutting costs left and right, you want to make sure you're not on the chopping block. But let's be real, getting decision-makers to sign off on ROI can be a real pain. Even in high-touch models, it's a challenge to prove that your product is worth it. At the end of the day, a digital customer success approach can save you time and costs while increasing the likelihood of renewal. And who doesn't love a good ROI, am I right?