How to build a relationship that lasts — Anshi Bhadoria, the Director of Customer Success and Partner Management at SmartKarrot

Modern customers are constantly evaluating their ROI and relationship with vendors.? This is exacerbated in uncertain economic times.

To promote greater transparency and accountability, it is essential for businesses to identify the specific goals that their customers are seeking to achieve. Given that each business has unique processes, functions, and frameworks, having a clear understanding of their overarching objective is crucial.

I spoke with Anshi Bhadoria, Director of Customer Success and Partner Management at SmartKarrot, and she emphasized the pivotal role of customer success in building meaningful and lasting relationships. She suggested setting clear and measurable goals and outcomes that enable CS teams to track progress and identify areas for improvement.

“While communicating business outcomes is valuable, understanding how our solutions meet/cater to unique customer requirements helps drive long-term success and growth, even in uncertain economic times. It is necessary to ask the right questions and understand why these goals matter to customers,” shares Anshi.?

According to Anshi, partnering with customers through a value session and planning strategy can help set achievable goals, particularly for those uncertain about their objectives. It is crucial to assert these goals, clearly define them, and guide customers to achieve them.

Setting goals, identifying, managing, and achieving customer outcomes

As the SaaS industry becomes more crowded and competitive, business providers always look for ways to differentiate themselves from the crowd. Anshi shared three specific tactics to ensure customers' goals are attained. She also provided suggestions on how to remain relevant throughout their journey.

First, Anshi recommended that we leverage data to engage in proactive conversations. This allows [CS team] to monitor customers' progress towards their goals, not just in [terms of] data usage, but also how these goals are being achieved or falling short. By leveraging data, the CS team can enhance or improve business intended results and keep customers informed about every achieved goal or milestone.

Another benefit of leveraging data is customer segmentation and the ability to automate and improve the customer journey or engagement. For instance, a SaaS company that provides project management software might segment its customer base by business size, industry, and job function.?

This segmentation can enable the company to target small businesses with cost-effective solutions, while targeting larger enterprises with more advanced features. It also allows the CS team to revisit and refine customer goals, as these may change over time.?

Anshi notes, “It is our responsibility to understand when these (business goals or objectives) shifts occur. Similarly, we must communicate and acknowledge when these goals are achieved. It empowers customers and validates the importance of achieving their goals. By guiding them through the process [of achieving their objectives], we build trust and create a more meaningful partnership.”

Building relationships that last

Second, Anshi believes that a strong relationship is the best deterrent for customer churn. A strong relationship requires cross-functional collaboration and insight.? If customer-facing teams lack appropriate processes and tools to manage customer interactions, it may result in delays, mistakes, and other problems that can adversely affect the customer experience.

Anshi says, “Driving customer success means providing a basis for measuring success and creating opportunities.” In other words, the CS team must increase their sense of ownership in the success of the product or service.”

“Our role [customer success] is not only to identify customer goals but to engage in meaningful and thoughtful conversations [with our customers] in order to truly understand their specific needs and priorities. We must work collaboratively to create a plan that will help them achieve those goals efficiently.

We take great pride in our ability to deliver clear, actionable results that help our customers succeed. After all, customers are constantly assessing whether they have achieved their internal goals, and we are constantly being evaluated on whether we are helping them achieve their goals.”

We must provide data-back evidence that ties back to the customers’ internal goals.? We also need to communicate this value (what was achieved) efficiently and measurably by making intangibles and tangibles visible to customers. This includes improvements and changes they have experienced by using our solution.?

We must guide customers to connect the dots and tell the story of how the product is helping them. This eliminates confusion and ambiguity. Customers can see their progression with visual maps and benchmarks and the path to achieving their goals using the product.

Celebrate and own the customer experience/s

Third, establishing a fulfilling and enduring relationship [with customers] is contingent upon delivering on our promises. In other words, we must follow through on our commitments to foster trust and loyalty.?

“As a service provider, it is our responsibility to bring the customer's vision to life. It is important to ask lots of questions until we fully understand the customer's needs and desires. This helps the customer feel heard and understood, while also allowing you to identify any gaps or issues in their experience,” says Anshi.

Anshi recommends open-ended questions that encourage the customer to share their thoughts and feelings. This allows you to identify any underlying sentiments or concerns that may be impacting their experience.

“If you identify a gap in their adoption or usage of a product or service, it is imperative to revisit the onboarding or training process to ensure that the customer has the necessary skills and knowledge to fully utilize the product or service.”

By identifying and addressing these gaps or issues, you can help the customer achieve their desired outcomes and improve their overall experience with your company.

Final thoughts

As the role of CS continues to evolve, a deep understanding of the product we support is just that table stakes. We must also have a thorough understanding of how customers use the product to achieve their goals and share best practices accordingly.

Additionally, by staying informed about how other users are leveraging the product, we can provide an additional excellent source of product feedback, where we can identify potential areas for improvement and new features that could be added to further enhance the customer experience. This can help drive innovation and keep our product at the forefront.

Overall, it's important to continuously seek out new knowledge and insights about our product and its usage, so that we can provide the best possible guidance and support to our customers. This requires not only delivering high-quality products or services but also being transparent and communicative throughout the customer journey.?

By consistently meeting or exceeding expectations, Anshi believes, we can build stronger and more sustainable relationships with [our] customers, resulting in long-term success and growth for our business.