On the Job learning - The customer view

As a customer success professional, I’ve had the privilege of engaging with customers across various industries and regions. These interactions have given me invaluable insights into the latest technologies, competitive landscapes, industry trends, and enterprise vendor management processes. ?

It was a different type of learning.

There was no physical or virtual class, syllabus, or apparent structure. ???

Still, there was so much to learn by being proactive and asking the relevant stakeholders specific questions at the right time.

In this article, I want to share some key learnings that have shaped my understanding and approach to customer management. These lessons helped bridge knowledge gaps, improve my understanding of the customer environment, and communicate more effectively with stakeholders.

Here are the domains of knowledge I shaped during customer interactions.

??Customer’s journey with new Technologies

Over the years, I’ve observed how customers respond to rapidly evolving technologies and plan to adopt them into their technology stack and business environment.

Cloud technology. The early adopters expected vendors to move fast and offer cloud-based platforms to complement their plans. Heavily regulated enterprises were slow to move and conducted multi-stage analysis and impact assessment as they had to consider new regulations, data protection, and changes in business models. Interesting observations and lessons were also revealed while engaging customers who designed and implemented hybrid on-prem and cloud strategies. They carefully balanced between business needs and legacy technology, which could not be phased out quickly (due to inherent technology constraints, heavy regulation, and concerns over the security of cloud technology).

Support and ticketing systems are instrumental in streamlining IT operations. Through conversations, I’ve gained insights into why customers choose specific support ticketing systems, namely - evaluation criteria and how they align them with IT strategy. Their selections were often driven by the need for scalability, integration capabilities, and ease of use, which are vital for maintaining flawless operations in dynamic environments.

AI Initiatives have proved to be an endless source of learning, as we all need to adjust and re-calibrate our efforts to keep up with technological advancement introduced by AI. Similar to Cloud adoption, there are early adaptors; however, with AI, there are more of them, and the speed of change seems faster. It is an exciting learning opportunity for CSMs (and others) as we explore various flavors of onboarding and adoption of AI. At the same time, others wait for the initial lessons learned, best practices, and even the upcoming regulations before they standardize AI usage.

??Insights about your Competition

Understanding the competitive landscape is crucial for any business. By being at the forefront, CSM can discover new aspects related to the competitive landscape in which their company operates.

Competitor Positioning: By engaging with stakeholders with whom I had a trusted relationship, I’ve learned who my main competitors are and how they position themselves in the market. This knowledge has been instrumental in refining our own positioning and value proposition. I also shared these valuable insights with my marketing and sales colleagues.

Competitive Features: While sharing their views about competitors, few stakeholders participated in a demo of other solutions and could articulate the main features and capabilities promoted by our competitors. This understanding helped us with the competitive analysis and ensured our offering aligned with market demands.

Pricing Models: I could not expect stakeholders to share pricing from other vendors, but I was able to learn about different pricing models used by competitors. Whether subscription-based, usage-based, or tiered pricing, these insights served as a solid benchmark for our pricing. Another example was an internal debate about whether to charge for onboarding and later for professional services. ?The customer’s feedback indicated that competitors offered paid professional services buckets to complement onboarding and adoption.

Localization Strategies: Expanding into new regions often requires localizing sales and post-sales processes. In a couple of cases when engaging customers in new territory, I’ve learned the importance of cultural nuances and their impact on customers’ expectations and attitudes toward their vendors. When looking to expand sales in the region, a few satisfied customers also shared their views about the local network of partners and resellers with whom we considered to work with.

??Keeping Up with Industry Trends

A proactive and well-rounded CSM should stay ahead of the curve and gain sufficient knowledge about industry trends and upcoming changes. This is part of an ongoing market evaluation contributing to the vendor’s positioning and competitiveness.

Customer Competitors: Learning about my customers' direct competitors has helped me twice. First, we improved our understanding of the leading powers dominating the market (primarily in the enterprise market) by monitoring other companies and the changes and challenges they faced. Secondly, our marketing and sales teams were happy with potential prospects and opportunities for growth. Moreover, we had successful case studies to share when we engaged them.

Competitive Edge: I’ve seen firsthand how our solutions assist customers in specific use cases, creating a competitive edge for them. Understanding this impact has reinforced the value we deliver and has guided the evolution of our offerings. Moreover, we could refine and improve our pre- and post-sales motions following the lessons we learned from the experiences reported by our customers.

Regulatory Impact: New industry regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA, have significantly impacted many of my customers. Learning how these regulations affect their procurement, legal, operations, and technology plans has been crucial in helping us meet their compliance requirements. ?

Now, let’s be prepared for the new regulation.

The new EU AI Act was enacted on August 2nd, and there is a timetable to comply from February 2025 until mid-2026. This is an opportunity for vendors to learn “on the go” and collaborate closely with their customers to understand the impact of the new regulation and keep themselves and their customers compliant.

Customer Expectations: The stakeholder change scenario usually triggers new ideas and requirements as a new person introduces a fresh perspective. Learning from the new stakeholders benefited both teams, setting the path for constructive relationships and enhancing our product plans. This was more evident when the new stakeholder joined from another company and was previously engaged with a competitive solution. With the trust built between us, we could obtain valuable feedback and tips to keep ourselves up to speed with the market competition.

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??Vendor management

CS frequently overlooks this area as sales usually handle procurement teams. ?However, learning about Vendor management processes and how to engage them can be helpful for CSMs who wish to play a more pivotal role in sales and the business's success. ?This experience was precious with enterprise customers when the professional team supported the next product expansion, and there were many aspects to finalize with procurement before we could recognize a new win.

Software Evaluation: Observing how customers evaluate software solutions has given me meaningful insights, especially into how procurement governs the process. In addition, CSMs can read certain RFP sections to expand their understanding of customers' requirements. They can also engage their pore-sales counterparts to familiarize themselves with selection criteria and customer priorities. The pre-sales experience and knowledge should feed naturally into CS as they lead the next phase of the customer journey.

Vendor Scorecards: Think about a QBR in which the customer asks to share their scorecard as they evaluate your contribution to their business. That was a “WOW” moment for me. ?The person who prepared the scorecard was happy to share it so I could present it to my colleagues. I could easily highlight the attention we received from the customer and demonstrate the analysis of our actions. Similar encounters served as a critical learning “module” on how customers maintain vendor scorecards. ?Consequently, we could monitor a few essential metrics to keep up with our customer’s expectations and identify areas for improvement.

Vendor Accreditation: In a few territories, we worked with reputable partners, and in other cases, it was worthwhile to be accredited and engage directly with customers. The accreditation process does not fall under CS responsibility, but it is another good learning exercise as a vendor establishes a business/commercial entity. This process revealed the legal and financial aspects and had a longer-term impact on CS and support when local teams were about to be formed later. ??

Conclusion

It’s our responsibility to keep learning from our customers, as they are our most significant source of insights and improvements.

Being Curious and alert to learning opportunities will drive professional growth and help CSMs improve relationships and trust. Engaging with customers across different industries and regions has been a continuous learning experience. These insights into technology, sales, competition, industry trends, and vendor engagement have deepened my understanding and empowered me to serve my customers better.

Learning from customers is a “free course” that CSMs must leverage. Don’t miss it.