Who is wearing the customer success hat in your business?

Anybody who has worked in a small business will tell you that wearing multiple hats is the norm. From sales and marketing to operations and customer services, small business owners, and their teams, juggle various roles to keep their businesses running. However, in my experience, there's one essential hat that often gets overlooked: the customer success hat.

Customer success isn't just another buzzword; it's a strategic approach focused on ensuring customers achieve their desired outcomes while using your product or service. Unlike customer service, which primarily deals with resolving issues and answering queries, customer success is proactive, aiming to maximise the value customers derive from your offerings.

Here's a breakdown of the key differences between customer service and customer success:

1. Reactive vs. Proactive: Customer service reacts to customer inquiries and problems as they arise, aiming to provide satisfactory resolutions. On the other hand, customer success takes a proactive approach, actively guiding customers throughout their journey to help them achieve their goals.
2. Short-term Fixes vs. Long-term Relationships: While customer service addresses immediate concerns, customer success focuses on fostering long-term relationships. It involves understanding customers' needs, offering tailored solutions, and continuously supporting them to ensure ongoing success.
3. Transactional vs. Strategic: Customer service interactions tend to be transactional, centred around resolving specific issues. In contrast, customer success is strategic, aligning with customers' broader objectives and helping them leverage your product or service to meet those objectives effectively.

So, why do I advocate for small businesses to ensure someone wears the customer success hat at least occasionally?

1. Enhanced Customer Satisfaction: By proactively addressing customers' needs and guiding them towards success, businesses can enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty, leading to higher retention rates and positive word-of-mouth.
2. Increased Revenue: Happy, successful customers are more likely to renew their subscriptions, upgrade their plans, or purchase additional products or services, contributing to revenue growth and sustainable business growth.
3. Competitive Advantage: In today's competitive landscape, exceptional customer experiences set businesses apart. By prioritizing customer success, small businesses can differentiate themselves from competitors and build a reputation for delivering value beyond expectations.
4. Efficiency and Scalability: Implementing customer success processes and systems streamlines operations, enabling businesses to serve a growing customer base efficiently. It also provides valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences, facilitating targeted marketing efforts and product improvements.

While wearing the customer success hat may seem daunting for small businesses who are already stretched thin, it doesn't have to fall to an internal member of the team. Seeking external support from professionals like customer success strategists can make a significant difference. These experts bring expertise, tools, and frameworks to help businesses establish robust customer success practices without overwhelming their internal resources.

In conclusion, customer success isn't just a luxury reserved for large corporations; it's a fundamental driver of growth and sustainability for small businesses. By understanding the difference between customer service and customer success and embracing the latter, small businesses can create meaningful relationships with their customers, driving mutual success in the long run.