embracing humility: five ways you're failing your customers - tara robertson at saasfest 2016

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H U M I L T YE M B R A C I N G

5 W A Y S Y O U A R E P R O B A B L Y F A I L I N G Y O U R C U S T O M E R S A N D W H A T Y O U S H O U L D D O A B O U T I T

T A R A R O B E R T S O N

@ t a r a e r o b e r t s o n

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And a whole lot more.. .

TARA ROBERTSONGROWTH & INBOUND CONSULTANT

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“I am the wisest man alive, for I know one

thing, and that is that I know nothing.”

- S o c r a t e s

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E V E R Y O N E S T A N D U P

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WHY DID WE DO THAT?

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2 REASONS FOR CHURN

The customer did not reach their perceived value

Environmental

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“Don’t find customers for your products. Find

products for your customers.”

- S e t h G o d i n

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TRULY KNOWING YOUR CUSTOMERS “you only know what you know.”

FAILURE

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Do you know the pu lse o f your cu r ren t cus tomers?

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QUALITATIVE ANALYSISS T A R T I N G Y O U R C O H O R T A N A L Y S I S

S U R V E Y Y O U R C U S T O M E R S : A S K & I N C E N T I V I Z E

S TA R T W I T H 3 C O H O R T S ( H E A LT H Y, U N H E A LT H Y, & C H U R N E D )

bit.ly/top-questions

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HEALTHY COHORTW H A T T O A S K Y O U R

W H AT W A S T H E M A I N R E A S O N Y O U U P G R A D E D Y O U R A C C O U N T ?

L I S T 3 T H I N G S T H AT A L M O S T S T O P P E D Y O U F R O M U P G R A D I N G .

I F Y O U C O U L D N O L O N G E R U S E [ P R O D U C T ] W H AT W O U L D Y O U M I S S M O S T ?

I F Y O U H A D A M A G I C W A N D , W H AT W O U L D Y O U C H A N G E A B O U T [ P R O D U C T ] ?

H O W W O U L D Y O U F E E L I F Y O U C O U L D N O L O N G E R U S E [ P R O D U C T ] ?

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UNHEALTHY COHORTW H A T T O A S K Y O U R

W H AT W A S T H E M A I N R E A S O N Y O U S TA R T E D U S I N G [ P R O D U C T ] ?

W H AT ’ S T H E O N E T H I N G T H AT ’ S M I S S I N G I N [ P R O D U C T ] ?

W H AT ' S O N E F E AT U R E T H AT W O U L D M A K E O U R P R O D U C T I N D I S P E N S A B L E ?

W H AT W O U L D P E R S U A D E Y O U T O U S E U S M O R E O F T E N ?

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CHURNED COHORTW H A T T O A S K Y O U R

WHAT IS THE MAIN REASON WHY YOU'RE CANCELING YOUR ACCOUNT?

W H AT W A S T H E M A I N R E A S O N Y O U S TA R T E D U S I N G [ P R O D U C T ] ?

I F Y O U C O U L D C H A N G E J U S T O N E T H I N G I N [ N A M E ] , W H AT W O U L D I T B E ?

I F Y O U H A D A M A G I C W A N D , W H AT W O U L D Y O U C H A N G E A B O U T [ P R O D U C T ] ?

W H AT C O U L D W E C H A N G E T O M A K E Y O U W A N T T O C O N T I N U E U S I N G U S ?

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QUALITATIVE ANALYSISS T A R T I N G Y O U R C O H O R T A N A L Y S I S

bit.ly/survey-analysisbit.ly/survey-calculator

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QUANTITATIVE ANALYSISS T A R T I N G Y O U R C O H O R T A N A L Y S I S

A N A LY T I C S

S A L E S A N D M A R K E T I N G P L AT F O R M S

C U S T O M E R S U C C E S S P L AT F O R M

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FIND FINITE DETAILSS E T A G O A L T O S T U D Y S O T H A T Y O U C A N

W H AT T O O L S D O T H E Y U S E ?

H O W M A N Y U S E R S D O T H E Y H AV E ?

H O W O F T E N T O T H E Y S P E A K W I T H S U P P O R T ?

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DATA NIRVANAH o w t o p r i o r i t i z e b a s e d o n y o u r f i n a l f i n d i n g s a n d w h a t t o a c t u a l l y d o a b o u t i t …

P R I O R I T I Z E Y O U R T O P 3 O P P O R T U N I T I E S

S E T A S I D E ~ 1 W E E K P E R Q U A R T E R T O R E F I N E

A LW AY S B E L E A R N I N G & P I V O T I N G

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TOO MUCH ONBOARDING

FAILURE

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ONE GOAL - GET THEM TO THE AHA MOMENT

E V E R Y T H I N G E L S E

UPGRADE - FEATURES - REFERRALS

21 A H A M O M E N T

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THE RULE OF ONE

ONEREADER

ONEOFFER

ONEBIG IDEA

ONEPROMISE

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Segment your readers based on their stage of

awareness and how intent they are to purchase.

Segment based on user:

• Role

• Opportunity

• Plan Type

ONE READER

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What’s your most powerful benefit?

What makes your users say AHA!

Never change the big idea.

Make it sticky.

Make it emotional.

Carry this throughout your entire Onboarding until they reach the AHA moment. Only then can you shift gears.

ONE BIG IDEA

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Everything builds up to this and how you will clearly explain what you are

offering.

THINK VALUE = AHA

Note: This is not an incentive it’s happiness

inducing.

ONE OFFER

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Goal is to take away ANY hesitation and

amplify your offer with a promise.

Make it believable.

Make it measurable.

Let your user overcome risk and anxiety.

Examples:

Money back guarantee

User groups

Dedicated support / success

ONE PROMISE

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HOW TO IMPLEMENT THE RULE OF ONEM a k e a m a s s i v e I m p a c t

B u i l d O n b o a r d i n g f o r a s m a n y c o h o r t s y o u n e e d . E a c h o f t h e m w i l l b e a u n i q u e r e a d e r , w i t h a u n i q u e

n e e d a n d l o o k i n g t o y o u r p r o d u c t f o r a u n i q u e p r o m i s e .

R E V I E W C U R R E N T S T R U C T U R E

M O D I F Y T O F O L L O W T H E R U L E O F O N E

C R E AT E N E W S T R E A M S F O R A O N E T O O N E U S E R E X P E R I E N C E

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NOT ENOUGH RETENTION OPTIMIZATION

FAILURE

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Awareness

Consideration

Intent

Purchase

TRADITIONAL MARKETING FUNNEL

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Awar

enes

s

Conversion Rate Optimization

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Reverse the Funne l

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Purchase

Awar

enes

s

Con

side

ratio

n

Supp

ort

Loya

lty

Inte

nt

Adv

ocac

y

Churn

ONLY 5 - 30%from the initial sale

70 - 95% revenuescome from upsells

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I D E N T I F Y

E N G A G E

E X P A N D

A D V O C A T E

Owner: Marketing

Lead Scoring• Predictive + Traditional • Create a [PRODUCT] score• Triage CS agents based on opportunity

type

Retention OptimizationT h e R e v e r s e F u n n e l F o c u s e s o nSupport

}} }Support Loyalty Advocacy

Owner: Marketing & Customer Success

Persona Based Workflows• Automate Educational Content

• Tag support requests to enroll • Create tracking URL’s to determine

which content is digested most for product engagement

• Set up sales sequences to notify sales• Test and Iterate constantly

Owner: Sales & Customer Success

Review Client Portfolios Monthly• Farm don’t Hunt

• Set up sales & CS sequences to trigger opportunities when they arise

• Use an always-on approach to success• Set up monthly goal setting calls with all

parties involved (if pricing model allows for this)

• Recommend the best plan clearly and don’t push, just educate

Owner: Marketing

Where to Look • Social Media

• Reviews• Advocacy Programs

Where to see opportunities for Growth:

• Look into options for Gamification• Incentivize for referrals

• Engagement is key (and critically important)

• Consider a marketing advocate manager

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NEXT STEPS FOR RETENTION OPTIMIZATIONR e t e n t i o n O p t i m i z a t i o n s h o u l d b e j u s t a s ( i f n o t m o r e ) i m p o r t a n t t h a n c o n v e r s i o n r a t e o p t i m i z a t i o n . M a k e

s u r e y o u h a v e t h e t e a m s i n p l a c e t o f o c u s o n s u c c e s s t h r o u g h e d u c a t i o n .

R E V I E W Y O U R C U R R E N T R E T E N T I O N T E A M

R E V I E W M A R K E T I N G & S A L E S‘ P O S T- S A L E ’ F U N N E L S

I M P L E M E N T AT L E A S T 1 N E W R E T E N T I O N C A M PA I G N A N D I T E R AT E F R O M T H E R E !

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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

FAILURE

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“It’s a mistake to think that your SaaS customers

are in it only for the software. They’re in it for

the experience, too.””- K i s s m e t r i c s

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BEHIND A BAD CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

T H E N U M B E R S

99 out of 10 customers have

abandoned a business because

of a poor experience.

(Oracle).

OUT OF 10

86%In the same study, 86% of customers

were willing to pay more for a better

customer experience.

(Oracle)

PAY MORE

89%Accenture found that customers get

frustrated because they need to

repeat their issues to multiple

representatives.

FRUSTRATED

3%67% of customers mention bad

experiences as a reason for churn,

but only 1 out of 26 unhappy

customers complain.

COMPLAIN

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Deve lop A Cus tomer Credo

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C U S T O M E R S D E S I R E ( I M M E D I AT E ) S U C C E S S

U N AT T E N D E D C U S T O M E R S W I L L C H U R N

C U S T O M E R S S H O U L D ( N O T ) B E T R E AT E D E Q U A L

S U C C E S S ( D O E S N O T ) E Q U A L ( S ) H A P P I N E S S

C U S T O M E R S N E E D G U I D A N C E ( O R ) S H O U L D G U I D E

R E L AT I O N S H I P S A R E ( N O T ) E N O U G H

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GET A CUSTOMER PULSEC u s t o m e r s R e q u i r e H u m i l i t y

Yo u s h o u l d n e v e r b e t o o b u s y t o s p e a k t o y o u r c u s t o m e r s . T r y t h e s e 3 t h i n g s o u t w e e k l y ( o r a t l e a s t

m o n t h l y ) t o s t a y h u m b l e t o y o u r b u s i n e s s a n d y o u r p r o d u c t .

S P E N D 1 H O U R A W E E K S P E A K I N G T O C U S T O M E R S

T R I A G E A N D A N S W E R S U P P O R T T I C K E T S

S O LV E R O U T I N E R E Q U E S T S W I T H N E W C O N T E N T

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CUSTOMER FEEDBACK

FAILURE

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#INBOUND16@BobRuffolo @taraerobertson

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6 PILLARS OF FEEDBACKI m p l e m e n t i n g t h e

F E E D B A C K

Run monthly or quarterly surveys

Always include an NPS score and ask

open ended questions.

S U R V E Y S

Interview 5-10 customers per cohort

each quarter. Share recordings &

findings with your team.

I N T E R V I E W S

Run routine testing to truly empathize

with customers.Tests can be specific,

broad, or based on funnel completion.

U S A B I I LT Y T E S T I N G

Add comment boxes into your product

to ask for ongoing feedback.

C O M M E N T B O X E S

Always include an option for feedback

in newsletters or any company

announcements via email.

E M A I L

Simply asking for feedback makes a

huge difference. If someone

downgrades, ask them why!

O N G O I N G C O M M U N I C AT I O N

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bit.ly/user-requests

CUSTOMER FEEDBACK BOARD

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CUSTOMER FEEDBACK NEXT STEPSD o n ’ t j u s t a s k , a c t o n w h a t y o u r e c e i v e . T r y t h e s e 3 s t e p s f o r y o u r o r g a n i z a t i o n :

O R G A N I Z E A L L F E E D B A C K I N T O O N E L O C AT I O N

S E T A S I D E P R O D U C T T I M E & F I X W H AT ’ S B R O K E N

C R E AT E A N O N G O I N G C H A N N E L F O R F E E D B A C K

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CONCULSION

WRAP UP

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BECOMING A HUMBLE

CUSTOMER DRIVEN

BUSINESS

5 S T E P S T O

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HUMILITYE M B R A C I N G

STEP ONE

You only know what you know. Learn more about

your customers so that you can continuously solve for

their unique needs.

STEP TWO

Test a new sequence in your Onboarding to talk less

about you and more about your customers by using the

Rule of One.

STEP THREE

Stop focusing so much on CRO and start focusing

more on Retention Optimization. Invest in

success marketing!

STEP FOUR

Spend more time with your customers. You’re never too busy to jump on the phone or answer support tickets

and empathize.

STEP F IVE

Ask for feedback on an ongoing basis. Embrace the 6 pillars and take the time to fix ongoing issues that are

tracked.

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QUESTIONS?

h i @ t a r a r o b e r t s o n . m e t a r a e r o b e r t s o n t a r a r o b e r t s o n . m e