bootstrapping customer success: lessons learned from the road
TRANSCRIPT
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Bootstrapping Customer Success
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Co-Op Staff Recruiter
Technical Recruiter
Talent Acquisition Team Lead
Global Project Manager
Product Consultant / CSM
Regional Manager, Customer Success
Senior Manager, Customer Success
2005, BS Applied Psychology (HR)
VP, Global Customer Success
About Me…About me..
Raleigh, NC
San Francisco, CA
2005
2011
2015
2008
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How we look at CS…
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Lessons on bootstrapping
I’ve picked up from the road
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SaaS companies are like restaurants in many ways. Customers have expectations for the food (the product) they
purchase, but also the service they receive…together.
• When was the last time you revisited a restaurant where the food
was great, but the service sucks?
• (Bonus Question) What about where the food was mediocre and
the service was incredible?
Lesson #1It takes two to make a thing go right…
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Lesson #2Must navigate information well.
Cut through the noise.
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Are you having a constant dialogue around determining “is this
something customer success should own”?
There may not be a playbook for it. Your team feels that so long
as it impacts the customer, you jump in and take
accountability for the customer on behalf of the company.
Do you find yourself building PowerPoint decks to pitch and
reinforce your internal value?
Your team is often known as the feisty group that cares as much
for the customers’ interest as your own company, leading the way
and facilitating voice of customer for everyone else
Are you spending substantial time in analysis pouring over
customer behavior to predict dissatisfaction / churn outcomes?
You’d rather aggressively use data to back up a hypothesis your
CSM’s have from spending time with customers. You also
supplement with customer qualitative feedback from real
customers
Do you measure only by churn rates?
Retaining customers is important, but to you this is baseline.
Engaged and referencing customers, case studies, success
stories, and healthy advocates are the goals your team stretches
out for
Be a pirate.Lesson #3
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Lesson #4Relationships are everything
Relationship Opportunities
• Service Reviews
• QBR
• Onsite Visits
• Customer Meet Ups
• LinkedIn Groups/Community
• Social Media
• Webinars
• Mid Year / End Year Mailers
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It is now an even playing field.
Customers have now caught up to our
technology and are well aware how we're all
using the data we capture to understand
everything about them.
Since leveraging customer data is a baseline
expectation, the cutting edge is now pushed
further to a place where delivering a more
savvy, contextual and personalized service is
how you differentiate your company.
In 2015 and beyond, our interactions with
customers will need to explain not just "what
is" but knows who you are, what this means for
you, and why.
Lesson #5
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Lesson #6Bias for action.
Break your comfort zone.
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Lesson #7Don’t wait for the playbook to tell you.
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Don’t wait for playbooks
Break your comfort zone
Have a bias for action
Customers have caught up
Relationships are key
Be a pirate, matey!
Navigate over-information
Service + Product = Expectations
