I get asked all the time how you will know if your Customer Success initiative is, well, successful. First, you have to focus on your customers and remember that they have a desired outcome. Solve for that and know what it takes to get them there. Measure and monitor to ensure they’re successful along the way;
For many companies, implementing “customer success” processes and capabilities is a relatively new concept. SaaS companies have been the early adopters of institutionalizing customer success as a core function – Customer Success Managers at SaaS companies are focused day-to-day on driving renewals, increasing up-sell and cross-sell revenue, and managing their customers more proactively and efficiently.
I’m often asked what the best ways are to test whether you are satisfying customers, but I think those questions are actually misaligned with what we really should be focusing on. Before I go on, I have to say that I still say things like “make the customer happy” (even though I wrote this article) and “improve
One of my favorite Customer Success sayings is: “Not only is the customer not always right, they’re almost always wrong.” When Dan Steinman, Chief Customer Officer here at Gainsight, came up with that saying, he did so to be provocative and to make a point. Now, to bring it back around and put everyone at ease,
If you’ve ever had – or ever will have – turnover in your Customer Success Management organization, this article will help you improve the transition from one Customer Success Manager to another, ensuring your customers have a seamless, painless experience. In the Customer Success industry, we frequently talk about nailing the handoffs from group to
When I talk about reducing churn through Customer Success Management, to really drive the point home I’ll mention both Customer Retention and Renewal. This always raises a few eyebrows (which is why I do it) and prompts the “wait, aren’t those the same?” question. They’re not… and here’s the logic I used to get to
I’m fortunate to have the great privilege to get to speak to lots of groups of Customer Success professionals. I’m brought in as the expert but, as often as not, I learn just as much as they do. It’s truly one of the most enjoyable things I get to do in my job. I have
The CIO. Steve Jobs was adamant about not wanting to take Apple into the enterprise business because it would mean, “we would have to deal with 500 orifices called CIO’s.” I’d like to think things have moved on – Apple has now made a huge move into the corporate sector and partnered with – of all
As a die-hard Pittsburgh sports fan, I’ve learned to avoid the 617 area code Boston region in the months following their regular inevitable sports championship of one kind or another. Furthermore, with near-all-time-record February snowfall, this month wasn’t the ideal month to convince a California transplant to come visit the “City of Champions.” But when
Last Thursday was the first (of many, I hope) SaaStr Annual conference in San Francisco and it was awesome! From the venue, to the “between two ferns” interview setup, to the fact that CEOs from some of the hottest companies – including current Gainsight customers Box, OpenDNS, MobileIron, and Influitive – were there to share