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Customer Success Best Practices
You’re doing it wrong: Art vs. Science in Customer Success
It seems like something from a different lifetime, but I still remember the old days when sales was all chalkboards, steak knives, and “gut feeling.” Okay, well maybe chalkboards were before my time. Also, I’m vegetarian and don’t really need steak knives. But gut feelings—those were definitely the name of the game back in the day! There was a time (and I’m dating myself here) when the prevailing attitude was that selling was an art—unquantifiable, non-systematic. Sales has gone through a “Moneyball” transition just like baseball—the art is still there, but the science has developed so much more. Fast forward to today. If you’re starting a new company, you often define your sales process, identify your key metrics, and set up your CRM system before you hire your first rep. That’s an important development because companies are now able to start testing and learning in their sales process at a much more rapid rate. The problem with the rock star seller who somehow just closes is that it’s not repeatable. It doesn’t scale. And it will stop working eventually and leave you with no answers and no way forward. But that’s a well known and broadly accepted premise—at least in […]
The Official Chief Customer Officer Welcome Kit
One of the best parts of my job as CEO of Gainsight is seeing individuals with responsibility aligned to customer needs moving up in their own personal careers. And one of the hottest trends in enterprise businesses is to appoint one person with end-to-end operational responsibility for Customer Success and Customer Experience. While the title may vary from company to company, the concept of a “Chief Customer Officer (CCO)” is becoming very popular. Whether you are an experienced CCO, sought out the big job, or got it handed to you, you probably don’t want to reinvent the wheel as you attempt to help your company become more customer-centric and grow faster in the process. As I talk to new or experienced CCOs, I often get the same list of questions. So I tried to document a set of resources that can help you get started or sharpen your team: Follow on LinkedIn Nick Mehta That’s yours truly. I share a lot of big picture stuff about the direction of the industry, along with occasional ramblings about football, physics, and philosophy. You can also follow my writings at mehtaphysical.com or me on Twitter @nrmehta. Allison Pickens Allison is Gainsight’s CCO. She’s a prototypical CCO in […]
4 Reasons You’ll Miss Your Number Without Customer Success
If I had a genie, one of the things I would wish for (after more wishes and a Steelers Super Bowl win) is an extra month between the end of our current fiscal year and the start of our next.* It feels like every year, you go from the stress of closing strong to the new stress of starting from zero again. And if you’re like me, you stare at the $0 bookings amount on the first day of the new fiscal year and say, “How the heck am I going to make my number?” If you’ve been around as long as I have, you might feel nostalgic for the “old days” before SaaS. Making the number was still hard then (and dramatic) but the playbook was pretty simple: Hire reps Ramp reps Push reps If things fail, blame Marketing! But all jokes aside, as bizarre as the licensed software world was in some respects, the model was well-understood and could translate from company to company. And even though we are 15 years into the SaaS/cloud transition, most companies still run sales with an on-premise/license software mindset. Every bookings goal is about more “rep capacity.” But modern CEOs and sales […]
How To Increase Product Adoption With Intelligent Journey Mapping
You track the way your customers use your product. You engage them at different milestones. But did you know that how you reach out to customers at each stage of the customer journey can have a profound effect on product adoption? Do you know which features your customers find most valuable? Do you know how many licenses are in use? Do you know when and how to reach out to maximize their usage? And finally, are you working with end users to ensure they are hitting their success metrics? Nichole Richards, Director of Client Services at Rosetta Stone, and Tyler McNally, Director of Customer Success at Gainsight, will describe in detail how they work with customers to ensure that product adoption continues to increase. In this webinar, you’ll get actionable methods to boost adoption by: Intelligently mapping the customer journey Reaching out at the right time with the right message Tracking, analyzing, and understanding usage data to measure improvement
How to Build the Ultimate Customer Success Board Presentation
Is there anything that causes more sleepless nights or gray hairs than planning a presentation before your Board of Directors? There’s so much riding on it, from your next fiscal year budget to near-term headcount to (potentially) the future of your career at your company. You know that every slide, every sentence, every chart and figure will be closely scrutinized. Our all-star panel has been on both sides of this key business event, and they know exactly what you need to do to prepare and execute a flawless presentation for your board. Alfonso de la Nuez is CEO of UserZoom, a highly customer-centric company. Kristina Shen is a partner at Bessemer Venture Partners, and no stranger to receiving presentations on Customer Success. And finally, Nils Vinje is VP Customer Success at Rainforest QA and founder of Glide Consulting. In this webinar, you will learn: The top three things every CS leader should include in their deck What board members really want to know about Customer Success How to blend metrics, tactics, and strategy into a seamless presentation And much more
Customer Success = Customer Outcomes + Customer Experience
Winning businesses have been paying attention to the customer’s experience for decades now. CX is a fundamental part of building a brand, winning repeat buyers, and engaging happy customers in your Sales & Marketing strategy. But CX is only one half of the equation. The painful truth is that happy customers without results are going to churn. It is imperative for every business to drive a positive customer experience while also ensuring that the customer has positive outcomes using your product. This is precisely why Gainsight invested in developing a customer experience platform that complements and enhances our core customer success product. However, before aligning your CX and CS programs it is important to understand the differences between customer experience and customer outcomes. In this exclusive webinar, Tiffani Bova (Global Customer Growth & Innovation Specialist, Salesforce) and Allison Pickens (Chief Customer Officer, Gainsight) will go in-depth on why there’s a clear distinction between customer experience and customer outcomes, and why both of them should roll up to an overarching Customer Success Strategy at your company. You’ll learn: Who owns the customer experience/outcome in a best practices post-sales organization How to consistently leverage great experiences and outcomes into increased upsell, cross-sell, […]
Continuum Saves $5 Million in ARR Using Gainsight for Partner Success
“Before Gainsight, by the time we found out about a partner risk it was already too late. Now we can take a proactive approach to manage risk. It has saved us over $5 million in ARR since we implemented.” Continuum is an IT management platform that sells 100% through channel partners. Continuum’s partners are Managed Service Providers (MSPs) who provide IT & Security solutions to small and medium businesses around the world. The end-customers span a broad variety of business and industries, ranging from restaurants to boutique shops, doctors offices, libraries, and more. In this model, partners are the key lever for growing the business. Since contracts are not part of Continuum’s partner relationships, it’s critical to proactively manage the partner relationship and consistently deliver stellar results. By improving partner time-to-value, partner knowledge and training, and fostering partner success, Continuum is able to help their partners deliver Continuum products and solutions to the end-client more quickly. Download the case study to read the rest now.
Gainsight Partner Pyramid
Successful business relationships are a joint effort. But, when you’re working with a variety of Channel Partners, you’ll find that this is easier said than done. Every business has individual goals and with that, their own definition of what ‘success’ means to them. This infographic gives you a look at the motivations and expectations that come with three types of partner relationships: strategic, value added, and velocity. You can use these insights to create your own Partner Success Program and drive success for all constituents, from Vendors to Partners to Customers. In this datasheet you’ll learn: How to model your Partner Success Program Three types of Partner relationships Strategies and considerations distinct to each Partner segment How each Partner type views their offerings and your partnership How each Partner type approaches customers
TSIA and Gainsight: Driving Customer Success at Scale
As companies look to achieve sustained growth and profitability over time, they are investing in Customer Success organizations to help secure customer relationships and drive revenue expansion activities. Until now, early Customer Success pioneers have been left largely to their own devices to figure it out as they go. By leveraging TSIA’s Seven Steps to Customer Success at Scale framework, companies can ensure they have the right people, processes, and technology in place—supported by the right metrics and funding model—to ensure long-term success. The Seven Steps are: Define your Customer Success charter Secure funding for you Customer Success organization Establish Customer Success processes Use metrics to measure your Customer SUccess function Hire Customer SUccess staff with the right skills Develop the right Customer Success offers Implement the right Customer Success technology infrastructure