Unpacking the Customer Success Snack Event in Amsterdam 2024
Learn about the takeaways from other workshops
Amsterdam recently played host to an enlightening gathering of customer success professionals. This unique event brought together industry experts, fostering engaging discussions that delved into strategies, challenges, and insights aimed at elevating the practice of customer success. Let’s take a closer look at the key takeaways from this dynamic event.
We have split the learnings in 6 topics.
- Nurturing Customer Centricity
- Advocating for Customer Success
- Scaling Customer Success in the Digital Age
- Strategic Customer Success Management
- Retaining Revenue Strategies
- Driving Organizational Change
1. Nurturing Customer Centricity
The first round table set the tone for the event, emphasizing the core principle of customer centricity. Sally and Pieter shared valuable insights on striking a balance between customer needs and business strategy.
Sally’s Insights:
- Emphasized balancing customer needs with business strategy is a trend in a lot of companies.
- The group was advocating to challenge customers for mutual growth while defining boundaries and risks.
- They suggested to take into account how the economic downturn not just changes your business, but also those of your customer’s. With that, communication channels and priorities will change and we need to stay on top of those.
- Personally we love this analogy: “Every customer interaction is like a bank transaction, we either pay into the relationship or withdraw from it. And in both scenarios we want a positive balance at the end of the day.”
Pieter’s findings & Practical examples:
Customer centricity is not just a department; it’s a company-wide culture that should start at the top. Sharing KPIs across all teams is crucial.
Practical example:
Do customer reviews (similar to deal reviews) that are owned by CS with sales & product where challenges/opportunities are discussed.
The CEO’s involvement, aligning sales incentives with successful customer onboarding, and viewing support as a revenue driver were highlighted.
Practical example:
Having the CEO own 2-3 customers (of course with help of a CSM) to really make them understand how customers are benefiting from and experiencing the value of a product.
Discussed challenges in making leadership customer-centric, focusing on gender dynamics and strategic involvement in client calls.
Practical example:
Dealing with an all male leadership team can be challenging for female CS leaders. A female mentor in a leadership position from another company can help in cases like these.
Key Takeaways:
- Striking a balance between customer needs and business strategy is paramount.
- Customer centricity should permeate the entire organization’s culture.
- CEO involvement is crucial for successful customer-centric initiatives.
2. Advocating for Customer Success
Advocacy for customer success being a value centre was the central theme of the second round table. Sally provided practical insights on making a compelling case for the significance of CS.
Sally’s Insights:
Advocated making a case for CS as a value centre, not just a cost centre.
Practical example:
Make the work you perform in CS as measurable as possible. The most obvious metrics being attributing the Revenue Number that was generated or retained in CS, maybe also in terms of # of licences or products. Especially the churn reduction value (revenue formerly at risk) and expansion revenue are hard facts that leaders and investors love to see! The use of Customer Success Qualified Leads (CSQL) is a great tool to do so.
Suggested using successful strategies from other departments for rewarding CS team members.
Practical example:
Every sales organization has their equivalent of a “President’s Club”, some form of very tangible rewards for great performance. Make sure that your CSMs are being celebrated equally for their impact. Even if it is not as straight forward to measure, create something similar to sales leaderboards, e.g. a visible scoreboard that tracks key CS metrics like CSat, NPS, or revenue retention rate. Highlight top performers and celebrate individual or team achievements. Recognize individual CS managers who consistently go above and beyond for their clients, maybe by nominating and announcing a monthly or quarterly “hero” and sharing their success story with the company. Last but not least, during all-hands meetings or company newsletters, publicly acknowledge the impact of the CS team. Share positive customer testimonials highlighting a specific CSM’s intervention and its positive outcome.
- Use all quantifiable aspects of CS to put forward their impact. This could be: Adoption Rates, Churn Data, Voice of the Customer Feedback, Health Scoring (however that looks in your team)
Key Takeaways:
- Positioning CS as a value centre is crucial for organizational success.
- Leveraging successful strategies from other departments enhances CS team performance.
- Quantifiable metrics are powerful tools for demonstrating the impact of CS.
3. Scaling Customer Success in the Digital Age
With the digital landscape evolving, the third round table focused on scaling customer success in the digital age. Diego shared insights on maintaining a baseline through Digital/Scaled Customer Success.
Diego’s Insights:
Discussed maintaining a baseline through Digital/Scaled Customer Success.
Practical example:
Set triggers and playbooks to include human interactions.
Highlighted how scaled customer success enables CSMs to be more proactive.
Practical example:
With tooling you can automate pro-active triggers based on user behaviour, you can take the guess work out of it and really focus on practive drivers.
Key Takeaways:
- Digital/Scaled Customer Success provides a consistent baseline for customer interactions.
- Proactivity increases as CSMs spend less time on repeatable tasks.
- Digital CS is an effective way to engage multiple contacts within a customer’s organization.
4. Strategic Customer Success Management
Strategic customer success management took the spotlight in the fourth round table. Diego, Pieter, and Flavia provided multifaceted insights on collaboration and client-focused strategies.
Diego, Pieter, Catherine and Flavia’s Insights:
- Pieter underscored the importance of structuring customer-facing teams for enterprise customers.
- Enterprise definition varies based on employee count and ARR, with differing objectives; startups face challenges in solely focusing on large customers, while documenting value is crucial.
- Documenting value involves attention to ROI, engaging Directors, and involving cross-functional teams.
- Scaling entails applying Enterprise learnings to support low-touch customers, utilizing data to define touch points.
- Communicating with Enterprise involves discussions on EBRs, utilizing multiple platforms for efficient communication is a trend.
- Defining internal truth requires clear communication; collaboration with tooling teams is essential for Enterprise focus, addressing vulnerabilities.
Key Takeaways:
- Identifying growth opportunities requires a deep understanding of client account complexity.
- Evaluating ARR’s financial impact is crucial for strategic decision-making.
- A well-structured customer-facing team is essential for effectively serving enterprise customers.
5. Retaining Revenue Strategies
Jose and Catherine led discussions on retaining revenue, focusing on engaging customers and maintaining consistent communication.
Jose and Catherine Insights:
- Advocated engaging with customers to define clear and realistic goals.
- Highlighted the importance of consistent communication, emphasizing ROI and tangible benefits.
- Learning the language of the industry is an important element in the onboarding that should never be forgotten.
- Help customers save money, be transparent, express gratitude, provide real value, allow flexible payment options, maintain frequent communication, invest in relationships, offer loyalty discounts, be responsive, monitor satisfaction, demonstrate and measure value.
- In tough times, competition may cut products, conversations become DIY-specific with no contracts, reduced prices are essential but legal, retention becomes more difficult, and layoffs result in budget cuts.
- Adjusting customer segmentation involves focusing on higher-tier revenue, potentially eliminating lower-level customers, providing customer success management, and expanding digital account coverage.
- Adapting the product requires navigating education and awareness phases, addressing customer needs during tough times, and considering customer outcomes.
- During tough times, sales efforts focus on preventing churn, with customer success potentially enhancing product value; building relationships remains crucial, while adapting roles and strategies as necessary.
A checklist for success:
- Save money,
- Be transparent,
- Express gratitude,
- Provide real value,
- Allow flexible payment options,
- Maintain frequent communication,
- Invest in relationships,
- Offer loyalty discounts,
- Be responsive,
- Monitor satisfaction,
- Demonstrate and measure value.
Key Takeaways:
- Engaging with customers to define clear goals is foundational for retention.
- Consistent communication reinforces the value and benefits of the product or service.
- Using industry language is effective when engaging with key decision-makers.
6. Driving Organizational Change
The final round table explored strategies for driving organizational change, emphasizing tangible value and collaboration between teams.
Discussions included:
- Demonstrating tangible value through metrics like NRR and churn.
- Advocating for a CS seat at decision-making tables.
- Fostering collaboration between sales, product, and customer success teams.
- Utilizing customer data and emphasizing leadership buy-in.
Key Takeaways:
- Tangible metrics are powerful tools for showcasing the impact of customer success.
- A CS seat at decision-making tables enhances the organization’s customer-centric focus.
- Collaboration between teams is essential for addressing customer needs effectively.
Key Elements for Success
Several key elements for success were identified across the round tables, including proactivity, clear intentions, time management, fair incentivization, and quarterly planning.
Proactivity: Anticipate and attend to client needs before they emerge. Proactivity is the foundation for successful customer engagement.
Clear Intentions: Establish and devote targeted time and resources to achieve clear goals. Clear intentions provide direction and focus for customer success initiatives.
Time Management: Organize and prioritize tasks across client portfolios for maximum efficiency. Effective time management maximizes efficiency and productivity.
Fair Incentivization: Offer equitable rewards for renewal efforts. Fair incentivization motivates the team to drive successful outcomes.
Quarterly Planning: Participate in risk assessments and strategic account planning sessions. Quarterly planning facilitates proactive decision-making and risk mitigation.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the Customer Success Snack event in Amsterdam was a pivotal moment for customer success professionals. The event provided a platform for networking, knowledge sharing, and learning. Attendees left inspired, armed with tools, strategies, and connections to navigate the evolving landscape of customer success. The event not only showcased the power of proactive communication and cross-functional collaboration but also emphasized the crucial role of customer-centric strategies in achieving business success. The diverse perspectives, thought-provoking discussions, and sense of community fostered at the event contributed to its success, leaving a lasting impact on the attendees.
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