This is the final article in a series of five customer success articles that have discussed the purpose of customer success, outlined some of the things that can help you achieve it, suggested how you might measure the success of customer success, and looked at how and when to engage your CS team. The last piece is about delivery – what the customer success team has to do and what the customer has to do on their side to achieve a successful outcome. There are no guarantees, but I really hope this advice helps to turn customer success into successful customers.
Delivering customer success
Delivery needs a plan, it needs a schedule, and most of all it needs a driver. Some of the advice in this article may repeat or elaborate on ideas mentioned in previous articles – separating delivery from objectives or engagement is not always possible – but this final article attempts to focus on the process of delivering customer success rather than the artifacts or teams involved.
I see four phases in the delivery of customer success, some or all of which may repeat.
Phase one
The first phase begins even before a sale and lasts at least until the customer is fully onboarded. It involves assigning a single contact in the customer success team for every customer and identifying someone on the customer side who will engage as the main point of contact. This relationship is key, so it’s important to choose the right people where possible – like a good masseur, be prepared to shift the point of contact if it’s not working and try different approaches until you feel something click. Once things start to loosen up, broaden out your activity – more touch points, different techniques – to build that relationship as deep and wide as you can. Be the delivery driver. Don’t interfere with the sales process, but be present in the discussions and look for someone who is interested in making progress post-sale. The single point of contact should remain in control on both the customer success side and the customer side after the sale. Other stakeholders and operational teams, and even marketing or executive sponsors, can be added to the mix so that the customer feels valued, helped, and fully supported in this relationship.
Phase two
The second phase is to discover what the customer is looking for from the relationship. Always bearing in mind what was contractually agreed and what goals were articulated or promises made during the sales cycle, it is up to customer success to carry out detailed discovery of customer goals and aspirations. New stakeholders may have entered the picture, priorities may have changed, or individuals may be more open about their objectives now that the deal has closed. What does the customer need from you? What are they prepared to contribute in terms of time, resources, and engagement? Define what success looks like for the customer, make a plan, get an agreement, and work towards these objectives together.