High Touch to Tech Touch - Tips on making the transition?

amarahub

We have decided to segment our customers by high touch vs tech touch. Up until now, all of our customers have had their own account manager. [We will still have an account manager for the tech touch segment but only for escalations].

Any tips on how to explain to customers that they won't have an account manager assigned? Any tips from anyone who has made this transition?

Harsh Shah

Hi @amarahub, it's great to hear that you've decided to create different strategies based on customer segments.

As per my understanding, right now all these customers have account managers assigned. So, can you please confirm that you've explicitly written or mentioned somewhere in your contract that an AM will be assigned to them?

If this is not mentioned explicitly but AM just becomes the SPOC as the client transition from sales to the post-sales cycle then I would suggest starting gradually. Meaning, that you could decrease the dependency by self-serving materials and automation so customers won't need an AM for small concerns. They only have to get engaged in case of complex problems and later you can mature your tech-touch process for this type of concern too.

With this approach, the client's concerns are also getting addressed with very low interaction and your AM can focus on more important activities like renewals, account expansion, cross-sells, etc. If the client is able to self-serve them with your tech-touch model then they wouldn't mind if they have dedicated AM assigned or not to them.

If you've explicitly mentioned an AM will be assigned to them in your contract then you must update them about these changes during renewal. To make this process smooth, create a strong and robust tech-touch process to give them assurance that it won't affect them and AM would be always there for any complex problems.

I hope this would be helpful!

Brian O'Keeffe

Make it as seamless as possible. That is the key. Automating as much as possible and reserving a human touch for specific instances is the key. It can be manageable and is a way to create confidence and customer value in your tech touch program. What doesn't work is automating everything and expecting there to be no responses or follow ups, ever, or any way besides support for the customer to engage a person.

Ashley Harpp

Hi @amarahub

I love this question! At my company, we help the customer understand the value of our tech touch model without making them feel as if they are losing resources. In fact, we like to position it by letting them know that they will receive even more resources from us (webinars, tech talks, enablement materials etc). We also like to stress how this transition will continue to help them reach their business goals. Above all of this, I’d say timing is key. If the customer is disgruntled or frustrated, we’ve found it beneficial to wait until their sentiment has improved before introducing a change.

If you have customer advocates who are part of the digital tech touch model you could use them as a case study of further demonstrate the value of your tech touch program and build excitement for your customer.

Hope this helps!