CS Platform Advise

Scott Hair
Scott Hair Member Posts: 9 Contributor
Third Anniversary 5 Comments Photogenic Name Dropper
in CS Technology
We are just starting the evaluation process of a CS platform and looking for some advice on platforms.  We're looking at Gainsight and ChurnZero, but curious if there are others we should be considering?  Planhat has come up as well as Service Hub from Hubspot.  Does anyone have experience with Service Hub?  It seems to be more for Support ticketing than CS.  

The 2 main business objectives we want to achieve are building out a customer health dashboard (API to Product data) and improving CS efficiencies & self-help to our lower tiered customer base.  

Company Background:
90% of Customer Base from Public K12 Market Segment
1500 Customers = 70% of ARR (Large/Medium)
4500 Customers = 30% of ARR (Small)
ACV = $5,000
CS Headcount = 15
CRM:  Salesforce
Marketing CRM: Hubspot

Thank you in advance for your advice!
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Comments

  • SYoung
    SYoung Member Posts: 14 Navigator
    10 Comments First Anniversary 5 Likes Name Dropper
    Very interested in this discussion. Also evaluating Hubspot's CSM capabilities. 
  • SYoung
    SYoung Member Posts: 14 Navigator
    10 Comments First Anniversary 5 Likes Name Dropper
    Thanks so much Miranda, very helpful. 
  • weeiicklund
    weeiicklund Member Posts: 1
    First Comment
    We’ve also evaluated HubSpot and don’t recommend it for CS, customised onboarding and account management strategies, 360 overview etc. Not user friendly (and very frustrating). However I guess it depends on your need as well, but it wasn’t for us. 

    Thanks Miranda die sharing that doc!
    we have a meeting with Planhat on Tuesday ☺️
  • Scott Hair
    Scott Hair Member Posts: 9 Contributor
    Third Anniversary 5 Comments Photogenic Name Dropper
    Your analysis Miranda is super helpful, thank you!  I maybe reaching out to you to learn more about your Planhat implementation!
  • PazitCSM
    PazitCSM Member Posts: 4
    First Comment
    EverAfter is a more customer-facing hub, personalized for each customer, so you, as CS,  can provide a high-touch Customer Experience Portal for each client with everything they need. It is a platform (codeless) so you can also integrate with other data points. 
    I recommend to check it 
  • Yuya at Commune
    Yuya at Commune Member Posts: 11 Navigator
    10 Comments Name Dropper 5 Likes Photogenic
    I agree with Miranda.
    At commune.us, we used to use Hubspot as a CS platform but couldn't find it the best for a SaaS company with ARR $1M<. Considering the current company size, better choose other options!
  • Rachael C.
    Rachael C. Member Posts: 3 Newcomer
    Photogenic First Comment
    Hi There!

    I have used the following CRMs in my CSM experience but the one I tend to like best is Gainsight. They have a really good integration with SFDC which makes it a smoother process when working cross-functionally with AE, SDR, SE, etc...
    • Workiva [Gainsight] - When I was here we were only about 300 employees and used Gainsight's CSM now even as a large public corporation.
    • Zoom Video Communications [Totango] - At Zoom we used Totango which had some limited API connections to SFDC but we also used a third-party tool [Quip] for a transfer of knowledge process that AEs had to complete in order to close out their deals. I will say that I believe Zoom is looking to potentially move over to Gainsight due to some limitations from Totango.
    • Spekit and Stack Overflow [Catalyst] - Although I really like Catalyst I will say it can be a bit clunky at times. Catalyst has the makings to be a great CRM for CSMs but they have some bugs they need to work on. Catalyst also does not have a way to build out a Success Plan in their platform like Gainsight can.
    I hope this helps a bit, happy to discuss further any of these CRMs!
  • Rachael C.
    Rachael C. Member Posts: 3 Newcomer
    Photogenic First Comment
    Hi There!

    I have used the following CRMs in my CSM experience but the one I tend to like best is Gainsight. They have a really good integration with SFDC which makes it a smoother process when working cross-functionally with AE, SDR, SE, etc...
    • Workiva [Gainsight] - When I was here we were only about 300 employees and used Gainsight's CSM now even as a large public corporation.
    • Zoom Video Communications [Totango] - At Zoom we used Totango which had some limited API connections to SFDC but we also used a third-party tool [Quip] for a transfer of knowledge process that AEs had to complete in order to close out their deals. I will say that I believe Zoom is looking to potentially move over to Gainsight due to some limitations from Totango.
    • Spekit and Stack Overflow [Catalyst] - Although I really like Catalyst I will say it can be a bit clunky at times. Catalyst has the makings to be a great CRM for CSMs but they have some bugs they need to work on. Catalyst also does not have a way to build out a Success Plan in their platform like Gainsight can.
    I hope this helps a bit, happy to discuss further about any of these CRMs!

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