project around scaling

Melissa Logothetis

Hello everyone.

I was challenged in an interview with discussing how I would handle 45k customers. The product is mostly a self-service model.  I know that automation will be a big player here. I wanted to see if there was anything else I should consider. 

Thank you for your insights.

Dave Johnstone

Hi Melissa,

I'd say that there isn't enough information to answer the questions well and that you need to dig more deeply.  Possible questions:

• What is their vision?
• What are their desired outcomes for the position and for their clients in order of priority?
• What is their business model? 
• Is the position focused on Customer Success or is their a significant sales component?

Once you get more information it'll be easier to offer a strategy that includes the answers to the above questions.

Good luck!

Dave

Melissa Logothetis

Hi Dave.

Here is more information. The company is a VOIP provider. They are a High volume, low ARR ($20 mo.), transactional type set up. The onboarding is primarily self-service. They currently do not have a CS function. The primary concerns are centered around retention as they identified churn from no/low usage as well as from non-payment. As the overall company has other products there is the potential for cross-selling into other divisions but I'm not sure that is the primary focus at the moment. 

I don't want to get too deep in the weeds at the moment on this as I have a LOT of questions about the types of customers they have. 

My initial thoughts are to automate the engagements with the customer. Have the customers segmented based on industry/size and provide content directed at them that is specific to their segment. Due to the team size (2 CSMs initially) perhaps have a qtrly focus on one segment around expansion. Types of engagements can include how-to videos, feature focus, and case studies.

Overall right now they are completely reactive in their contact with the customer so there is a desire to move to a proactive stance. 

Hope this helps.
Thanks.

Dave Johnstone

Hi Melissa,

It sounds like their primary objective is to improve retention.  The reasons for the churn are:

1. No usage / Low usage
2. Non-payment (which is likely due to the no usage/low usage above)

Has the company dug deeper into the reasons for no usage/low usage?  Any chance this has increased during the pandemic?  If so, is it possible clients have moved to other platforms such as Zoom? See this article.  

I don't know the soundness of the linked article, but it seems to make sense.  Part 2 of the article is about how VOIP providers might compete with these encroaching platforms. 

Hope this is useful.

Cheers,

Dave

Melissa Logothetis

THanks, I will take a look.