My org currently attaches a CS line item to SOWs, complete with hours/month of CSM time. I'm struggling with it on a few levels, and I'm curious if we can (or would even want to) make this successful.
As I see it:
Pros:
- We are not a cost center. It's clear that CS is a source of revenue.
- We have clear SOWs and can turn to them when clients push the boundaries.
- Resourcing plans are easier - we know how many hours we "owe" our customers and can staff to that number.
Cons:
- Lots of confusion (for customers and internally) between scoped pro services, managed services, and customer success.
- Hourly packaging gives customers a sense of entitlement to tell us what to do, including very tactical chores. They feel they paid for the time, and they can use it however they want. We fight to stay out of the reactive.
- Lots of admin in tracking and reporting hours.
- When it is appropriate to go above and beyond, we're held by the bounds of our SOWs. It's not impossible to invest in our customers, but it is harder.
Before I go full-force in steering us away from this model, I'm curious if anyone has done the hourly-CSM thing effectively. Would love to hear all of your thoughts/opinions and more pros/cons!