Are you stalking clients before they are coming to you?

Emie G

Before on boarding a client are you stalking the company and the point of contact that was provided to you by sales department?
Which kind of information are you looking for on the company or on the point of contact? What, in your opinion, could be helpful to you and why?
Which information will help you know your client before they know you?

Harsh Shah

Absolutely @Emie G,

The more questions you ask, the more you will learn about your client. The more you learn, the more opportunity you have to help them with your solution. So thorough understanding of your client's background, business, their wants/needs is very imperative for a Customer Success professional.

Here is a checklist I created to know more about my customer and their business before the start of their project:

1. Customer background
   • Position
   • Country
   • Contact info
   • Nature
   • Problems
   • Previous partner
   • Expectations
   • Level of digital expertise
     
     
2. Business background
   • Industry type
   • Competitors
   • Challenges
   • Opportunities
   • Best Practices
   • Prospective customers
   • Budget
   • Decision-making process (Stakeholders & Influencers)
   • Vision
   • Growth potential
     
     
3. Goals
   • Quick wins
   • Monthly
   • Quarterly
   • Yearly
   • Important metrics
     
     
4. Deadline
   • Impacts of missing the deadline
   • Dependencies or Related activities
   • Key milestones
   • Important dates
   • Time constraints
   • UAT's
     
     
5. Hierarchies
   • POC & SPOC
   • Set responsibilities and Accountabilities (RACI)
     
     
6. Similar past projects
   • Risks
   • Obstacles
   • Advantage

I hope this would be helpful!

Before on boarding a client are you stalking the company and the point of contact that was provided to you by sales department?
Which kind of information are you looking for on the company or on the point of contact? What, in your opinion, could be helpful to you and why?
Which information will help you know your client before they know you?