August 2022 - Scaling CS
How do you do more with less?
The age-old question that haunts customer success leaders.
In a 1-to-many situation it can be difficult to find tactical ways to show just how a customer is doing. You have data, maybe a few emails, but that 1:1 relationship depth of knowledge is no longer possible.
So how can you continue to meet your customers where they are and help grow them to where they could be?
A few examples:
- Hosting Office Hours. Invite your customers to a meeting where the focus is engaging with each other – they're all doing the same role (or similar role). Let them commiserate in that – sometimes it is a benefit to be the host of the party.
- Send short videos that drive a connection. These can be announcements about product updates, a quick tip, or other communication that would be relevant for everyone. A personal touch in a short period of time.
After the introduction, the breakout rooms began, and participants discussed the following question:
- What is a successfully scaled CS program you have running?
Successfully Scaled Program Examples
- Journey Orchestrator through Gainsight
- Not email as future for CS
- Shared Slack channels with customers
- Zendesk – first level of support and then transition to deeper level beyond that need
- Management of overall tech issues must be triaged first, and then the CSM can go further
- Fairly hands-on
- CS owns communication
- Should be in partnership with product and technology teams
- Product board can be used to:
- Share upcoming product features
- Allow for feedback before the release
- Helps product pivot quickly
- Allows customers to influence product direction
- Utilize macros for commonly asked questions, capturing aha moments, and identifying customer milestones that can be celebrated
- Need to identify your customers
- $$$ from each customer
- Behavior within the platform (helps determine how to reach them)
- Identify your power users
- Have conversations to help identify the personas at that organization
- Helps locate potential partners
- Communities can be used to bring customers together
- Networks allow industry specific groups of customers to learn, share, and connect
- Can build for mid-touch customers
- Host documentation such as case studies, quick tips, instructions here for ease of access
- Allow customers to engage with others like them
- Tech Touch QBRs – what are the open rates?
- White glove service can be highly successful
- High touch 1:1 is sometimes the only thing that exists
- Can still use scale techniques to maximize general communication, allowing more strategic conversations to be the focus of the 1:1
- Office Hours
- Focus on answering questions
- Ensure someone from product is available for immediate response
- Customer Success Portal
- Share videos about product implementation
- Webinar sharing upcoming updates
- Session covering roadmap
- Workshops
- Can be used to prepare customers for high touch times of year for scale support
Outreach
- Quarterly
- Value added emails based on customer goals
- Use video sharing appreciation for the customer
- 3-4 emails can have great open rates, but be sure to check the metrics
- Customer Marketing can be used to send out monthly usage reports
- Follow this up with Client Success Advisor contact
- Can help with adoption through great content
- Creating communication templates and language in daily CS motions as a precursor to automating tasks
Digital CS
- Digital training
- Social media
- Software like Pendo can be used to track which products are being accessed by which client
- Need to have clean data to ensure accurate customer segmenting
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Jay Nathan is the CCO at Higher Logic, where he brings his experience in Customer Success by helping SaaS companies connect with their customer communities.
Jeff Breunsbach is the Director of Brand at Higher Logic, where his passion for developing a cohesive brand helps Customer Success organizations ensure their messaging is highly effective.