When customer success (CS) first came into the mainstream, a lot of vendors focused very closely on their product. They were very focused on the specific features and functions. They spent a lot of time and effort explaining the product and its roadmap to customers. Slowly, we are seeing a shift where CS teams are[…]
4 Things You Should Do To Develop a Proactive, Confident CS Team When we ask clients what they most want to have as an outcome from Customer Success (CS) training, they often indicate that they want their CS team to be more confident when working with customers. They want customer success staff to be more[…]
If you are like many customer success managers, you are probably extremely focused on the question, “Will our customers be successful with OUR software”. You and your team probably ask yourselves what you, as a customer success professional, need to do to ensure the customer is successful using your product. But there is a more[…]
I have had a lot of discussions lately with numerous customer success (CS) professionals and recognized thought leaders about the challenges in setting up a thriving CS team in an organization that has never had CS before. We looked at numerous examples where SaaS vendors invested in hiring a CS leader to build a CS[…]
For years – long before the invention of SaaS, software vendors could make tons of sales by selling customers on the idea that software would solve all (well, most) of their problems. If you bought their system, all the great features and functions baked into their product would deliver great results. Vendors had polished demos[…]
I recently watched this great video from Sustainable Human that tells the story about how reintroducing just 14 wolves to Yellowstone National Park in 1995 had a profound impact on that natural ecosystem.
The Two Questions that Customer Success Managers Should Ask at Each and Every Client Meeting Many Customer Success Managers (CSMs) struggle with lacking the confidence, or the experience, to have the most effective conversations with their clients. They tend to get nervous or uncomfortable with asking clients about business issues and discussing what it will[…]
The most amazing thing happened after recent World Cup game. The Japanese spectators all cleaned up after themselves in the stadium. Many of them had even brought their own trash bags to make sure that they could leave the place spotless. When have you ever heard of such a thing happening at the sports events[…]
The rise of the digital workplace is changing how people collaborate and conduct work, forcing us to reexamine a lot of assumptions and rote behaviors. We need to rethink both how we work and how we impact others’ work. This got me thinking that we can learn a lot about how to drive effective digital[…]
Many well-intentioned CS professionals are so focused on the details of their product or service, and are in a rush to get the customer to cover a lot of information, they skip the critical relationships-building tasks that form the foundation for a strategic, trusting relationship. As a result, clients are cautious and hesitant to engage[…]
