Customer Success software is an excellent addition to any business’s sales and CRM systems. It allows users to track their customers’ data which in turn helps the client succeed while retaining them for the long-term. For years, Customer Success software has been marketed as a solution for SaaS companies and startups in the technology sector. While it is a perfect tool for these businesses, Customer Success software can be used by any business seeking to retain customers and expand their profits.
In this article, we’ll discuss the benefits of Customer Success software, how the theories and concepts of Customer Success can benefit any business along with real-world, practical uses for Customer Success software like Kapta.
Automation
Before Customer Success software came around, account managers had to do all of the tedious work to build relationships with clients including tracking and managing the customer’s important data. Key Account Management systems like Kapta automate much of the data tracking process so account managers can spend less time working in spreadsheets and more time building personal, successful relationships with clients.
Customer Retention
It’s cheaper to sell to an existing customer than it is to convince a new customer to come on board. Customer Success software systems help account managers maintain and strengthen customer relationships by accurately tracking the customer’s data. One of the most critical measures for SaaS companies is the client’s usage of their programs. With this metric, account managers can see who is logging into the app, predict usage trends and forecast churn.
By utilizing this data, account managers can determine which clients love the software and which ones haven’t used it in a while. They can then reach out to the inactive clients to try and correct any problems they may be experiencing as well as reaffirming their commitment to building upon their success.
Expansion
Renewals, cross and up-sell opportunities contribute significantly to a client’s lifetime value for any firm. Customer Success systems allow account managers to visualize and monitor each account’s long-term goals which make it easier for them to identify products and services the customer will be more likely to purchase. An organized system like this allows account managers to keep tabs on what each customer is looking to accomplish and then identify opportunities to cross-sell more products and services.
Focusing on this link between the company’s products and services with the client’s goals will create long-term success for not only the customer, but the service provider as well, as the customer, will begin to see the intrinsic value in purchasing from them.
So, what if your company doesn’t specialize in software sales? Or what if your services and products have nothing to do with technology at all? The core-ideas and values of Customer Success still apply to you. Here are some examples:
One of the key principles of Customer Success is remaining proactive and anticipating what customers might need next. Traditionally, businesses might have chosen to simply wait for customers to come to them, only relying on marketing materials and the occasional sales push.
The key to Customer Success is to consistently stay in contact with key accounts to better understand their goals so you can find ways to help them achieve their success. While SaaS vendors will do this through careful monitoring of the client’s usage data and other metrics, any business that serves clients with ongoing products and services can schedule a call or email once or twice a week to check-in with the client.
Results-based strategies are another pillar to the success of CS. If you are careless, and just let clients fall to the wayside without creating and following a consistent game plan, the success of your clients and the ultimate success of your relationship will stumble. CS software packages like Kapta include templates and playbooks to ensure your business has a sound CS strategy; however, you can also accomplish this without software, it’s just much more tedious.
Grab a notepad and jot down these three steps:
Your strategy should be more detailed than that simple list, but breaking it down to those three steps is a simple way to visualize your entire Customer Success strategy. Keep a strategy playbook for each of your clients, and be proactive in your approach.
If your client achieves success, your business does as well. The goal is to create a link between your services and your customer’s success so they will stay with your company for the long-haul and begin to see your products and services as a primary contributor to achieving their goals.
When speaking with each of these clients, you want to add a personal touch to your products and genuinely listen to their goals. Traditionally, sales were viewed in a negative light where the salesman does the selling and pushes useless products onto a client that isn’t really interested. Customer Success and Key Account Management are shifting this focus, and instead building a win-win relationship with clients where each party benefits from the exchange.
KPIs are different for every company and every business model, so it’s essential to determine what you’ll be measuring as a form of success. The most common KPIs for many companies are:
Churn
If your service is based on a subscription-model, measuring the churn rate is an efficient way to determine how often customers are continuing service and what percentage are canceling.
Expansion Revenue
This will determine if repeat customers are buying more products or services from your than they did the first time. Overall, you want to expand your offerings to customers in the long-run, so their success almost becomes dependent on your services.
Satisfaction
Sending a brief email survey after each purchase or asking clients about their satisfaction with the services will give you a beat on the pulse of your accounts and if there is anything that needs to be changed.
So how are you ensuring your customers are successful? Have you given it much thought? Try implementing some Customer Success strategies into your sales and account management teams and see how quickly your retention rates increase as your clients begin to look at your company as the leading proponent of their success.
If you would like to try one of the leading Customer Success software platforms available, download your free demo of Kapta today.