8 Customer Success Strategies You Should Definitely Implement (2023)

He is well. You can exhale that long stifled sigh of relief. Implementing an effective customer success program across the enterprise is notnoYou need to feel like climbing Mount Everest – a daunting and nearly impossible feat that only the bravest and smartest customer retention experts can attempt.

The process does not have to occur all at once either.Uf.

While launching a full program and team will likely require a number of operational changes going forward, you can smooth the long-term transition by following the right strategies and formalizing your current activities. So, when your company is finally ready to move forward with this program, you'll have done a lot of legwork andmy being Prepared for success, for your customers and your company.

But wait a second. Customer success is not just aSaaS(Software as a Service) thing?

Short answer: not anymore.

While customer success has emerged from the rapidly growing SaaS industry, there is also a huge opportunity for companies outside of the software world to build meaningful and powerful customer success programs that drivecustomer retentionand recurring revenue. And if you're an avid fan of the inbound marketing methodology, you'll quickly see how the two initiatives work so well together.

Regardless of your industry, the purpose of this post is to highlight how you can create a customer success strategy that generates more leads for your business. In addition, you will find that formalizing these activities:

• Maximize the customer experience at every touchpoint a customer has with your business
• Promote better internal communication
• Contribute to customer satisfaction (ringing any inbound marketing bells?)

But first, to sensibly structure the ideas in this article, let's look at customer success in the context of a six-part methodology.

A customer success strategy framework

Every company's journey with their customers is different, but at Precision Marketing Group, we have acustomer success methodologythat any company, in any industry, can follow when putting together an effective customer success program.

Keep in mind that the little blue circles indicate some of the strategies you will use during a customer's experiences with your brand or business. Yes, expectations vary among customers and you should consider that too.they areexpectations of what you hope to achieve. But know that understanding and proactively improving the customer experience innately contributes tocustomer success.

So let's break it down.

1. Brand recognition

The customer success methodology starts long before your buyer signs on the dotted line. Think about it... the first time a potential customer meets and engages with your company is often a memorable experience, because57% of the purchase decisionit's done even before the customer picks up the phone. And let's face it, most B2B first impressions today are made online, via your company's website or perhaps via email or social media.

Sim,design and user experience are criticalto create a "hook", but if a visitor takes the time to see your brand beyond a quick scan, it's your marketing team's job to provide not only a positive experience, but a consistent one. Your business message, aesthetic, and content all need to align, as an inconsistent or frustrating experience is likely to end the buyer's journey right there.

It's in this brand awareness phase that you start nurturing and qualifying leads that you're sure you can help. Therefore, it is imperative that you have a clear definition of what makes a client a good fit, both for your benefit and theirs.

Now, chances are your website content, branding, images, etc. already have a look and feel that makes sense for your company and your industry. If youto dofinding that your site can be characterized as a little...all over the place, it's time to rethink your reliable inbound marketingtraining(more specifically, theAttractsyConverterstages) and consider yourtarget buyer personas. You need to identify:

• Who exactly are you trying to reach?
• What do they value?
• What problems are they trying to solve?
• And what content will resonate with them the most?

No matter what your business is, no matter what product or service you're selling, establishing your buyer personas is a critical first step in building a strong foundation for customer success. Even if you haven't built these profiles yet, the customer success strategy youterWhat I've already been following is publishing and disseminating content focused on the needs of your audience.

By doing this, you are already addressing the69% two B2B buyerswho agree that the most influential aspect of any provider's website is "relevant content that speaks directly to [their] business."

2. Education about products/services

Some customers might like your content but won't know why they need your product or service. Perhaps your product or business is new to the industry and potential customers are doubtful of your credibility. Or maybe customers aren't even aware of the problem they're facing, forcing you to point it out and explain how your business can revolutionize their lives.

Those customers are still valuable leads, but you just need to educate them before they're motivated to buy your product or service. Your business can do this by offering free content that includes information about your business or industry. This includes blog posts, emails, employee interviews, etc. The purpose of this content is to make your brand appear more credible to your target audience.

At Hubspot, we do a good job of educating users. In addition to the blog you're enjoying right now, HubSpot offers free training programs throughAcademia HubSpot. These programs include video lessons that guide viewers through using HubSpot tools. Plus, HubSpot explains how these tools can be integrated into your company's marketing, sales, and customer service strategies.

By educating your potential leads as well as current customers, your business will create a friendlier customer experience. This ensures customer success because it minimizes the number of potential obstacles users will face when using your product or service.

3. Customer Acquisition

When it comes to customer acquisition, your sales team holds the reins. As prospects convert into qualified leads and move down the funnel, their experience and expectations of your business really start to take shape. If they close and become customers, they will expect the same level of consistency as the relationship builds. This is why it is so important that:

1. A member of your sales team builds a strong relationship with the prospect.
2. Every person on your team that the prospect has contact with is "on the same page."
3. Operations or a member of the prospect's account team is involved in sales discussions early on.

So here's what you're already doing well... During the discovery calls your reps have with engaged leads where they're learning more aboutconsumer needs, talking about pricing, discussing how your business works: Sales inevitably explains the results a customer can expect from your product or service delivery team.

To support these efforts, implementing the right technology is essential. If you are one of91% of B2B companiesWith more than 11 employees investing in customer relationship management (CRM) software, this is another box ticked on the customer success to-do list. In addition, it would be prudent to write a clear strategy statement that Marketing, Sales, and any other key stakeholders can agree on. This agreement will succinctly define your target audience, how you intend to help them, the role each department plays, and what your team (or your product) will deliver.

It sounds so simple, but you'd be surprised how often potential customers are sold a dream that ends up falling apart by the time they make the purchase. The key here is that your Marketing, Sales, and Operations teams are working together to achieve mutual goals. If these departments aren't aligned from the start, or don't have the same working knowledge of the product or service (or access to the same data), you're creating a hodgepodge of looming customer retention problems.

4. Guided integration

Does your company already have a documented onboarding process? If so, you are well on your way to customer success again. However, to streamline your onboarding process, it might just be a matter of tweaking minor details.

Onboarding is potentially the most critical step for any B2B company, in part because there are so many opportunities tobest plans to go wrong. The smoothest shift from acquisition to integration is for internal operations to be involved during the last stage of the sales process and for your sales team to remain involved during the beginning of the integration stage.

Remember, your client has shared a lot of information with sales and is excited about the decision to work with you. After all, they choseyouabout your competitors. The last thing you want is for buyer's remorse to sink in, and you can help prevent it with one person seeing to it that all onboarding activities are completed in a timely manner by the appropriate departments (including IT, Finance, Engineering, etc.) . ) and that each department is aware of where the customer is in the onboarding process.

Especially for professional services and tech companies, it's common that you spend a lot of time discussing pricing with clients before anything launches. While it's important not to be taken advantage of, it will be worth it when the customer is properly trained to use your product or service to the fullest and spends quality time with a salesperson and account manager. .

5. Customer service

While you can't hold your customers' hands at every step of their customer journey, you can always back them up with reliable customer support. The more customers use your product or service, the more questions and obstacles they will encounter. This is normal for any business, but how you help your customers overcome these challenges will play an important role in customer success.

Your customer support team should be on hand to help customers whenever they get stuck. Whether the question is simple or complex, your team must provide quick, concise responses that resolve customer requests on the first date. In fact,67% customer abandonmentcan be avoided if your support team can address the customer's needs during the first interaction.

If your customer support team is having difficulty resolving customer requests, consider adoptingcustomer service toolsthat can help These tools provide benefits to your support team to help organize and manage incoming service requests. You can also create self-service support options that guide customers to solutions on their own. That way, your customers don't have to pick up the phone or wait on hold when they need an immediate answer to their questions.

6. Value realization

This stage is when your customer's a-ha moment comes to fruition. They chose you. They like you. And they are getting what they want from the relationship.

It is also important to note that value realization is minus onescenario, and more than oneno coursepart of the B2B customer journey. Given this, it is absolutely essential that you have a complete understanding of your client's expectations and desired outcome.

Realizing value for a medical device manufacturer will be drastically different from what it looks like for a marketing company or corporate presentation skills training company. Frankly, it will probably look quite different toeach of your customers, depending on what problems they came to you in the first place.

You will likely have a customer contact person at least semi-regularly to ensure these expectations and outcomes are met. It is your company's job to ensure that the customer understands and receives the full value of your product or service.

Of course, it's in your best interest that the customer continues to derive value from engagement over and over again. So use your logs wisely; don't get nervous asking what's going well and what you could do better. Your customers will appreciate the opportunity to provide their perspective. It is at this stage that your two companies begin to consolidate a lasting relationship, which eventually leads to customer loyalty.

7. Customer loyalty

consumer loyaltyit means the customer cannot be seen doing business with anyone else. You are the only one." Just like in themarketing internomethodologyPleasurephase, the customer has become aevangelista— a person happy to promote your product, service, brand, etc. on your behalf to others in your network.

In other words, a loyal customer is a customer prepared for an evaluation, a testimonial or even a referral. Once you've firmly established customer loyalty, it's a common strategy to present this type of request to your satisfied customer. you do not know what it isalsoanother customer success strategy.

Maybe you just haven't documented a timeline, series of events, or metrics to help you determine exactly when to communicate. Sit down with your sales, marketing, and customer service leaders and agree on what kind of criteria you will use to identify the right time. Even better, it can also be practical to makeemail templatesyou can recycle which streamlines the application process for various types of brand outreach activities.

8. Expansion Offers

Just like customer loyalty, expansion offers are always on time. If you've worked with a particular client for a while, you know their needs well. Your relationship with them can be described as transparent, as you probably already know if they are willing to broach the subject of expanding their financial relationship with you.

For a service provider, this could be linked to a renewal cycle. For a widget producer, it could be an increase in sales volume. In any industry, it can be just oneadditional sales or cross sales, depending on what your company offers. Regardless of the environment you're selling in, your salespeople are already on the case. Assess the customer's level of commitment to the warranty being delivered and you'll have a better idea of ​​what that "right time" should be.

To see? That wasn't so bad. As you begin to move towards customer success, know that much of what you are already doing as a profitable and productive companyesCustomer Success, just under a different name.

As a wise woman (*ahem*… my mother) once said,"There is no substitute for paying attention."By taking good care of your customers, taking the time to fully understand their needs, and working with them to achieve their goals, you'll have an easier time creating a customer success program and reaping the benefits of a long-term relationship. consumer relations. .

For more strategies to improve customer success, read about the benefits of combiningmarketing and customer success.