Let’s talk about getting to a state of ongoing proactiveness with Customer Success.
In order to be as effective as possible and to scale your efforts across a growing customer base it’s important to operate in a proactive nature. I am a firm believe in the importance of CS teams operating in this capacity.
But let’s get real about what it takes to achieve Proactive Customer Success across your organization in a way that’s going to deliver long-term results. This is both an organizational and Customer Success Manager responsibility.
I’m going to keep this post short and sweet but I want to make sure the message is very clear.
Proactive Customer Success is the responsibility of the organization, it’s leaders, and of the Customer Success Managers.
I’ve been part of well-intentioned conversations that go a little something like this:
CS/Organizational Leaders: ‘We have to get our Customer Success Managers to be more proactive. We need them to approach their customer base more strategically, plan ahead, and stop being so reactive.’
Don’t get me wrong. This is a fantastic objective.
My next question often goes like this: ‘What is your organization as a whole doing to be proactive and support your CSMs in these efforts?’
While there are certainly activities and strategies that Customer Success Managers can execute on in order to be working more proactively, the biggest impact will come when the organization, its leaders, and the CS team are working together to achieve this. Proactive Customer Success is truly best approached in a collaborative effort.
If your company is providing resources, process, support and a cultural shift then your CSMs will be more effective, motivated, and able to make the shift from reactive to proactive. As an example, let’s look at Customer Education. If your organization is providing educational content with specific learning objectives that help customers learn and achieve Successful Product Adoption then this will help support your CSMs efforts to be proactive. They will have content at their disposal to share with customers during the various stages of the customer journey.
On the other hand, if Customer Success Managers do not have content of this nature to share they have to create it themselves. This will often be on an as-needed basis, through phone calls, screen shares, screenshots and multiple emails back and forth. This forces them back in reaction mode. Without the right content to serve up to customers when and where they need it, CSMs will get bombarded with questions reducing their capacity to be proactive.
Proactive Customer Success is a bit like a symphony. Delivery and execution is at its best when it’s orchestrated with a leader guiding a team through a well thought out plan and process.
My definition of Customer Success is Proactive Enablement – always strive to anticipate and understand customers’ needs, address those needs proactively, and in a way that enables your customers to be successful. Create a Customer Engagement Framework and process that gets in front of questions and helps to achieve Successful Product Adoption. This is best achieved in a team approach that’s led by the organization – just like an orchestra.
To help get everyone started in the right direction I’ve put together a free guide for both Customer Success Managers and company leaders. The guide contains 6 tips and strategies CSMs can take to be more proactive and 6 additional tips and strategies that organizational leaders can put in place to enable Proactive Customer Success across their entire customer base and team.
Download your Free Guide to Proactive Customer Engagement Here
P.S.
A Note for CSMs:
Hey, I get it, it’s difficult to move from a state of near constant reaction to operating proactively. You have a ton of customers demanding your time and attention. You have a steady stream of emails and voicemails. I’ve been there during my days as a CSM. I fell into the trap of chasing own one fire after another. I also learned it takes some time, courage and discipline to get out of that constant state. But give yourself one week of putting some of the tips I recommended in the guide and if you execute on these tips you will start to see a difference. It won’t happen overnight. It will be an ongoing process but one that is worth it. Heck, I still have to remind myself to create time and space to be proactive in my own business. I really get it. The reaction work will never 100% go away but it doesn’t have to take up the vast majority of your time either.
Try these tips out. I’d love to hear some feedback and about your experiences when you do.
