Munish Gandhi’s Post

Love this article on achieving customer success excellence in a tech start up. Yes, it's quite simplistic and there is more to it than meets the eye. It's very important to establish a solid foundation in your customer success strategy. I particularly love points 2 and 5! Enjoy. #customersuccess #customerexcellence #techstartup

“You need two sets of skills to be successful as a CSM. First, be the expert in your business and product space that your customers can count on. Second is about organizational and soft skills – you've got to be on top of things and present yourself in a way that inspires confidence.” Actionable advice for CSMs from Ben Saitz, CCO at Netskope, an industry leader with 20+ years of experience across diverse sectors, from digital agencies to global tech giants like Google. In Episode 11 of our Debunking Myths blog series, Ben dispels a CS myth (“Customer Success is a catch-all for things that don't neatly fit into other functions”), shares actionable advice for CS professionals, and his perspective on how AI will impact CS . Read on! https://lnkd.in/gUP9gCyg

Probably the most useful post I have come across this month - rich, precise and action-oriented! Personal takeaway: Intelligent and systematic #FeedbackManagement in the can deliver crucial results for #CustomerExperience at any organization - ultimately improving the strategic value of the brand.

The 10 ‘cheat codes’ every Customer Success Manager should know: 1️⃣ 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Your performance is key, but your attitude and communication style are just as important. Aim high and act like you're already at the next level. 2️⃣ 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝟭:𝟭𝘀: Make your meetings with your boss count. Bring a clear agenda: top accounts, current challenges, forecasts, and wins. Keep it focused and productive. 3️⃣ 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵: Stay ahead by mastering new technologies like AI and ChatGPT. Quickly adopting and integrating these tools can give you a significant edge in efficiency and effectiveness. 4️⃣ 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲: Document everything. Write down your strategies, processes, and insights. Use this content to create videos, articles, and guides that can educate and engage your customers and colleagues. 5️⃣ 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘀: Embrace challenges as opportunities to improve and add value. Tackling problems head-on can lead to some of your biggest wins. 6️⃣ 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀: Identify and nurture champions within your customer base. Regularly engage them for feedback and leverage their support to enhance your product’s credibility. 7️⃣ 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮: Dive deep into customer data to find opportunities for expansion and customer enablement. Understand what the data is telling you and what it’s not. Use these insights to tailor strategies for different customer segments. 8️⃣ 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵: Use metrics like product usage, support tickets, and sentiment to stay ahead of potential issues. Early detection allows for proactive solutions. 9️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆: Keep in regular touch with your customers. Frequent check-ins, personalized updates, and proactive outreach build strong, trust-based relationships. 🔟 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲: Time block for strategy and planning. Avoid unnecessary meetings—many issues can be solved asynchronously. Keep meetings short and learn to say no when necessary. What would you add to this list?

🚀 Transform Your Customer Success Team with Gen AI! 🤖 We know CSMs juggle complex client problems daily. Imagine having more time for strategic impact—Gen AI makes this possible by automating repetitive tasks. Check out our latest blog where we dive into how Gen AI enhances customer success team productivity. The blog post covers: 💡 Automating routine tasks to focus on strategic work. ⏱️ Speeding up onboarding and training. 📈 Improving customer support and satisfaction, and more! Ready to elevate your team's productivity? Read on 📖👇 to learn how to embrace AI for CSMs and unlock the full potential of your customer success teams to drive growth for your organization! 📈

If there is one thing I've learned across my years in marketing and customer success, it's that the customer is NOT always right. Every time I hear a plea from one of my clients to help them build a “customer-first” culture, I think…. Ok, but what do you actually mean? Everyone has a different interpretation of what “customer-first” means, and this is a fast way to start building inequity and confusion across internal teams. You must strike the right balance between delivering a positive customer experience and not letting customer desires dictate every choice you make. Here are a few tips I’ve learned while running marketing and customer success teams to define and stick to your unique definition of what it means to be "customer-first." #marketing #customersuccess #customerfirst

[4/5] Getting back to basics on proactive customer success. Step 4: Educate & Empower 🥋 Hey #CustomerSuccessSensei, let's deep-dive into the transformative realm of Step 4 - Educate & Empower! 🌟 Ready to wield your knowledge as a powerful tool for customer success? Let's break it down! 🚀 4.1 Tailor Your Educational Approach: One size rarely fits all. Understand your customers' learning preferences. Some might prefer video tutorials, while others lean towards written guides. Tailor your educational resources to cater to various learning styles, ensuring maximum absorption and retention. 📚🎥 4.2 Equip Them with How-To Tools: Empower your customers with practical tools that facilitate their journey. Whether it's a step-by-step guide, a comprehensive FAQ section, or even a user forum, make sure they have easy access to the resources they need to navigate your product seamlessly. Equip them for self-sufficiency! 🔧🛠️ 4.3 Stay Ahead of Updates: As your product evolves, so should your customers' knowledge. Proactively educate them about new features or updates. Don't just release a new tool—accompany it with a tutorial showcasing its benefits and how it can elevate their experience. Stay ahead of the curve, and your customers will follow suit. 🔄🚀 4.4 Cultivate Experts, Not Just Users: Shift your mindset from creating users to cultivating experts. Transform your customers into champions who not only use your product proficiently but also advocate for its value. When your users become experts, your customer success journey transcends beyond solving problems; it becomes a collaborative ascent towards excellence. 🌐🏆 4.5 Foster a Community of Learning: Create a space where customers can share insights and learn from each other. Whether it's through forums, webinars, or user meet-ups, fostering a community of learning reinforces the idea that your relationship is more than transactional—it's a collaborative journey towards success. 🤝💬 Educating and empowering your customers isn't just about making them proficient users; it's about transforming them into advocates and experts. #b2bsaas #customersuccess #customervalueledgrowth #proactivemindset #EmpowerAndEducate 🌱✨

As people working in Software as a Service, we love our digital tools! But are we using the right tools for the right jobs to support Customer Success? Talei Blomfield is back for another free kiwiSaaS Need to Know webinar exploring this question and more to do with Customer Success tooling. Learn how to: - Review your Customer Success tools - decide if you have the right amount and if they are fit for purpose. - Understand Knowledge Centred Service (KCS) and its suitability for your company. - Identify the parts of the customer journey where you need to have the highest level of management. If you're Head of Customer or Revenue/Customer Operations in a SaaS business, join us on Tuesday, 10 October, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM for the latest know-how on creating a targeted customer success model. It's free to join - secure your spot below.👇 https://bit.ly/3Rw5Vyh Spread the word and share this event with your colleagues or connections who would benefit from attending! To keep up to date on future events, join our kiwiSaaS community for free here: https://bit.ly/464d11p #kiwiSaaS #customersuccess

Superstar SaaS businesses never silo customer support.   Start integrating CS into your growth strategy.   And watch your bottom-line boom. Here’s how ⬇   📢 Turn feedback into feedforward: Establish a process for collecting customer feedback and requests. Then, reframe it into product development tickets, customer success initiatives, marketing content and sales materials.   👑 Wow Your Star Customers: Make your best customers feel like royalty. Provide dedicated support contacts. Integrate account-specific insight into interactions. And provide predictive service that anticipates potential problems and new requirements.   🌟 Integrate Support & Success: Help your support and customer success teams collaborate more closely. Establish regular knowledge exchange. Make team members shadow each other. Ensure cross-and upselling opportunities are captured and actioned.   📔 Build a Support Bible: Problems recur. Patterns emerge. Documenting them means customers can help themselves, and/or support personnel can find answers faster.   🔦 Put Support in the Spotlight: Support can be about so much more than managing web chats. Encourage support staff to create customer content, run webinars, and host in-person user group meetings.   🤔 Democratize Decision-making: Set parameters that give support pros the power to decide when to reward or compensate customers, without having to seek approval. Empowerment for them, satisfaction for customers.     🤖 Let AI do the Dumb Stuff: The less time your support people spend on simple stuff, the more time they have to work on what matters.   🏆 Big Up Support Success: Make sure the support team know how important their work is to the success of the company. More importantly, make sure the rest of your people know it too.   Done right, support isn’t just a necessary operational function.   It’s rocket fuel for your growth.   How else can you use customer support strategically?   #customersupport #b2bsaas #entreprenership #saasstrategy

PMs need to realize that "talking to customers" is only a small piece of the discovery pie. 3 lessons I've learned: 1. The "Customer is always right" mantra is damaging when you're talking to the wrong ICP. Poor-fit customers put product teams on a costly detour. 2. The hardest part comes after "talking to a user": distilling the numerous voices down into cohesive action. 3. Customers can shield a problem with a proposed solution. You need to sidestep that to get to the root cause. The "distill" process of a PM is crucial. But it also varies from product to product. That process also depends on the kind of feedback or discovery data you've collected. Some parameters to consider: 1. Type: What triggered the feedback? Ex: unmet need, defect etc. 2. Scope: Micro (specific user flow), Macro (larger strategic issue) 3. Evidence Strength: Is it anecdotal? Can it be extrapolated? 4. Weightage: Is it a dealbreaker? Aspirational desire? 5. Is the feedback just the user's own perception? 6. Is it related to the service (e.g. support) & not the product? etc. Note: Anecdotal feedback can be an isolated incident or can be extrapolated as well (e.g. if one European client rightly highlights a lack of GDPR compliance, that applies to all European clients). With these classifications in hand, you can start having conversations on how to place this feedback appropriately. (the following SOPs might be different for your product): ➡ Micro-feedback, be it anecdotal or commonly shared, will be prioritized and sent to QAs for validation. Once validated, they'll be added to the backlog. ➡ Macro-feedback with compelling strength will be further discussed a strategy & planning session with more stakeholders. ➡ Perception issues point to a lack of customer awareness & education. This is worked with product marketing and/or customer support. ➡ Feedback pertaining to relationships & and service will be duly routed & and sorted through cross-functional collaboration e.g. with sales or operations. ➡ Incremental opportunities that align with the strategy will be considered in roadmap planning sessions. But first, figure out what on the roadmap already caters to it and what needs more evidence. And so on. Remember: Staying close to the customer is table stakes for a PM. However, without a way to classify feedback, you'll receive a firehose of signals leading to chaos. #productmanagement