What does advocacy look like for your customer success program? A customer writing glowing reviews about your software on G2? Someone recommending your company to peers? A YouTube influencer posting amazing videos? No matter how your CS team defines advocacy, we can agree that advocacy A) is the final stage of the customer journey and B) offers exponential benefits.  So, how can a CSM turn happy customers into these loyal advocates? It likely starts with data.  Your advocacy strategy One of the biggest challenges for SaaS companies is increasing retention and the lifetime value of ..read more

The survey question asked around the world: On a scale from 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our company to a friend or colleague?  As the guiding concept of every net promoter score (NPS) survey ever conducted, this question can help capture customer satisfaction. It can also give you an idea of where your company stands. However, the NPS is only part of the picture. Make sure you’re combining this metric with other data sources to get a better understanding of customer health. First, the basics … Understanding your NPS results NPS ranks customers from 0-10 into: Detractors (0 ..read more

  Kate Current, Novidea Ashna Patel, CS Insider                   Customer success professionals are all too familiar with the weight of the workload this industry carries.  On any given day you are tasked with connecting to an average of 50+ plus accounts to: Bolster customer confidence in the solution Increase upselling and cross-selling efforts Keep track of your growing to-do list Thankfully, we have a webinar — featuring customer success and project management experts — to help.  Join us July 22 at 2:00 PM ET to k ..read more

So, you’ve been tasked with finding a new customer success platform. Your objective: Scale your growing team and create more meaningful experiences with your customers. No problem, right? You head straight to Google to begin your journey. What follows is an avalanche of information. The once seemingly simple task of selecting a customer success platform is now an overwhelming burden with no clear starting point. You’ll also find that the CS software market is exploding as companies redefine and improve the customer experience. Thankfully, you have this buyer’s guide. Here’s a sneak peak o ..read more

What’s a user onboarding mantra that any CSM can live by? If you ask Brian Nicholls, VP of Customer Success at UserIQ, it’s simplification. Nicholls was recently featured on CS Insider, a popular online community for customer success professionals, and asked this very question.  His lessons can be applied when curating the ideal onboarding experience for your customer. He says they also can be applied to your professional career.     Trying to accomplish everything at the start of your journey, Nicholls says, will not garner the best results for the customer. It’s best ..read more

If your churn reduction efforts make you feel like Sisyphus, you’re not alone. The push, after all, never ends for a customer success team. But the good news is, you will see forward momentum with the right strategy — and product — unlike our Greek friend. In addition, SaaS companies historically experience lower churn rates than other types of businesses. What a good churn rate is for YOUR company depends on so many factors. But there are benchmarks any CSM can look at. Let’s start with “normal”. What is a good churn rate? Box of the month clubs, which rely on surprise merchandise, fick ..read more

So, your customer’s renewal date is in 60 days. As a customer success manager, this is what it comes down to. Will they churn? Re-up? Expand? For some CSMs, this is also when it might get a bit awkward. You aren’t a salesperson, after all. But if you took a proactive stance all year — and have customer insights at your disposal — this is your time to prove value and reel them in. Providing incentives for early renewal Irit Eizips, CSM Practice As Irit Eizips, CEO of CSM Practice, said in a recent webinar hosted by UserIQ, the months leading up to renewal make for a perfect time to assess you ..read more

What makes a good customer onboarding experience? Customer success people adept at educating, for sure. Here are some others: Focusing on the important things at first. Showing quick wins. Implementing a solid sales-CS handoff. It’s no secret a bad onboarding experience is a leading cause of churn. So, how can your customer success team define your processes, get users using the right features, and renewing? We have a new onboarding ebook to guide you through just that. It’s a super quick read. And it has actionable steps you can take now. Some things you’ll learn include: What can go wrong ..read more

We know the bulk of sustainable revenue comes from the customer’s decision to renew. So why aren’t we doing more to understand the customer journey?  Learn how to start your own customer journey May 26 at 2:00 PM ET in a virtual event focused on ways your customer success team can implement and improve the mapping process. In this webinar, you’ll learn: How to get started Best practices to follow Common pitfalls to avoid Special guests include Irit Eizips, CEO of CSM Practice, a customer success consultancy, and Brian Nicholls, VP of Customer Success at UserIQ. Author and sp ..read more

After months of nurturing the perfect prospect — and weeks of onboarding them — your customer success team can finally relax … right?  You’ve connected with a user who understands your product’s value. And he’s been working behind the scenes, diligently championing your solution.  Then … Your champion leaves for a new job.  Feature use drops 50%. The person holding the purse strings barely remember you. Of course, it was never time to relax in the first place. Here’s how Customer Success Managers (CSMs) can negotiate access to shareholders, cut a path to the decision maker, an ..read more