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In recent years I have migrated from my preference to social networks: I started with Facebook, then I continued with Instagram, and now I declare myself a bc data thailand package regular fan of LinkedIn. This is clearly due to my personal and professional evolution.
Checking LinkedIn a couple of times a day has become a little ritual, where I take the opportunity to disconnect and take a break from my daily routine implementing Inbound Marketing strategies. During these frequent checks, I see more and more messages saying “Congratulate X person for their new Customer Success position at X company.” And I asked myself: what is Customer Success? Is it the fashionable way of calling the “customer service” area? Are the new Service areas responsible for customer loyalty and retention? Are the teams responsible for meeting customer needs? Understanding those needs and expectations?
I haven’t had much time to answer these questions, until I sat down to do research to write this article. I understood that I wasn't going to find a genuine answer if I didn't go directly to the source. That's why I decided to talk to Juliana Fernandez, Customer Success Manager at HubSpot. Who better than her to clarify these doubts about this disruptive and innovative role in companies?
But first, it is important to consider the concept of FlyWheel.
At the end of 2018, HubSpot launched a revolutionary idea: replacing the traditional sales funnel with the FlyWheel, which in Spanish would be like a gear wheel (let's stick with the FlyWheel concept, which sounds better). The big difference between the FlyWheel and the traditional funnel is that customers are the center of every strategy. In the funnel, customers are the result of different actions. I don't want to go on about this topic; in fact, at Impulse we have written a Blogpost 100% about the FlyWheel.
FlywheelSo, to sum up the main concept: in order for the FlyWheel to keep turning, and ever faster, companies must invest in the success of the customer when using their product or service, beyond the quality of service. Only then will the customer become an ambassador for your brand and recommend it. As marketers, we must be clear that a satisfied customer can bring you more results than your star marketing team. Great business strategy, right?
This is the fundamental role of the Customer Success Manager (CSM): ensuring genuine satisfaction in order to continue generating sources of income in the future, all through a relationship with the customer.
Let's leave theory aside and go straight to practice, below is my conversation with Juliana Fernandez.
What is Customer Success? Is it the same as “customer service”?
Customer Success and customer service are very similar in some ways and are the same concept, in the sense that a specific area is dedicated to addressing the different suggestions, complaints, claims and post-sale needs of the customer with respect to the product or service offered.
What I consider the difference is that regardless of having a customer service area, at HubSpot we believe that it is important for the entire company to have a customer service and Customer Success mentality. Let's say that customer service is as its name suggests: responding to claims, complaints or suggestions in a reactive way, while Customer Success is being able to create a work plan with clear goals and objectives in which we can proactively understand the needs and expectations of customers, anticipating any situation.
What is the DNA of a CSM? What skills are essential?
Well, I think that the first and most important thing for a person who is going to work in Customer Success is empathy. It is a characteristic that certain people have, which many times not all of us possess. It is very important to be able to put yourself in the customer's position and to be able to see the situation from the customer's point of view, so through empathy this happens more naturally.
Another skill is having the ability to solve and resolve situations, that is, being resourceful. The ability to communicate is also extremely important. The situation may arise in which a customer comes with a complaint or a need that cannot be met due to limitations of the product/service, limitations of the package they bought, etc., and having the ability to communicate these types of situations to the customer is essential to maintain a healthy relationship.
Lastly, the ability to work under pressure is important to be able to deal with all types of customers: the friendly ones and those who are not so friendly.
What are the key indicators that a CS measures?
We have several ways to measure it, for example:
NPS: Net Promoter Score, is a rating in which a person who received a service or attention from Customer Success can rate how they felt about the service and attention. The rating is from 1 to 10, with the ability to receive comments. This is from the customer's point of view.
Retention: Here we measure the number of customers who could be at risk not only of leaving, but of non-renewal, non-payment, breach of contract, etc. Of this percentage, the key indicator is how much was saved or retained within the company and how much of the life cycle was extended.
Engagement: Here we are referring to commitment to the client, that is, how much I am having calls or emails with clients, taking into account what we mentioned previously: Customer Success is proactive. With engagement we can measure how much commitment and how much proactivity we are having with respect to the clients we have.