Customer Success Technology Tips for Leaders
a guest article by Jared Orr
As Chief Customer Officers, VPs of Customer Success, and other senior-level Customer Success Managers, you know that technology plays an essential role in Customer Success and the overall success/productivity of your CSM team. It’s the backbone for creating effective service delivery models, enabling informed decision-making processes, and driving higher levels of customer satisfaction.
But it can be easy to feel overwhelmed with the vast array of options available on the market today. To help make your job easier, we’ve rounded up some top-notch tech tips specifically tailored to help drive maximum value from your customer success initiatives.
If you’re looking to get more out of your technology investments – or even just get started finding the best solutions for your organization – read on to find out how!
Use Automated Tools to Reduce Response Times for Customer Inquiries
Customers expect quick and efficient responses from the suppliers they choose to work with. This is where automated customer service tools come in handy.
By implementing such tools, you can streamline customer inquiries and reduce response times. This not only increases customer satisfaction but also helps Customer Success Managers save time and resources. It also enables Customer Success leaders to generate reports on common customer queries and concerns, which can be utilized to enhance their Customer Success strategies.
Utilizing automated customer service tools is an effective way for businesses to stay ahead of the competition. Two of the best tools to accomplish this are Zendesk and Gainsight.
Incorporate Customer Success Technology into Your Business Strategy
Notice how that was worded: First comes the strategy, then comes the technology. You need to have matured your Customer Success strategy sufficiently before incorporating any kind of Customer Success-related technology.
Developing a plan to implement this technology can be overwhelming and challenging, which is why it’s recommended to create a detailed report outlining the following:
- Processes you already have in place
- Where the gaps are in your customer journey (For example: Do you have the steps your CSMs need to take when a customer is 90 days out from their renewal date?)
- What milestones and processes need to be implemented and automated in order to create a better customer experience
This report will help you determine what kind of technology best suits your Customer Success strategy and how to integrate it into your workflows. By developing this solid plan, you can provide your customers with the best experience while also delivering on their desired outcomes.
Create a Customer Feedback Loop Using Customer Data Analytics
Creating a customer feedback loop using customer data analytics is a smart way to gain insight into the needs, opinions, and preferences of your target audience. The key ingredient in this process is the “Voice Of the Customer“, or VOC.
TechTarget wrote an excellent article on developing a high-quality VOC strategy. In their article, they provide a comprehensive explanation of the subject. One of the many good points they made was as follows:
“VOC focuses on comprehending the VOC data rather than only gathering it. By listening to their consumers, businesses can improve their offerings and create something their target market values and continues to invest in with their time and money.”
Using a tool like Tableau or Looker, you can generate customer feedback loops to continually monitor and track customer satisfaction levels. You can also use this data to identify customers that may be at risk of churning, and take preventative steps.
By analyzing data from various customer feedback channels such as surveys, reviews, and social media, businesses can establish a powerful feedback loop that enables them to make better-informed decisions. Customer feedback loops help businesses identify trends and areas for improvement, which in turn helps them refine their products and services to better meet the needs of their customers.
With the use of customer data analytics, VOC can be a powerful tool in driving business success.
Use Automation Tools to Improve ALL Your Processes
Customer Success is key to achieving desired growth and revenue targets, and indeed, Customer Success is (or should be) now officially, a revenue-generating department.
Because of this, process efficiency and effectiveness play a crucial role. That’s where automation tools come in. Utilizing them in the workplace allows for mundane, manual tasks to be delegated to machines, freeing up more time and energy for leaders and managers to prioritize the success of their customers as well as the training and development of their Customer Success Managers.
By streamlining processes and reducing the likelihood of human error, businesses can reap the benefits of increased productivity, improved accuracy, and greater customer satisfaction. Whether it’s automating data entry, creating customized email campaigns, or managing inventory, the possibilities for automation are endless.
Embracing technology can provide a competitive edge in today’s fast-paced market and ensure customer success in the long term. Here are a few process automation tools designed with CSMs in mind to help them reduce tedious work and focus more on their customers:
UpdateAI – An AI tool that links with Zoom to record customer calls and provide a detailed, bullet-pointed list of what was discussed on the call. It also crafts a well-detailed recap email, that can be edited and sent right to the customer after the call.
Totango – The only composable Customer Success tool on the market. This tool makes crafting an automated and quality customer journey map much easier. Companies of all sizes use Totango to manage their customers’ lifecycles and create streamlined processes for their Customer Success teams to follow, as they manage their respective books of business.
Product Signals – Collaboration is key. Product Signals makes the collaboration efforts between Product and Customer Success teams much easier and more streamlined. They offer an easy-to-use platform for Customer Success teams to document and track all product requests so the Product team knows what requests to focus on to maximize customer satisfaction.
Ensure Your CSMs Know the Best Practices When Using the Newly-Implemented Technology
Customer Success technology tools are essential for businesses to maintain high standards of customer satisfaction. And that can only be accomplished by ensuring that your CSMs are well-versed in the best practices when using these important tools.
This is where learning and development come into play.
By providing training programs for CSMs, you can ensure that your Customer Success teams are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively use these tools to maximize the value of the customers they oversee. This not only enhances customer satisfaction but also boosts the overall productivity of the organization. Investing in learning and development when it comes to Customer Success technology tools can yield significant dividends.*
If your CSM team is already using some type of technology platform to serve their customers, how are you ensuring that they are trained to use it properly and effectively?
*Benefits of Training and Development for Individuals and Teams, Organizations, and Society, Annual Review of Psychology, Vol 60.
Bringing It All Together
By effectively utilizing automation tools and implementing well-thought-through strategies, you can guide your Customer Success teams toward better quality long-term relationships with customers, while optimizing their overall work efficiency.
To get started today, download Practical CSM’s free Customer Success Implementation Guide for Leaders. This invaluable resource contains ideas on how to introduce cutting-edge technologies, leverage resources, engage leadership teams, create ownership models, evaluate success metrics, and more.
With this comprehensive guide by your side, you’ll be able to efficiently implement automated customer success solutions so you can fuel relationships that last!
Additional Resources
- SmartKarrot gives us their take on what they believe The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Customer Success Leaders are and why you should be implementing them today
- 7 Tips From the C-Suite for Future Customer Success Leaders by BuiltIn
- Totango provides expert advice on How to Build & Manage a Customer Success Team
