Customer Success Optimization:
Playbook from an Industry Expert
Emilia D’Anzica and the Growth Molecules™ Teamwork daily with clients to enable high-growth opportunities by diagnosing data-backed opportunities and building actionable playbooks. Emilia has several tips to share about setting up teams for success and making customers happy.
The Growth Molecules customer success playbook impact:
- The modern sales cycle and how to keep it “always-on” – AKA POST SALES!
- The biggest pain points experienced by Customer Success and Sales Teams
- The common mistakes to avoid as a Customer Success Manager
“Enable your team to listen. The skill is a powerful way to grow client relationships. Understanding client pain points indicates signals that show your team cares about business growth.”
Solving the Hand-Off Between Sales and Success
Emilia knows that one of the biggest friction points along the customer journey is the transfer from sales to success. Often, the sales team sells something that the customer success manager (CSM) can’t deliver, resulting in a jumbled transition and a let-down customer.
To avoid this, Emilia suggests creating an onboarding manifesto that ensures the sales and CS teams speak the same language, extract the data, and collaborate not only with one another but also with the customer.
The one-page customer success strategy document should include:
- Three key goals the customer wants to achieve
- Alignment on the story the sales and CS teams are telling
- A list of answered and unanswered questions from the customer
Once that’s created, make sure the customer is informed and “signs off” on the plan. Then, assign roles so that all players have clarity on what is needed to drive success.
Optimizing The First Customer Touchpoint & Honeymoon Phase
Nailing the onboarding process is critical because growth and churn start at the renewal.
“In SAAS, the traditional sales funnel is flipped,” explains Emilia. “There is no such thing as a closed opportunity. It’s actually a partnership that’s beginning.”
As Emilia points out, 45% of customers churn within the first 100 days!
How do we keep customers today and buying year after year?
Focus on generating enthusiasm around the product and the process early in the relationship. “There’s a honeymoon period with a new customer,” Emilia shares. “It’s an important time to show up with high-impact conversations at key moments.”
Here’s how to generate excitement and establish a strong relationship from the onset:
- Set up a meaningful email drip campaign that correlates with key moments in the relationship, like when the opportunity closes or when a customer is assigned a CSM
- Create a need-to-know brochure or steps in the platform for customers to gain an overview of the product, process, and next steps without getting on the phone.
- Storytelling around the users, not the product, to create loyalty (Gong, the call recording software, does this by calling its customers Gong Jedis – the heroes of the Gong story)
Showing love in the first chapter will help establish the organization as a trusted partner and instill customer confidence in the product investment.
Building Scalable Customer Moments That Matter
Psychology plays a vital role in the evolution of the customer success journey.
The sooner organizations tap into the minds and behaviors of their customers, the sooner they’ll be able to make an impact. Growing and strengthening the customer relationship requires:
- Fielding and honoring feedback directly from your customers
- Developing a content strategy that curates information for your personas
- Fostering a culture of curiosity amongst CSMs to demonstrate a high level of care
After the so-called “honeymoon phase,” Emilia says it’s time to show impact to the champions who made the decision to buy the product. But it shouldn’t stop at the progress report.
It should be leveraged as an opportunity to generate feedback and communicate about how to get better. “‘Teams should ask for honest feedback before sending a closing survey so there are no surprises,” Emilia suggests.
“Once you have that input and know their goals, you can set up a sequence that matters to them.” And a general email drip campaign is not the route to take. The industry, interests, and relationship phases should segment all email campaigns.
“Building those personas for our clients is important, and then making sure that they develop relevant content,” Emilia admits that she’s become a paying customer after being won over by customer-centric and consistent content.
When it comes to customer success, the small moments make significant impacts.
CSMs who turn on their cameras and ask for confirmation at each step will be stronger client allies. There will always be micro-improvements to be made as a CSM grows alongside the client, but if you can avoid these pitfalls, you’ll be on a faster track to success.
“Educate your employees on how to have that curiosity going into meetings. Teach your team to ask questions like, “What does that XX% growth mean to you?’ And then have them listen. It can be incredibly powerful for the client.”
About the Author:
Emilia D’Anzica, Managing Partner, Author, Growth Molecules™
Emilia D’Anzica, MBA, PMP, is the founder and managing director of Growth Molecules,™ a management consulting firm focused on protecting and growing revenue. The company aims to help organizations increase profit while maximizing customer value. Emilia is also on several advisory boards globally and an active contributor to the Forbes Council. She is a part-time Adjunct MBA Marketing Metrics Professor at Saint Mary’s College of California.
As an early employee at several successful companies, Emilia has amassed over 25 years of customer experience in customer leadership roles, including as Chief Customer Officer.
Emilia holds a BA from the University of British Columbia and an MBA with Honors from Saint Mary’s College of California. She is PMP and Scrum-certified. Emilia resides with her three children and partner in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Her first book is Pressing ON As A Tech Mom: How Tech Industry Mothers Set Goals, Define Boundaries, & Raise The Bar for Success
About
Growth
Molecules
We are a management consulting & technology services firm that offers proven strategies, AI-driven workflows, & expert execution across the entire customer lifecycle journey. We offer integrated, scalable solutions for B2B technology companies to protect & grow their recurring revenue. We do that in three ways:
- We Assess: We discover your current capabilities.
- We Prescribe: We define new solutions.
- We Execute: We implement revenue impact.
We have been in your shoes: Our team of award-winning strategists are former global revenue leaders who understand what it takes to get scientific about their revenue.
Contact Us today to get started on your Customer Success Optimization Journey
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