What Is Customer Success and What It Is Not

Every company knows customer success is important. The importance of customer success for a company has been interpreted differently. Though there is a definitive note on what customer success actually is- there are misunderstanding and misconceptions about customer success. Though it is known that it is 5 to 30 times more difficult and expensive to attract a new customer than to retain one, what customer success exactly means is not known. 

What Customer Success is?

Customer success can simply be defined as when customers achieve their desired results because of or through the engagement or interactions with your company. The concept is highly transformative and there are multiple preconceived notions about customer success. 

Managing relations with the customer after the purchase needs to be aimed at improving overall lifetime value. The process of providing solutions to customers to proactively add value to their success is what customer success is all about. 

Top 3 Key Aspects of Customer Success

Customer onboarding 

Customer onboarding is essential for customer success. From the initial engagement, installation, product, or service walkthrough, to usage and engagement, customer needs to be supported. The level of installation or setup may vary but it exists in every organisation. Discussing product information, explainers, and other information can help the customer make a decision.  

Knowledge and Information 

When we purchase a product, we want to know all about it, right. That is exactly what knowledge enablement is all about- equipping the customer with the required knowledge to use the solution, service, or product in the best manner possible. The right knowledge and information will reduce the ‘buyer’s regret’ that most customers face and enable them to understand the product for its unique selling points or USP.

Continuous Support 

Customer satisfaction requires ongoing support and help from the company. Customers like personalisation with their engagement. If that’s not possible, live agents, chat support, phone support, or FAQ sections should be able to answer their queries and questions. The most successful companies connect with their customers proactively and not only when there is a pain point. The aim and intention are to nurture them and train them to be masters at the product. 

What Customer Success is Not 

Not Customer Support Revamped 

Customer success is not a fancy term for customer support. It is one that involves better customer retention, relationship, optimization, and satisfaction. Customer success is aimed at offering the success of the product rather than answering queries alone. Customers can be retained only if they are completely satisfied with the product or service. 

Not Churn Mitigation 

Customer churn is common and customer success is not about saving customers. It is about not letting the customer reach the churning point. With customer success, you do not need to beg the customer to stay back. They will want to due to the trust and satisfaction they have with the company. To get a customer on track to achieve their desired income, customer success is necessary. 

Not Customer Account Management 

Customer account management is looking at customers as data. But customer success is beyond that. Customer success is not only focused on renewal, expansion, or upselling. It means much more because the main intention is customer satisfaction. Customer success- driven growth will allow for great responsibility and more lifetime value. An account manager looks after the specifics of that account; a customer success manager looks at the whole customer aspect. 

Not Product Adoption 

Many times, customers who use the product churn. It means active customers may also churn. So, product usage isn’t related to customer success. It’s more than that. Product usage is a great interaction and mostly the biggest one. But it is not enough to judge the interactions as product oriented. Customer success deals with product adoption, true; but it’s not restricted to product adoption. It is much more than that. 

Not babysitting 

Understanding customers is important. To help them achieve their outcomes, the right interaction is crucial. However, spending all the time with one customer for some extreme hand holding may not be right. If your customer is struggling to understand a function, you must try to make it simpler for them instead of operating that part every time they need it. 

Bottom Line: Customer Success is Crucial 

The way in which the business landscape is evolving is rapid and unprecedented. If businesses want to thrive in this season, it is important to achieve customer success. Managing your customers as a strategic asset is the key to long term growth and profitability. If your customers feel unsatisfied, they will churn. To reduce that churn, treat them right and with importance. That is the key to corporate success as well. Customers also have a strong word of mouth marketing capability which should be kept in mind to perform actions leading to business growth. 

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