3 Tips to Help Your Customer Success Team Do More with Less
The last few months have definitely been eye-opening for many customer success teams, and SaaS organizations in general. Whether your team has gone through layoffs, are on a hiring freeze, or simply don’t have access to your customers the way you’re used to, you’re most likely adjusting to a world where you’re working with less. This doesn’t mean that your output needs to be ‘less’ as well, it simply means that your team must adjust to the new world where you can “do more with less”.
Tip #1: Stay on top of customer needs: When you’re trying to do more with less, the biggest thing to remember is organization! Now is not the time to let customer needs slip through the cracks. Staying on top of customer needs ensures that CSMs are immediately aware of any issues or concerns with an account, allowing them to follow-up as soon as possible. If your team is spread thin, it’s paramount to stay as proactive as possible with customers to be able to focus your time, resources, and energy efficiently.
Tip #2: Automate where possible: Time and time again, whenever teams are looking to be more efficient, automation always pops into mind – and for good reason. CSMs have hundreds of things to focus on at any given moment and doing the same things over and over for different accounts doesn’t have to take up precious time. By automating repetitive processes (think emails, survey requests, and status report pulls), CSMs can open up their schedules to focus on the high-touch areas of their role.
Tip #3: Create a single source of truth: In times of uncertainty, current customer accounts become even more important to the success of an organization. This means that a customer success team might be thrust into the spotlight even more than before. Creating a single source of truth for customer health across your organization – something that any department leader or executive can view – helps keep everyone on the same page and ensures that your team is taking advantage of the additional resources across your organization.
When resources are tight, there will be the need to prioritize customers and shift focus on an ongoing basis. With a real-time look at your various customer’s SuccessScore™, your team can efficiently focus your time and energy on the accounts that need it most, with the confidence that you’re not letting anything slip through the cracks.
Another critical point to remember is that, during times of “less”, CSMs and customer success leaders can lean on executives, board members, and other decision makers in your organization. Although your entire organization may be strapped for resources at this time, customer success is all about focusing on the customers themselves, something that every single department has a stake in.
By taking these tips into account, your team can efficiently and effectively do more with less during times of uncertainty. You can learn more about how ClientSuccess solutions can help you navigate these times here.