Customer success managers have their work cut out for them when it comes to retaining and growing customers. It takes a lot of hard work to draw customers into your company in the first place, so you must work to keep those customers more than satisfied once they decide to work with you.

One way to ensure your customers stay with you is to add a personal touch to customer success. This means going beyond the typical customer service script and getting to know your customers on a personal level. When you know their likes, dislikes, and what makes them happy, you can work harder to satisfy them.

Here are five customer retention strategies that will help you succeed:

1. Understand Your Customers’ Goals and KPIs.

To truly get to know your customers, it’s important to ask questions that go “high and wide” within their organization. This means reaching out and developing relationships with each person within the company–from top decision-makers down to influencers.

To start, you should ask questions about what is most important to your customer–their team’s goals and KPIs, their own goals, and how they measure success. You should also seek to understand any existing relationships with competitors, or connections that could help or hinder your business.

Once you have this information, it’s important not just to record it but to understand it truly–the opportunities, the threats, the dynamics, the preferences, and so on.

2. Set Expectations with Customers

Setting expectations with your customers is crucial to retention. By establishing what you can commit to and what your customer can expect, you create a foundation of trust that will help the relationship grow.

It’s important to be clear about what was promised, both in terms of what your company can deliver and what the customer should expect. This eliminates uncertainty and helps both parties work together more effectively.

Having a clear vision early on can help your company develop KPIs around specific goals. This will help you and your customer succeed in reaching those goals together. By prioritizing your customer relationships and following through on your commitments, you can build trust and bolster retention.

3. Listen to Customer Feedback

We love the advice that Entrepreneur magazine gives on customer feedback. One of the best ways to show your customers you care is by asking them for feedback, listening to what they have to say, responding to their thoughts and suggestions, and adapting accordingly.

As customer success managers, it’s important to listen to your clients to meet their needs better constantly. This not only includes understanding their satisfaction with past experiences but also taking into account what they’re saying about you on social media and review sites. By being responsive and adaptive to feedback, you can create a community of loyal customers who are happy to return to your business repeatedly. So the next time you want to improve your business, listen carefully to what your customers say!

4. Have an Offensive Mindset

Focusing purely on retention can lead you to be too cautious. Be proactive and focus on driving value and growth within your accounts. Many CSMs avoid this approach because they feel they’ll lose their “trusted advisor” status with clients. The CSMs who develop deep relationships with their clients, clearly understand their client’s key business objectives and leverage their trusted advisor status to align solutions and services to meet those objectives –all while still growing revenue. That’s the key to success: an offensive mindset that drives results. So don’t be afraid to shift your focus from defense to offense and start winning. After all, nothing replaces the thrill of victory.

5. Create a Culture of Customer Success

When creating a culture of customer success, it’s important that every department and every role feel a part of it. This includes your marketing team, who should incentivize themselves to capture success stories from customers and include them in their marketing campaigns. Your product team should also have a seat at the table when interacting with customers. This will ensure that they know what customers love about the product and can continue to improve it. And finally, your finance and administration teams should also be involved to make the invoicing or legal process smoother. By involving every department, you create a culture where customer success is everyone’s responsibility. And when this starts from the top down, it becomes part of your company’s DNA. With this focus on customer success, your customers will be more likely to continue doing business with you and even invest further in your company. So don’t forget the importance of putting customers at the center of everything you do— it will help you build and retain lasting relationships critical for success.

In Conclusion

Now that you understand the importance of customer success, it’s time to put these tips into action. Remember to focus on retention by being proactive and driving value and growth within your accounts. Be sure to involve every department in your company’s culture of customer success, and make sure that everyone is working together towards the same goal. Finally, remember the importance of listening to your customers. They are a valuable source of feedback for improving your business. If you can follow these simple steps, you’re well on your way to creating lasting relationships with your customers and achieving success in your business. 

Check out these related resources:

Webinar: Churn Probability Score – How to Recognize Risks and Predict Customer Success

eBook: Customer Success as a Culture: Customer Success Leaders Edition

Toolkit: Customer Success Leaders Toolkit