3 Reasons Why Customer Success is Important Now Than Ever Before…

Proactive Customer Success is still a relatively underutilised discipline within the B2B SaaS space. But, are those truly embracing the power of CS the future-proofers?

I’ve seen the pandemic create an environment of risk aversion, and as we all know, uncertainty is bad for business. So, is it more important now than ever before to move away from the “traditional” growth approach of Sales & Marketing and instead focus on Customer Success?

Reason #1 – Maximise CLV so new business sales doesn’t have to!

We know that the majority of the customer lifetime value – cherished and nurtured by CS – vastly outweighs the revenue generated through the initial sale. So why the insistence on Sales & Marketing over CS? Is it that we’re stuck in our ways, unable to embrace the ever-changing B2B environment, ultimately overlooking the power of CS? A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush as they say, so turn your CS function into a revenue engine whilst new technology budgets are tight.

Reason #2 – Improvement in product and service!

Ever feel like you’re in an echo-chamber? Sometimes Sales & Marketing become blinkered and ultimately blind to customer needs. Let’s not forget, customer needs change over time – and within the high-growth tech sector, those needs can change drastically and quickly. CS is the voice and ultimate champion of the customer, so who better to feedback to Product, Engineering, Sales & Marketing to improve the offering long-term?

Reason #3 – Reputation, reputation, reputation!

SaaS companies are relentlessly ranked, reviewed and pitched against one another. Negative reviews are rife with comments broadly referring to “lacking personal touch”, “underserving after signature” and “poor post-go-live aftercare”. It’s a competitive world out there and buyers are more aware than ever before, armed with vast and publicly available reviews on your technology. CS reduces disgruntled customers, protecting Sales & Marketing efforts.

I truly believe, that those B2B SaaS companies who embrace Customer Success are those with the (not so) secret formula for ultimate success in the long run. Over the past seven months, I’ve found that the vast majority of those companies who have survived or grown throughout the pandemic have robust CS functions in place. Not only that, but have a Customer Success FIRST attitude, rather than the afterthought to Sales & Marketing.

I almost dread to go here, but it brings me on to the age-old argument – should commercial responsibility and account growth sit within CS?

Ultimately, it’s a catch-22. But that’s probably a story for another time.