Change is the only constant in life.
The pandemic has taught us to expect the unexpected and adapt to survive. Leaders, around the world, predict Customer Success trends for the near future.
In fact, we were not given any warning or time to adapt. Million of companies around the world were forced to go into perpetual ”expect the unexpected” but have adapted to the unprecedented change and how beautifully they’ve done. COVID coerced many of us into a myopic mindset- questioning ourselves and feeling depressed about setbacks. But it also bought a sea of opportunity for people who could see beyond the present turbulent times.
Companies that believed in innovation are the ones that could grasp the opportunity and march ahead. And in all these -the common thread- Customer Success. Customer Success as a stream has played an important role.
So, without further ado, let’s see the Customer Success Trends as predicted by the CS experts
#1 Renewed focus on new customer onboarding
Like it is said, Retention starts at onboarding. CS teams are trying to make their onboarding simple yet perfect for their customers. CS teams now need to revisit their onboarding process to support the newer customers who have new needs.
The first 90 days of a customer’s life cycle are very crucial to establish value. With Customer Success teams who work on onboarding automation and efficiency to set their customers up for a strong initial footing, this will result in long-term success.
Pro Tip: Designing a Customer Onboarding Framework for B2B SaaS
#2 CSMs will become even more data-driven
Data plays a vital role in customer retention and growth and hence in customer success. Plans and actions based on data can help solve problems quicker. Future strategies are focused on aggregating customer data and incorporating AI to provide valuable and accurate insights on usage trends, potential churn, and growth opportunities.
#3 Need for the Human Element Will Skyrocket
With the changing world, customer needs also change. Customers love services when they are personalized. Thus the need for human touch will keep on increasing with automation in customer success.
Though personalization is an important factor, automation wherever possible makes it easy for the Customer Success Managers and the CS team.
Customer success interactions can be made more human by adding small questions showing you care throughout the process like: “how have you been?”, “how’s everyone there?”, “are you handling things?”
Suggested Reading: Automation vs Personalization in Customer Success
#4 Adaptation and innovation will be the key factors for successful Customer Success teams
The entire company relies on the customer success teams to retain their customers and expand the current customer base to ensure stability. Thus Customer Success teams have been given the stage at an accelerated rate. Customer Success teams need to adapt to new technologies and innovations.
#5 Flexibility
Customer may sometimes change their needs and goals, still, they’d expect the best from you. In such scenarios, you might have to make certain adjustments in your service. This shows how flexible customer success can be. Customers are realizing that the vendors who worked with them, made exceptions for them, and adapted to their changing needs, are their true partners. The Customer Success teams and companies who showed great flexibility in 2020 are the ones who had tremendous growth in 2021.
#6 Customer success is becoming a promising career discipline
Customer success is gaining attraction and is becoming a promising career option among postgraduates and experienced professionals. Also, many companies are investing in customer success, and this will increase the demand for CS experts.
We also noticed that LinkedIn listed Customer Success Manager as the third most promising job for 2018.
Customers today have high expectations and want to achieve their goals in the quickest way possible. This is why customer success has evolved as a growth engine for software companies. CSMs are now in a more critical game. They need to understand their customers in-depth and have an intimate knowledge of their customer’s business objectives.
#7 Increase use of AI
Traditional Customer Success Software works on a traditional rule-based engine to generate early warning signs. Although you have access to the data, if the configuration of the rule is not correct, you will miss out. The reality is most traditional rule engines use only 1% of data to set up rules as with hundreds of data points, it is impossible for the human mind to comprehend, analyze, correlate and configure rules for Account health and alerts with accurate thresholds. Even, if you arrive at a decent rule configuration, your product features and customer behavior keeps changing making old rules out of sync. It here, Ai will come to your rescue. New Customer Software powered with AI will scan thousands of data points, past user behavior, CSM’s activities, and engagement with customers to learn what actions and behavior lead to retention. t then uses and generates smart recommendations, the next best action for CSM for every account to unlock LTV that is otherwise at Risk.
#8 Substantial Investment in Customer Journey Mapping
Throughout the customer journey, there are various touchpoints and with the smart technology and data-driven comprehensive, these insights are easily available.
The journey of a customer doesn’t end when they buy your product, but it actually is the very beginning. Throughout the entire journey, understand your customers, their behaviors, and their needs. Also, it is important to get their feedback and improve your service.
Why is Customer Journey Mapping so important?
Determine the touchpoints based on the feedback, deliver accordingly, and drive feature usage.
Build alignment between teams for a better success rate.
Bonus Tip: What are customer journeys in SaaS?
#9 CX and UX will Make the Cut
Customer experience is all set to be the business battlefield’.
Gartner
If your interface is bad or your customer experience is not up to the mark, your customers will easily churn out. Customers are looking for an experience that makes them feel important and solves their problem. CX and UX are necessary in making sure customers get their ‘wow’ moment.
#10 Investment in Good CS Software Will Boom
Their demand for customer success specialists is high and is increasing every day. Investment in good Customer Success (CS) software like CustomerSuccessBox will also go up. It is difficult for CSMs and business leaders to check up on their customers manually. CS tools help them get a 360 view of their customers’ health. It is a perfect mix of automation and personalization. CS teams do require tools that allow them to:
- Identify upsell possibilities
- Have a complete, 360 view of customer’s journey
- Create more complex and personalized automations
- Save time spent on tasks that can easily be automated
P.S. – The main image has been taken from pexels.com
