The most successful Enterprise SaaS companies know that growing revenue only through new customer acquisition is the less efficient way to scale. Rather, they understand that growing revenue within your existing customer base - through up-sells, cross-sells, and expanded use - is the most profitable way to scale.
In fact, Enterprise SaaS companies that grow revenue - and company valuation - by expanding revenue within their existing customer base also know the key to making this work is to focus on - and operationalize - Customer Success.
This deck is from a joint presentation called - Is Customer Success the New Sales? - that featured Nick Mehta, CEO of Gainsight and Tawheed Kedar, CEO of ToutApp.
1. 2014 Gainsight, Inc. All rights reserved.
Is Customer
Success the
New Sales?
#custome
rsuccess
June 17,
2014
2. 2014 Gainsight, Inc. All rights reserved.
Nick Mehta
CEO
Tawheed Kedar
CEO
Speakers
3. 2014 Gainsight, Inc. All rights reserved.
What We’ll Cover
• CSM as the New Sales
• How to Hire the Best CSM
• How to Optimize User Experience
• How to Align with Revenue Growth
• Q&A
7. THE CSM
• Teaches
• Connects and Introduces
• Builds Value
• Navigates the organization
• Negotiates Price
• Closes Deals
8. CSM & SALES
• Both need to have a customer driven
mentality
• Both need to be hyper efficient
resources to the customer
• Both need to seek out opportunities for
deals
• Need to work together to negotiate and
close
11. THE PERFECT CSM
1. Answer tickets
2. Respond to alerts
3. Train new users
4. Run success meetings
5. Be the ‘hero’ for your portfolio
ReactiveProactive
12. THE PERFECT CSM
1. Focus on leveraged activities
2. Create content: Blog, E-Book,
Video, Webinar
3. Talk about how a particular feature
can make us more strategic to a
customer
4. Seek out up-sell and cross-sell
opportunities
5. Write ROI Case Studies
6. Send cookies and cupcakes
ReactiveProactive
13. THE PERFECT CSM
• We “grow” our own, straight from college
• We’ve hired ex-Salespeople
• Target people that can hustle and
maintain a positive disposition
18. STREAMLINING
• Remember that customers cannot “see” those red lines of
demarkation.
• CSMs have the opportunity to “smoothen” the entire user experience
both in person and through artifacts they create
• CSMs can create checklists that Sales and CSM follows while
transitioning customers
• Don’t show up to a gun fight with a knife, bring the salesperson along
if you need to
20. BRIDGING THE GAP
1. Have a centralized place to share customer intelligence.
2. Involve CSMs earlier in the sales process. Re-introduce Sales at key parts of the
success process.
3. Create success-related content and share with the Sales team to use during the selling
process.
4. Constantly be on the lookout for strategic changes in the company that can lead to cross-
sell/up-sell opportunities. Think Revenue!
5. Treat a CSM cycle like a sales cycle and move fast.
6. Capture customer value upfront and demonstrate it throughout.
7. Push your customer – they want to be pushed.
8. Make your customer a hero.
9. Ban the check-in call.
10.Transform the culture.