Did you know (#1): this was first published on Medium, which I left, so I am bringing all my work here.
Did you know (#2): Yes, there is a ChatGTP summary at the end. You’re welcome.
Customer Success is a People Operation, First.
Customer Success is about people—it’s about helping our customers fulfill their goals and become the champions they are. However, the customer success field is getting muddy and losing focus. If we, as customer success advocates, make the wrong move, our industry will soon be filled with buzzwords, corporate jargon, and pompous influencers.
I love gadgets and buy too many of them. I also keep too many (that’s an opinion!), including a Western Digital 40 MB hard drive with its jumpers and IDE cable. Yes, my CEO stopped me from buying an automatic “blanket folder” that I thought I needed (crowd-sourced), but I still believe that the next gadget might make a difference. I’ll try gadgets, web, and mobile apps, but this doesn’t apply to my next Customer Success software.
Suggested Framework
Here’s my framework to better determine whether a CSM platform is right for you:
1. Whom does this software serve? Your CS team, yourself as a manager, or your customers? Be honest.
2. Does your team already determine, understand, and internalize all the right knowledge and processes, tracking progress, accountability, and measurable results required to get the job done and celebrate the wins with your customers? Are you buying this software to teach something new or to help internalize and scale existing, proven knowledge and playbooks?
3. Does it really take more than one Google Sheet page to document and track ?
Why Delay Acquiring CSM Software and Platforms
New systems mean new integrations to build, track, and recover from when they fail. They bring constant issues with the definition of Systems of Records (SoR) and Records of Truth. Expect new data migration efforts (and failures 70% of the time), old databases with no schema because someone left to start a cryptocurrency project, and overworking your under-appreciated Sales and CS ops teams. It’s like buying a fixer-upper and hoping to finish on time and within budget. Anybody?
It doesn’t end there. Marketing might change its platform, Engineering might replace its repository, your Tableau license will expire, and a team could be stuck due to a single change in the SFDC API limit or a mandatory field in its UX. Salesforce.will.always.break.something that is dear to your operation.
If you’re lost by now, it’s a sign that my point was made. You couldn’t even finish reading the best advice on new systems implementations, so do you have what it takes to complete this task for your company? For the right reasons?
The Takeaways
Ask yourself if such platforms will benefit the processes, data, and insights used to support your customers. Enable your smart, creative, and focused Customer Success team. The systems I’ve seen do none of the above.
Don’t sign up for a “Customer Success Software”. Instead, document, define, train, and hire a capable team. We can revisit this decision in Round D.
Most importantly? Go out and talk to customers.
ChatGPT
Customer Success should focus on helping customers achieve their goals, but the field is becoming cluttered with jargon and unnecessary tools. Before investing in Customer Success Management (CSM) software, ask if it serves your team, yourself, or your customers, and whether it scales existing knowledge or introduces new processes. New systems often lead to integration challenges, data migration issues, and ongoing maintenance headaches. Instead of relying on software, focus on documenting processes, training your team, and directly engaging with customers. Save the CSM software decision for later stages of growth.