KPIs are the ultimate indicator of where you want your team to spend their time. The old adage that people do what they're get paid to do holds true. If you're paying people to do QBRs, they'll do them. If you're not, it will be harder for them to do so. So as you're developing your KPIs, think about where you want your team to spend their time. If that's where they're spending their time today, great. Write some KPIs that will add motivation to their already busy days. If, however, they're spending times on areas where you don't want them to focus, use the KPI rollout to pivot their time and attention to an area that will be a better use of their time.

Absolutely, piloting the customer success function in an organization is a unique and exciting opportunity for growth and learning. Understanding the company's goals and objectives, defining clear objectives and KPIs, evaluating segmentation and existing processes, and fostering cross-functional collaboration are indeed crucial initial steps. From there, you can dive into developing customer-centric strategies, effective engagement methodologies, and continuously iterating and improving based on feedback and learnings. It's a journey filled with challenges and opportunities, but with dedication and perseverance, you'll be well-equipped to drive success for both your customers and your organization. Best of luck on your journey, and may it be filled with valuable insights and accomplishments!

I'd recommend starting with these key areas when creating a CS function: * Defining customer success - what does successful use of your product or platform look like? When a customer in successful in your platform, what are the outcomes? What is considered optimal use of your product, gathered from a variety of perspectives (product, leadership, marketing, beta customers)? * Defining the customer journey - considering how customer success is defined and what outcomes successful customers should strive for, what are the key touchpoints in the customer journey to promote that success? Examples include the onboarding experience, product adoption at certain time intervals, objective setting, progress check-ins, value-based discussions, renewal/commercial milestones. How does each customer-facing role engage in this journey? * Consider the overall team structure and the roles and responsibilities of CS - Based on the customer journey, what role will CS play in promoting customer success? Will CS train/enable customers on the platform or will this be done digitally/self-service? How will CS onboard/implement customers? What customer engagements/moments will CS own? * Establish team onboarding/training/upskilling - How will you ramp your CS team members? How will you ensure they maintain skills necessary for the job? * Consider necessary tools - What tools/internal platforms will be needed for the success of the CS function? How will customer outcomes be tracked? How will CS manage day to day responsibilities? How will CS stay connected to internal functions such as engineering and support? * Define measurements, reporting, and accountability metrics - Which customer metrics (adoption, health, sentiment) will best predict outcomes (churn, retention, renewal growth)? Which inputs (activities, customer engagements) promote those customer outcomes? How will your report on customer wins and risks? How will you hold the CS team accountable to these inputs/outputs?

It depends on the level, but the main ones for us are retention (making renewal a non-event), increased customer usage and adoption/engagement, connection to the company values, strong, multi-threaded relationships with customers, and upsells/account expansion which increases product stickiness.

Yes! In the past, we had various approaches to driving adoption in our accounts that would cause temporary boosts but didn't result in sustained adoption. Now we have a motion that's working! First things first: you have to understand why users do/don't adopt to move the needle on this. When/where do the users get value from using your product (things that would make them come back)? How easy is it for them to pick the product up and use it without instruction? What use cases are easiest to start with? For us, we learned that users do best when their leaders are setting the tone: why they purchased the product, when/how they should use it, and what metrics the organization will start to rally around from the product. We are leaning into that with a motion of Rollout and Adoption planning (which is a flavor of success planning) which was actually invented by some members of our CSM team: * Identify key user groups and use cases that align to the outcomes our customers want to achieve. This is done through a focused conversation with our executive/champion in the account. * Prescribe use cases (simple to advanced) that align to those outcomes. * Provide the customer with templates to communicate those to their users about Why, When, How to use the platform. * Orient user training (both online and live) around those key use cases and help train the users. * Measure results, discuss them with the customer * Rinse and Repeat

Understanding and quantifying the value customers receive is paramount for a new CSM function. Once identified, it facilitates the construction of a CS framework to expedite time to value recognition and provide tangible proof to the customer. Growth of this value becomes the cornerstone for aligning with stakeholders, conducting Executive Business Reviews, and other operational motions.

Based on my experience, here are the most important soft and hard skills CSMs can build to be successful: Soft Skills 1. Empathy: Building trust through understanding of customer challenges. 2. Communication: Clearly articulating solutions and guiding customers. 3. Problem-Solving: Proactively addressing issues and driving positive outcomes. 4. Adaptability: Thriving in dynamic environments and adjusting to customer needs. Hard Skills 1. Technical Literacy: Understanding product functionality to better support customers and guide them on adoption. 2. CRM Proficiency: Managing customer engagements through platforms like Salesforce or Gainsight. 3. Project Management: Ensuring smooth onboarding and execution of a Customer Success Plan. 4. Data Analysis: Using insights to track a customer’s success with your product and to also predict churn. While there are other skills like negotiating, time management, and conflict resolution that are important, the ones above are what I feel are the most important. If you are able to master the ones above, you will deliver lasting value and drive your customer’s success in any industry.

When dealing with accounts that have frozen their subscriptions and later choose to reactivate, it's essential to implement a strategy that not only welcomes them back but also addresses the reasons they paused their subscriptions in the first place. Here’s a strategy that can be effective in such cases: 1. Welcome Back and Re-onboarding When an account reactivates, it’s important to make the customer feel valued and welcomed back. Sending a personalized welcome back message can make a big difference. Additionally, offering a re-onboarding process helps reacquaint the user with new features or updates they might have missed during their hiatus. This can include targeted emails, product walkthroughs, or tutorial videos. 2. Feedback Loop Understanding why the customer froze their subscription initially is crucial. Implement a feedback mechanism that prompts returning users to share their reasons for pausing and coming back. This information can be invaluable for improving the product and reducing churn. 3. Tailored Promotions Offering tailored promotions or incentives can be a good strategy to re-engage returning users. For example, offering a discount for the next billing cycle or providing premium features for a limited time can enhance the perceived value of the subscription. 4. Segmentation and Personalization Use data analytics to segment returning users based on their usage patterns and preferences. This allows for more personalized communications and recommendations, making the user experience more relevant and engaging. 5. Monitoring and Support Keep a close eye on the activity of reactivated accounts. Offering proactive support can help solve any issues before they lead to another pause or cancellation. Make sure customer support is readily available and responsive to their needs. 6. Continuous Improvement Leverage the data gathered from reactivated accounts to refine the product and user experience continuously. This could involve enhancing features that are frequently cited as reasons for return or improving areas that cause dissatisfaction. 7. Community Engagement Encourage returning users to engage with the community around your product, whether through forums, social media, or direct interactions within the app. Community engagement can increase loyalty and provide users with valuable tips and tricks to get the most out of the product. By focusing on a warm re-welcome, personalized engagement, and continual support, you can significantly enhance the experience for users who decide to reactivate their accounts, thereby improving retention rates and overall satisfaction.

I've found two KPIs to be difficult to commit to: 1. Customer Health. If you have a robust algorithm to measure customer health (influenced by a number of inputs ), it can be hard commit to a certain outcome. To frame this another way, I've often observed customer health scores as being a bit of a black box where it's hard to tie the actions you take to specific outcomes when there could be a number of variables outside of your control that influence the ultimate score. I much prefer to commit to lead measures that are directly within the control of the team. KPIs related to customer engagement are a good example of things that are more directly within the team's control. 2. Upgrade rate. Many CSM teams are measured on Net Revenue Retention. As part of this, your CSMs may be responsible for identifying growth opportunities within the install base of customers. I find it's effective to measure the team on how many growth opportunities the team identifies but not the close rate or upgrade rate, especially if the Sales or Account Management team owns the closing motion. 

If you already have a solid Enterprise Customer Success team, you can up-level by looking at: * Do you have a Customer Advisory Board formed? Is it productive such that Customers are clamoring to be included? * Are you providing to your Customers speaking opportunities to showcase them as a thought leader? * If churn is not an issue, how are you maximizing expansion opportunities? Do you have a solid referral program for your champion to internally refer you to their colleagues? To their peers in other companies who are not yet customers? * Is the product ready to go down market into Mid Market? How can your success in Enterprise be done at a larger scale for smaller customers?