Do I need to have a CS ops role? When should I think about one if we don’t have one. Should this role report to Revops or somewhere else?

Well, a CS Operation role isn't a necessity but it can be a valuable asset and a key differentiator to deliver superior experience, improve operational efficiency, and most importantly, drive scaleable revenue growth. If experience, efficiency and or/growth is a challenge is your organization - this is your indicator to incubate a it's CS Ops team or create a operations role!

Some key considerations that will go into the different pods such as strategic planning, revenue planning, forecasting, AI and automation, business insights etc depends on size of your business, complexity of your post-sales teams and your growth aspirations.

A strong revenue operations/CS Strategy & Operations team will help with the following -

• Streamline processes, optimize resources, and ensure a consistent customer experience at scale.

• Deliver operational excellence by developing programs, repeatable processes and identifying the right KPIs to measure progress and outcomes

• Help the business make informed decisions and execute on strategy with the right level of data, analytics and insights.

• Deliver predictive adoption and predictable retention by optimizing customer journey and tailoring strategies for right engagements at the right time.

Reporting structure

Reporting structure of CS Ops varies from company to company. In an organization where you have a revenue operations team, CS is a key part to ensure the right level of interlock across the flywheel (i.e sales & marketing).Being part of revops helps with broader alignment around company revenue goals. The other popular structure is for CS Operations team to report into the Post sales leader (CCO Office) or the customer success leader. This helps with business expertise and tighter alignment around execution.

You can't go wrong either way. The one that fosters the most effective collaboration delivering to the needs and priorities of the organization is the most optimal.

Well... does your team use repeatable processes? Do you send customer communication campaigns? Do you need better customer insights or to start determining the "health" of your customers? If yes, then CS Ops can help! Having CS Ops report into RevOps helps keep the intricacies of your customer journey a part of Sales and Marketing initiatives, and it ensures collaboration when dealing with your most valuable resource - customers! 

Depending on your industry and business, the timing for adding this role/function can vary. High volume of low-paying customers? Then add CS Ops to the mix early and focus on a digital-led (or digital-only) customer experience. In that case, much of the strategy and iterative development of your automations, processes, and messaging would be handled by CS Ops.