Corey Pudhorodsky

I recently presented to a group of CSMs on the Customer Journey and a key part of that presentation was how to collaborate with other teams through supporting their goals and points of view. Some key points I'll highlight here: 1. Consider each department's role and perspective in the customer journey. How they are involved will influence how the CSMs should bring info and suggestions to them. 2. Where are the handoff points between teams? What does this look like internally? What does this look like to the customer? Look for areas of friction because these could be points of risk for adoption. 3. Understand and be empathetic to the goals and KPIs of other teams. The more you can frame the needs to drive product adoption directly to the goals of other teams, the more buy in you'll get. For example: 1. Sales: Adoption = Better referrals for new customers 2. Product = Increased use of the solutions they are building 3. Marketing = Improved case studies and testimonials 4. Finance = Higher ROI 4. Celebrate other department's wins: Let Customer Success take the back seat when it comes to celebrating customer wins. This will draw the teams into your success and make them more invested in working with you in the future. 5. When having Crucial Conversations, use STATE (borrowed from the book Crucial Conversations): 1. Share your facts, 2. Tell your story, 3. Ask for the other person's viewpoint, 4. Talk Tentatively, Encourage Engagement