Whenever I first encounter a CS function, my initial question is always “What flavour?”
Because, despite many people in our industry trying to define a single unified model for what Customer Success is, the truth remains… It’s complicated.
High-touch, tech-touch, commercially-focused, deeply tactical, proactive, reactive or hybrid. Customer success can be a real minefield, and while many flavours can be confusing, ultimately, I’ve found that this is a good thing.
Every CS org I have encountered has been different, both in makeup and strategic aims. This perhaps reflects the view that CS can often be the catchall for anything that doesn’t have a home.
While the above is true, there is method in the madness. CS differs across companies precisely because it is adaptable to the ever-changing environments of both the SaaS and startup worlds.
As a CS leader, I have my preferred flavours. And it can be easy to fall into the trap of trying to force those preferences onto every company you go to.
I’ve certainly been guilty of doing this. The first time I went to an early-stage SaaS org, I went in hard for building a truly strategic, outcome-focused CS org. Now, while the company’s product was Enterprise, the reality was that the product maturity wasn’t there. Having historical data allows for the creation of an effective, value-based process, and I simply didn’t have any of that. The team and I recovered the situation, but it was a hard-learned lesson.
That experience taught me to ask better questions first.
Multiple flavours exist because the type of CS a company needs varies based on many factors, from sector, product complexity, organisational maturity and Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).
Forcing a CS org flavour onto a company that isn’t built for it will fail. Every time. This becomes even more complicated when you consider that the CS flavour your company needs when it is $1m ARR will be very different to the one needed when you are $100m or $1bn. Having the right CS org is about evolution.
So, how can a company know what type of CS flavour it needs? Well, in the same way that organisations carry out a product-market fit analysis, there are some simple questions we can ask first to establish whether you are ready for a CS org and, secondly, what flavour would work best for you.
My initial approach is to start with maturity and the 12 to 24-month growth plan. If no CS function exists and we are dealing with an early stage, then building a more operationally-focused function that can provide generalist support, onboarding, adoption and renewal motions makes sense. But if the growth plan is rapid, then thought needs to be given to how quickly that team would need to be split into more specialist functions.
A mature CS org that has already been through the pain of early growth can be complex to unpick. It can be common for a new leader to want to come in and stamp their brand across it, but understanding the value currently being provided ensures that you will a) keep the upheaval lower for your company, its customers and the team; and b) it helps to win hearts and minds of a team that will naturally be fearful of a new leader coming in to ‘shake things up’.
Naturally, there are times when a complete overhaul or rapid restructure is required. This is normally due to either changing market conditions, a poorly performing team or a strategic wrong turn that has gone unresolved for too long. The importance here is to understand the end goal and avoid historical blame. Evolution is full of wrong turns. The key is to focus on the wider mission while recognising there are always quick wins that can move the needle on KPIs to help build trust. The final thing here is open and frank honesty with everyone involved. This can be hard, but I have found that the best way to maintain motivation — both internally and with customers who may be feeling the upheaval — is to be clear about the ‘why’.
So embrace the diversity of change and evolution and continually ask yourself, what flavour is best for my company today, tomorrow and in a year?