Impact Weekly

ON TODAY’S EPISODE:
The relationship between customer success and product is crucial in ensuring that the right decisions are made to make the product a success. In this week’s episode, Johan and Lincoln dive into the topic of Customer Success and Product collaboration. They discuss the role of CSMs in providing feedback and valuable insights, as well as the importance of having a structured process for communication between the two teams. They share tips on how to make the most of customer success interactions and how to improve the overall customer experience.
THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:
“What is the best way for Customer Success and Product to collaborate? How should product feedback be fed back from Customer Success to Product in a consistent and structured way so that the right product decisions can be made?”
TOPICS BEING ADDRESSED:
* The role of Customer Success Managers in providing feedback and insights to Product teams
* The process for CSMs to communicate valuable customer insights to the Product team
* The relationship between Customer Success and Product and how to collaborate effectively to make the right product decisions
QUOTES:
Johan Nilsson (02:42): “Maybe 5% of feature requests will actually become a feature”
Lincoln Murphy (05:39): “The user that you're talking to didn't necessarily want to switch to your product”
Lincoln Murphy (07:11): “It’s better if we have a system for collecting feature requests that the community can vote on.”
Lincoln Murphy (07:46): “You want to make sure that they feel heard, but without thinking that by being heard that it's going to be implemented.”
Lincoln Murphy (09:26): “There's an opportunity there for the product side to sort of be a little bit more transparent in how these decisions are made.”
Johan Nilsson (11:17): “Passing things on to product and kind of excusing our product for not having that feature will not help you either.”
Lincoln Murphy (12:43): “As part of that trusted advisor role there's an expectation that the CSM is going to be advocating for the customer behind the scenes”
Lincoln Murphy (14:20): “There needs to be an internal path for this information to be conveyed from customer success to product”
Lincoln Murphy (19:15): “Make a little compliment sandwich, share an interesting use case, then an issue that needs to be addressed, and then a piece of positive feedback.”

Do you want more of this? Check out Impact Academy for interactive Customer Success training programs. https://www.impactdemy.com/Do you have a question you want us to answer? Submit it here.

Join our Customer Onboarding training that starts 22-January, 2024.
==>Learn more and sign-up here.
ON TODAY'S EPISODE:
In this episode, Lincoln addresses a variety of complex challenges and practical strategies in the realm of customer onboarding. He provides insights into making kickoff calls valuable, managing customer expectations, ensuring smooth transitions between onboarding and adoption, and adapting to changes in goals or requirements during the onboarding process.
THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
This episode doesn't revolve around a single question but rather explores a range of questions related to customer onboarding, covering strategies for engagement, communication, and adapting to evolving customer needs.

TOPICS BEING ADDRESSED:

1. Strategies for enhancing customer cooperation and engagement during onboarding.
2. Best practices for kickoff calls and initial customer communications.
3. Managing transitions and changes during the onboarding process.

QUOTES:
Lincoln Murphy (06:54): "In customer onboarding, it's crucial to manage expectations and communicate effectively, ensuring that no customer feels like they're in the dark."
Lincoln Murphy (12:37): "When a company's goals or stakeholders change during onboarding, it's a signal to revisit our initial approach and adapt swiftly."
Lincoln Murphy (17:15): "The transition from onboarding to adoption is more than a procedural shift; it's about refocusing on broader business goals."
Lincoln Murphy (21:03): "Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) should be strategic, focused on how our product impacts the customer's business, not just a routine check-in."
Lincoln Murphy (25:46): "Recording sessions with clients isn't about micromanagement; it's about creating valuable assets for coaching and customer reference."

Do you want more of this? Check out Impact Academy for interactive Customer Success training programs. https://www.impactdemy.com/Do you have a question you want us to answer? Submit it here.

Impact Academy Expansion Program starts 4-Dec, 2023!
==> Learn more and sign-up here.
ON TODAY'S EPISODE:
In this week’s episode of Impact Weekly, Johan and Lincoln tackle the challenging question of how to start finding expansion opportunities when there appear to be none. They delve into the importance of the right mindset, strategies for uncovering hidden growth potential, and practical approaches for driving expansion in customer success.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
"At the moment I have zero expansion opportunities. Where and how do I start?"
TOPICS BEING ADDRESSED:

1. The critical role of mindset in recognizing and creating expansion opportunities.
2. Strategies for operationalizing expansion as an integral part of the customer's journey.
3. The importance of pricing and planning in facilitating customer success and expansion.

QUOTES:
Lincoln Murphy (08:02): "We often see customers churn out... they just didn't know that, for this new goal they had, you were still the solution for it."
Johan Nilsson (14:37): "It's a lot about having, if you have a real expansion model working... you can trust that process."
Lincoln Murphy (19:59): "If you're tasked in Customer Success with expansion, and you don't have any input into pricing... That needs to change."
Johan Nilsson (22:03): "It's crucial for expansion... You have to be at the table when you talk about pricing and plans."
Lincoln Murphy (26:18): "We did that because we didn't trust the expansion process, or we just didn't have an expansion process in place."

Do you want more of this? Check out Impact Academy for interactive Customer Success training programs. https://www.impactdemy.com/Do you have a question you want us to answer? Submit it here.

Impact Academy 2-Week Retention program for CSMs and Heads of CS starts on September 25, 2023. Learn more and sign-up here.
ON TODAY'S EPISODE:

Net Revenue Retention (NRR) is unarguably a highly important metric but is it the main KPI for a Customer Success Manager? And if so, how do you track progress and make sure your actions influence NRR? In this episode of Impact Weekly, Johan and Lincoln will unwrap Net Revenue Retention and give practical advice on rollup metrics, prioritization and how to make sure you maximize NRR for your customers.THIS WEEKS QUESTION:
“Is NRR the main KPI for a CSM?”TOPICS BEING ADDRESSED:
* The definition of NRR and the rollup metrics
* The rule of 15 for prioritization
* What most people miss with NRR - that make all the difference
QUOTES:
Lincoln Murphy (03:52): “Well, really, the primary reason why companies look at NRR is that its an indicator of whether your business is shrinking or growing”

Lincoln Murphy (05:29):” In fact, you know, why is your company investing in customer success? They're investing in customer success because it's the most efficient way to drive NRR and NRR drives company valuation. So it's pretty important stuff.”

Lincoln Murphy (11:30): “If you're giving a discount to a customer to stay and they're not actually gonna be successful, you may just be prolonging the inevitable. So whatever you do, you want to follow up with a success plan to get them back on track.”

Lincoln Murphy (11:46): “[The rule of fifteens] is something that you can kind of take a quick look at what's going on and as a head of customer success on an org level, we can look at our entire customer base.”

Lincoln Murphy (14:15): “[Contraction/Downgrades usually happen because of things that occur earlier in the life cycle. Oftentimes we can track contraction back to onboarding.”

Lincoln Murphy (15:42): “[...] it's not about trying to do anything at the last minute to save them and. It's about making them successful all along the way.”

Lincoln Murphy (17:08): “Everything seemed to be going well by all accounts. And then you realize that their goals had changed. You didn't sync up with them on those goals.”

Johan Nilsson (17:59): “That's why it's good to focus on contraction cases.[..] Because you cannot just only reduce the actual contraction, but you can even turn it around to an expansion opportunity.”

Lincoln Murphy (20:36): “If you focus on making your customer successful, and that's helping them achieve their desired outcome, and giving them their appropriate experience along the way, your customer will tend to stay longer, increase their spend and maybe even advocate for you.”

Do you want more of this? Check out Impact Academy for interactive Customer Success training programs. https://www.impactdemy.com/Do you have a question you want us to answer? Submit it here.

Customer Advocacy training starts June 10, 2024. Learn more and sign-up here:
https://www.impactdemy.com/courses/the-advocacy-program-eujun24
ON TODAY'S EPISODE:
In this enlightening episode of Impact Weekly, Johan and Lincoln unpack the intricacies of customer advocacy, focusing on the subtle yet powerful differences between earned and incentivized advocacy. They explore why genuine, unsolicited customer testimonials are more effective and how to encourage them. Additionally, they discuss the pitfalls of offering incentives for customer reviews and share how to frame the 'ask' to create more compelling and authentic advocacy.
THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
“How can customers see the value in being advocates? What's in it for the customer?”
TOPICS BEING ADDRESSED:

• The psychology and implications of "earned" versus "incentivized" advocacy.
• Why putting a monetary value on a customer’s time can backfire when seeking reviews.
• Making the customer the 'hero' as a tactic for eliciting authentic, compelling stories.

QUOTES:
Lincoln Murphy (10:22): "We generally want earned advocacy rather than incentivized."
Johan Nilsson (11:07): "You put some sort of value on the time you request from the customer, and that can be really bad."
Lincoln Murphy (15:45): "The level of participation is going to be whatever the bare minimum is if it's incentivized."
Lincoln Murphy (17:33): "Whatever participation you do get, because it's earned, that participation is going to be so much more valuable."
Johan Nilsson (19:01): "When you make the customer the hero, you get really someone really engaged; it's a win-win."

Do you want more of this? Check out Impact Academy for interactive Customer Success training programs. https://www.impactdemy.com/Do you have a question you want us to answer? Submit it here.