We all have a person that we go to whenever we have a problem. We choose that person — be it a parent, a best friend or a mentor — because they’re reliable, resourceful and help us find solutions.
But when it comes to the tech world and the many clients each company has, the person clients often reach out to first is the customer success manager (CSM). The CSM is the first line of defense whenever a customer comes across an issue, and it’s their job to know their customers, inside and out.
“This means not only understanding what they intend to do now but also months into the future,” Matthew Rawding, Akeneo’s director of customer success, said.
And since CSMs are often the first person a customer reaches out to whenever an issue arises, big chunks of their workdays tend to be spent in a reactive problem-solving mode.
But that doesn’t always have to be the case.
Ryan Paul, the head of customer success at LeanIX, starts his mornings by looking at his calendar and organizing his day before answering any emails. Victoria Stephens, a client and payment experience manager at Flywire, has learned that a strong feedback loop of emails, surveys and phone calls allows her to better anticipate her clients’ needs and be more proactive.
To learn more about how these CSMs do it, Built In Boston caught up with them to discover the habits they’ve adopted, the role that data plays in helping them be more proactive and what strategies they’ve implemented to get ahead of potential issues before they arise.
What they do: Akeneo helps retailers and brands improve their product experience management.
What’s one personal habit you’ve adopted that’s helped you be more proactive as a CSM?
Being proactive instead of reactive is a never-ending goal for CSMs, especially as responsibilities and the number of accounts continue to expand. The technique that has had the greatest impact on my ability to stay one step ahead of customers is making sure I fully understand my customers’ current projects and plans. This means not only understanding what they intend to do now (and also months into the future), as well as understanding why these changes are important for them. Armed with this knowledge, I’m able to offer advice based on how other customers tackled similar challenges, helping them avoid any potential problems before they arise.
Having a detailed understanding of their schedule also allows me to set reminders in advance of important deadlines to make sure I’m being proactive about following up, checking in and offering guidance where I can. It’s important that reminders aren’t set for the actual deadlines or events because the chaos of day-to-day life can always interrupt the best plans. Having a buffer is critical.
What role does data play in helping you and your team be more proactive in your approach to customer success?
Data can be a CSM’s most powerful tool if used properly to complement information gathered through means like live conversations. At Akeneo, we use data based on the most critical aspects of a customer’s usage of our software to help us track trends and progress over time. This has several benefits. First, we are not overwhelmed with unimportant statistics, but more critically, it allows us to see the direction our customers are headed before they tell us. We can see how they are growing and if they are likely to encounter any challenges as a result, giving us the opportunity to step in with suggestions before a crisis arises.
Data is also a simple but impactful tool for CSMs to use before customer interactions, such as a regular check-in or a business review. Doing a quick check on an account before getting on the phone with the customer allows our team to ask more relevant questions and anticipate their upcoming needs. Telling a customer that they might need to expand usage based on their progress is always a more positive discussion than telling them they have already exceeded limits.
Data can be a CSM’s most powerful tool if used properly to complement information gathered through means like live conversations.’’
As a team, what’s a system or strategy you’ve put in place to get ahead of potential issues before they arise?
We used our knowledge at Akeneo and previous organizations to build a handbook for CSMs outlining five key tactics that allow us to anticipate the vast majority of potential issues. Those tactics are:
- Have regular status meetings to stay aligned with a customer’s challenges, goals and initiatives.
- Have regular business reviews, which allow both Akeneo and our customers to take a step back from the day-to-day hustle and talk more strategically.
- Have a line of communication to the appropriate executive of our customers, and using it.
- Have mutually agreed upon success plans with our customers, so we are able to hold each other accountable for tasks and progress.
- Have our own internal account plans of how we believe we can help our customers grow.
We have found that when we are following this methodology, it provides ample opportunities for us to uncover potential issues before they arise and act accordingly. If any one of these tactics is not in place, that alone can be a warning that we are not as aligned with the customer as we should be.
What they do: Flywire is a global payments enablement and software company that combines its global payments network, next-gen payments platform and vertical-specific software to deliver complex payments for its clients and their customers.
What’s one personal habit you’ve adopted that’s helped you be more proactive as a CSM?
I start each morning by reviewing customer feedback and a handful of the previous day’s interactions that the team has had with our clients and their customers. As a CSM engaging with a global customer base, it is pivotal to hear directly from our clients and their customers (“payers”) across regions to understand the nuances of each customer’s journey.
For example, I was able to better understand the unique challenges payers from China experience in following invoice document requirements, while payers from India were supported through tax regulations. By reviewing feedback, I’m better able to understand areas of friction and to develop proactive engagement strategies.
Additionally, this practice allows me to foster an engaging feedback loop between our team and clients and between the team and internal stakeholders. Feedback can be collected through numerous channels — campaign emails, survey links in transaction notifications, outbound calls — and offers a unique insight into the mind of a customer to implement process and product improvements that anticipates their needs. From there, the info can easily be disseminated across the organization to inform conversations with stakeholders.
What role does data play in helping you and your team be more proactive in your approach to customer success?
Data is critical for identifying client trends that inform our development of a targeted and effective engagement strategy. Our team assigns a unique contact reason for each interaction we have and continuously reviews them to improve data integrity. These contact reasons serve as indicators that highlight trends across different segments of users. Identifying key changes allows us to review the content of the interaction to understand the root issue and take action. My approach is often twofold: immediate action to create a new article or training materials to share with the customer, and raising attention to a wider group to enact change.
Our team is also collaborating cross-functionally to share customer success data with other departments. We’ve even formed a cross-functional group focused on creating a multi-touch, account-based relationship with our payers. Through this approach, we can proactively work to improve retention, conversion and overall customer experience.
Data is critical for identifying client trends that inform our development of a targeted and effective engagement strategy.’’
As a team, what’s a system or strategy you’ve put in place to get ahead of potential issues before they arise?
As we’ve scaled our global team, we’ve placed an increased emphasis on proactivity for both our clients and their customers to further optimize the payment experience. We aim to promote self-service to provide payers with an extensive knowledge base, which they can reference through our chatbot and email campaigns. Additionally, we are engaging customers in real-time using automatic messaging to address their questions or walk them through the experience. These proactive messages, customized by payment method and language, are triggered by user events to send when a customer needs assistance with their transaction. From there, they can then connect with our team and engage in a live chat. Through this increased engagement, we aim to better signpost our self-service and in-person support so that a payer never needs to search for help if they want it. This helps us form a stronger relationship with them.
Combining technology with empathetic human communication was made possible with the collaboration of our product and IT teams. Their knowledge and technical insight allow us to collaborate together to drive success.
What they do: LeanIX’s SaaS platform enables organizations to make faster, data-driven decisions in their IT by managing enterprise architecture and multi-cloud environments.
What’s one personal habit you’ve adopted that’s helped you be more proactive as a CSM?
I always start my day by looking at my calendar to organize what tasks I need to accomplish before jumping right into my email and getting lost in the day. This allows me to plan out my meetings with customers and tackle anything that may pop up throughout the day. I learned this through trial and error. Before starting this habit, I found myself starting the day by responding to emails that could have been answered later in the morning or afternoon. That created the feeling of jumping from one thing to the next without having much time to prepare and have my thoughts in order before going into a call with a customer.
What role does data play in helping you and your team be more proactive in your approach to customer success?
Data is an important role within a customer success organization when it comes to understanding your customers. The more information you have on how your customers use your software and understanding what their goals and initiatives are, the better. It allows you to plan for what information you want to share with the customer on new features or products that may add additional value.
From a team perspective, data is also critical in transitions. If a CSM has been promoted or has taken an opportunity outside of the organization, having notes on interactions with the customer allows the incoming CSM to be more successful in understanding what the customer use cases are and the long-term initiatives.
The more information you have on how your customers use your software and understanding what their goals and initiatives are, the better.”
As a team, what’s a system or strategy you’ve put in place to get ahead of potential issues before they arise?
We leverage Salesforce around risk records. This can be anything from understanding if there was a sponsorship change within the organization to a lack of engagement from the customer team. In leveraging this, we are able to quickly identify issues early on instead of waiting until they become a problem in the long run.
Here’s an example: During a call with a customer, they mentioned that their CIO would be stepping down and that someone new would be replacing them. Since the CIO was our champion on the project, we took that information and created a risk on the sponsorship change. This allowed us to come up with a strategy to ensure we received buy-in from the new CIO.
