When it comes to keeping a pulse on client relationships, customer success managers at insurance communications company Hi Marley don’t just track traditional metrics like product engagement scores — they stay up to date on the news.
Insurance news, that is. According to Director of Customer Success Dan Ko, the company’s CSMs and account managers subscribe to various insurance publications and set up alerts for each, ensuring that they receive relevant news the second it hits the headlines — a tactic that has proven to be highly beneficial.
“For example, we learned one customer was selling their property business to another one of our customers,” he shared. “By connecting the dots, we could proactively reach out to both carriers and offer ways to support them through the acquisition to make it as smooth as possible.”
While staying informed helps Hi Marley’s CSMs maintain strong client relationships, CSMs at AI-powered translation company Smartcat focus on various metrics, including one they consider their North Star: the volume of translations processed.
Enterprise CSM Cem Tokgoz explained that this metric helps him quickly spot high adopters and areas needing additional support. Leaning on this core metric, he also leverages “out-of-the-box” measures, such as tracking relationship quality metrics, which gauge the strength of client partnerships.
“Having a strong client champion — or even multiple champions — who advocate for Smartcat internally is a great sign that the partnership is on solid ground,” Tokgoz said.
Below, Ko and Tokgoz share more about the key metrics they prioritize to maintain healthy customer relationships and mitigate churn.
Smartcat’s AI-powered platform turns content in any format into more than 280 languages, making it easier for global organizations to improve employee retention and engagement, improve their marketing efforts, accelerate speed to market and more.
What are the key metrics you track when it comes to your customers? Are there any “outside-the-box” metrics you track?
In my role as an enterprise CSM at Smartcat, I start by tracking key metrics that clearly indicate customer health and success. A primary focus is on adoption and engagement — monitoring the frequency and effectiveness of platform usage. Our North Star metric, the volume of translations processed, helps me quickly spot high adopters and areas needing additional support.
“Our North Star metric, the volume of translations processed, helps me quickly spot high adopters and areas needing additional support.”
I also dive into product engagement analytics by looking at detailed usage patterns. This helps me understand which features are really “sticky” and where users might be dropping off. And of course, these insights often lead to opportunities for referrals or expanding our presence.
On top of these core metrics, I also track some “outside-the-box” measures. For instance, time to value is critical — especially during onboarding — as we measure how quickly new clients begin to see tangible benefits from the platform. Additionally, I track relationship quality metrics, which consider the strength of our partnerships. Having a strong client champion — or even multiple champions — who advocate for Smartcat internally is a great sign that the partnership is on solid ground.
Which metrics do you prioritize when identifying accounts that might be in danger of churning?
When identifying accounts that might be at risk of churning, I analyze multiple metrics to determine the account health. The basis of this analysis is monitoring usage trends, particularly any decline in our North Star metric — the volume of translations processed. A drop in this key metric often serves as an early warning signal that a client might not be engaging with the platform as anticipated.
I complement this with a deep dive into product engagement analytics. By taking a detailed look at the usage patterns, I can pinpoint under-adopted features or noticeable drop-offs. Given that Smartcat is designed to support multiple use cases, a lack of diverse feature engagement can be a clear indicator that a client isn’t leveraging the platform’s full potential, thereby increasing churn risk.
Additionally, I pay close attention to relationship quality metrics. A decrease in the number of engaged users or the loss of a key client champion due to organizational changes like layoffs or shifts in responsibilities can be significant warning signs. These qualitative insights, alongside the quantitative data, provide a well-rounded view of account health.
Give an example of how you used this data to tailor your reengagement strategy or otherwise improve/nurture customer relationships.
A great example of using data to drive a successful reengagement strategy was with Align Technology. When I first took over the account, the adoption metrics revealed a clear risk — usage was alarmingly low, with the account consuming less than 15 percent of their allocated words. Recognizing this as an early warning signal, we immediately prioritized the account.
Fortunately, Align Tech had a dedicated champion, Sarah, whose engagement was a strong asset. I approached her to conduct a thorough discovery process. Working closely with Sarah, we redesigned the onboarding process to better align with their needs and ensured continuous cadence of support beyond the initial phase.
By leveraging the insights from our core metrics — particularly the low usage and engagement data — we were able to tailor our approach and reestablish trust with the client. Additionally, collaborating cross-functionally with the sales team, we implemented a robust strategy that not only halted the risk of churn but also set the stage for future account success.
Hi Marley’s platform is designed to help property and casualty insurance companies simplify carrier and policyholder communications.
What are the key metrics you track when it comes to your customers? Are there any “outside-the-box” metrics you track?
The insurance industry is highly interpersonal. Our customers operate in a risk mitigation environment, so that mentality extends to their relationships, where trust matters. Because Hi Marley has insurance expertise, we can relate to our customers; we understand their unique challenges and pain points. Beyond standard business metrics, we track company and organizational health in a variety of ways, including qualitative data, that helps us proactively provide empathetic support and tailored solutions that strengthen our relationships and build trust.
We monitor industry news and trends, so we’re aware of anything impacting our customers. Our CSMs and account managers subscribe to different insurance publications and set up alerts, enabling them to reach out immediately and offer support when relevant news breaks. For example, we learned one customer was selling their property business to another one of our customers. By connecting the dots, we could proactively reach out to both carriers and offer ways to support them through the acquisition to make it as smooth as possible.
Which metrics do you prioritize when identifying accounts that might be in danger of churning?
We track a product engagement score that analyzes license utilization, adoption, user growth and usage frequency. This combination of metrics helps us identify which customers may need a different approach to realize maximum platform value.
“We track a product engagement score that analyzes license utilization, adoption, user growth and usage frequency.”
We also track the executive net promoter score — for executive buyers and champions — and the operator NPS, which pulses the platform’s users on their satisfaction. We send the first NPS survey 30 days post-launch, another at 180 days and then every six months after that. While we can anticipate 80 percent of pain points, every carrier is different. If the operator NPS trends downward, we conduct user feedback sessions to uncover unique roadblocks and opportunities for improvement. This user insight helps us tailor plans and solutions to the carrier’s specific needs.
Historically, a customer’s financial health has been the most significant churn factor. We monitor an industry report on loss ratio that alerts us if our customers are facing economic challenges so we can jump in and offer assistance with things that impact the bottom line, like loss adjustment expenses or reducing cycle time. Knowing when they need help allows us to confidently provide meaningful support.
Give an example of how you used this data to tailor your reengagement strategy or otherwise improve/nurture customer relationships.
When we build trust with our customers, we can lean into that; they know we want them to succeed. If they are in danger of churning, we create a clear, actionable plan with measurable goals, execute it, hold ourselves accountable and exceed expectations.
We know that if our customers experience turnover and their leadership or champions leave, that’s a huge risk. One small insurer’s leadership team was in flux, and their usage plummeted. We reached out to our remaining trusted contacts at the company with a plan to grow Hi Marley’s product engagement score and usage in 30 days. They agreed and worked with us to execute the plan and retrain some adjusters.
We showed remarkable improvement in 30 days and exceeded all of the targets we set forth. They renewed and are still a customer today. Overall, a plan for change management is the most critical piece to success, especially in a long-standing industry like insurance. If you demonstrate the platform’s value to the customer and remind them why they invested in it, show them what it can do, teach them how to use it and celebrate milestones and successes, you will reduce churn and improve engagement.
