Rishab Rege, Executive MBA’s Post

Does your delivery of your product or service feel "a bit" like this? I used to wonder why? For all the fancy frameworks and process as business owners we try and apply, IF A CLIENT FEELS like they've been arrested and sent to county jail Would it be ridiculous to say something wrong? Too obvious? Ever felt like that yourself once you've bought? And treated as if your're a child: _High handed _High browed _We're Better than you.... Are you / your team open minded enough to ask one simple question? "How has our onboarding and treatment of you / your team felt so far?" Not as a: _ form _survey or _ NPC oh sorry NPS Net Prompter Score Asked by a human Is it ever asked? I've heard a version of that sentence pass over the lips of 10-20 of 200+ organisations in the last decade And IF it's asked in some form of After & Rarely Collected a. It's -After- The event (our human memories change over time) b. It's -Rarely- Used to improve the people you say you serve c. It's -Collected- To be pulled into an internal report Like an achievement badge, does the customer care? What to do instead 1. Align everyone - A pipleline everyone can see 2. Integrate those 10, 20, 30+ challenges into first in first solved _Easy first _One at a time WHY - It builds a stack of truth for you or your team " ..you can" 3. Map Out your path visually for you and your client You are of course reading this saying Gav that's to obvious Ok, then call a few of your "difficult" / "worst" clients or customers Yes on the phone and politley ask why they did not renew, offer a referral And admit you're looking to improve Follow & Ring the 🔔 for more Download: 100 Ways of Getting Unstuck in Delivery

Lack of transparency damages trust. Have you ever had to cancel a subscription payment online? There seems to be a lot more steps to go through to cancel, than there are to join Companies seem happy to make the customer journey as smooth as possible when they get something from you And make it much more complicated when it is not in there interest This short sightedness damages trust The company has built processes from their own perspective, and not from the perspective of the customer There is a lack of transparency in how to achieve things they don't want you to do And even when you do want to leave - you get bombarded with offers to keep you In your business make it as easy for people to leave as it is to join. And reward loyalty, don't punish it by offering rewards only to new joiners and incentives to stay for those who want to leave Now I'm off to hunt to cancel my membership. It's only taken 1 hour of searching and 2 emails so far.

Storytime: A new customer is added to the already chaotic & reasonably big portfolio of our CSM. After a brief panic attack on how would she ever schedule the series of meetings & drive the outcomes/ROI, she quickly convinces herself that its good, this will be the golden customer: - right fit - needs the product - has expectations that are really real - understands that product is not magic - has a team that is ready to roll up the sleeves - the POCs are decent at basic tools & open to learn - all the other things that a CSM needs for the customer to be a success (I see all you CSMs smiling! You already know how this ends don't you?) Well, I need to tell you the entire story nevertheless: 1st Q - the CSM knows this will be an uphill battle. They need everything not possible with the product. They hate even an indication of more effort- they are too busy. But we all know how hopeful, optimistic & empathetic CSMs can be! 2nd Q, 3rd Q - our hero CSM gives her every last shred of effort. Figuring & following aggressively, internally & externally with the customer POCs, admins, users, sponsor(whenever she got him to reply those few words on the email). Internally she is constantly pleading, sharing, updating, well doing everything she can think of to make this all better. 4th Q - after skipping her kid's recital; even in the last EBR the 'E' decides to be too busy to attend and it becomes yet another QBR. Our brave CSM starts the renewal discussion with subtle hints after trying her best to showcase the ROI to a team extremely unhappy & not paying much attention. No one cares where this all broke, who was really responsible/ accountable- but that it did. Now, 30 days before due date- the automated renewal reminder goes to this customer & our brave CSM is in CC. She doesn't sleep well(read at all) that night- feels too hot, too cold, too full, too hungry & a rainbow of emotions the entire night. Cut to the morning- she gets that dreaded churn notice. This was all still ok- because she really tried. She was given an impossible job but took it up with all the grace & tactic she could muster. What shocked her though was the email from her CXO(with all the usual suspects in CC)- questioning why this customer is churning & how can we retain?! The image below shows her very real emotions & those of all other CSMs who are questioned after the churn notice of a misfit or misaligned customer that they were pleading & yelling to everyone about but no one cared when things were falling apart one piece at a time! But now all of a sudden the churn notice gets every1's attention. Fact that all CSMs know is- its too late now -some should never have been customers -some should have been told to reset expectations at sale -some needed the bitter truth pill of effort involved at implementation -so many other regrets.. #toolate #SaaSLife #CSM #CS #churnnotice #churn #renewal #customersuccess #csjobs #csrole #customersuccessmanager #b2b #saas #linkedin #outcomes

“CSM don’t like to say No.” Myth or a fact? Saying yes is a “fast-track” solution, sometimes leading to negative repercussions.  We often prefer short-term “peace” by accepting actions and obligations, which will lead to longer-term turmoil. You probably heard about “saying no diplomatically,” but I want to change perspective. Now, it's time to learn the art of 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲. It's about more than immediately saying yes or no but understanding the request, its implications, and the client's needs before responding. In which scenario this approach will be helpful? 📌 Customer making an unrealistic request (“Please fix this immediately”) 📌 Question which falls outside of your scope (“Help me to engage another vendor”) 📌 Customers are unclear about their needs (“we need a new report”). 📌 Customers are pushing you to “over-promise.”  (“We trust you can deliver”) 📌 Customers expect you will commit on someone else’s behalf  (“You can handle it later with your colleagues”) When facing these inconvenient circumstances, a few practical questions drive the customers' awareness level, helping them understand the nature and criticality of their requests.  💬 𝑼𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒚 & 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 The first two questions drive a stakeholder to explain the priority of their ask. 👉 “When you say this is urgent, can you explain why?”   👉 “What is the possible impact if handled with lower priority?” The following two questions imply that their ask can be delivered but at the expense of other activities. 👉 “If I cannot deliver the full scope of your request, what part of it would you ask me to do?”             👉 “What other activities should we de-prioritize to meet this request?” 𝑺𝒄𝒐𝒑𝒆 The questions drive customers to clarify the challenge or use case they wish to resolve, while CSM can better understand the scope, make an informed decision, and say Yes to a customer's justified need. 👉 “Is this request covered in the scope of our engagement?” 👉 “Can you explain how this request will solve an existing challenge or a need?” 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 Pending customer size and product complexity, few stakeholders will be involved, both from the vendor and customer sides. This may lead to communication “gaps,” which CSM should consider before saying Yes to challenging requests.  You can ask two straightforward questions to understand which stakeholders are already involved. 👉 “Did you raise this request from someone else from my team?” This is to determine if they already had a response from someone else, which they are now trying to circumvent.  👉 “Did you discuss these needs with your team?”  When asked gently, this question can help the stakeholders verify it internally with their teams. Next time you think about saying NO diplomatically, consider the questions above to say 𝐲𝐞𝐬 gradually or eventually say 𝐧𝐨 but more confidently. #customersuccess #softskills #customerexperience

Welcome to Moments that Matter! ➡ In a recent ESG (Customer Success as a Service®️) Customer Success Unlocked webinar, Peter Armaly asked guest Candace Wallace, CCO at Relias, the following question: ❓ “Any advice for a first time, Head of CS and Support who's struggling with getting the CS team voice heard within the company?” ✊ Candace's reply was smart, practical, illuminating, and multi-layered... kind of just like her. #customersuccess

Airbase’s Customer Support sets the standard for the industry. We proudly earn rave reviews from bona fide users and our Quality of Support rankings on G2 confirm we outshine other solutions. One secret? Many team members are former accountants, so they understand our users’ detailed workflows and priorities. Learn more about how Airbase exceeds customer expectations in this blog by our Director of Customer Support, Kallen Bakas. Fast, accurate, and empathetic. How Airbase delivers quality support. https://lnkd.in/eCz4T7vZ

No matter the organization you work for, one of the top metrics CS professionals are measured on are the number of calls you have with your customers. It makes sense though! If you aren’t speaking with them, how do you know they are seeing value, are happy with the software, etc.? One aspect I really struggled with when I first started in CS was trying to book calls just to have calls on the calendar. I would send emails and cold call customers just to “check in”. The results:  - It got harder and harder to get in touch with them.  - They weren’t as excited to be speaking with me because there was no value - They would just stop talking to me all together… Dang. Something that a former boss instilled in me (shout out Sabiha Viswanathan!), was always asking myself “What’s in it for them?” Before emailing your customer or reaching out, you should think to yourself “why should they take this call”, “Why should they do what I asked”, or “why should they even respond to this email?” If you can’t answer those yourself, then the chances of you booking a call or getting that email back is VERY slim. Now I always ask myself, “would I respond to this?” It just hasn’t helped me speak with my customers more often, but it’s also allowed me to have more meaningful conversations with them. At the end of the day, a Customer Success Manager is tasked with ensuring the customer is hitting their goals. Unless one of their KPIs is “check in calls with their CSMs”, it’s important to make every conversation, email, or touchpoint as valuable as possible.

I recently subscribed to a popular meal service and, as any typical consumer, I took time to research other consumers’ experience with them first. I of course saw tons of reviews noting that the taste and quality of the meals was fantastic, but that the customer support experience was horrible. Things like “I was asked what I expected from them” and “they told me flat out they couldn’t help me and that the problem was my own fault.” Reading those reviews as a consumer really drove home something that those of us with experience in the support industry have known, and been shouting from the hill tops for years: Your support experience absolutely impacts your bottom line. “Will I end up having the same kind of interaction?” “Is good food worth the hassle of being belittled by someone I don’t know?” “If I have similar issues with their service, is it even worth bothering with support then? Would it be better to just cancel?” Those are the questions I wound up asking myself before taking a risk and subscribing. So far, so good. But, I guarantee that plenty of other people just like me saw those same reviews and asked themselves the same, or similar, questions. And those types of questions make it easy to see the correlation between a poor customer support experience and revenue. If you’re leading a company and are still stuck seeing support as a cost center, then you’re absolutely limiting your company’s potential. You may have customers who think your product is mediocre but stay because the support they received convinced them that the alternatives just aren’t worth it. You may also have customers who churn silently because, either through experience or the grape vine, they’re afraid that sending a support request would be a stressful waste of time. So, talk to your support team - all of it, not just the folks at the top. Really think about how the work they do impacts your company’s bottom line, and celebrate the breadth of impact of the work they do. Do it even when it isn’t Customer Support Appreciation Week (and please, if you’re going to celebrate it at all at least do it on time). Support writes more checks for you than you think. PS I am indeed happy with the food from that service, btw. But I’m definitely still terrified of ever needing to contact their support team for anything. 😅

Customer Success Mistakes I MADE ❌ Assumed I knew what my customers wanted without asking them ❌ Neglected to set clear expectations and goals with my customers ❌ Failed to communicate the value of my product and service to my customers ❌ Ignored the feedback and signals from my customers ❌ Treated all my customers the same way regardless of their needs and preferences ❌ Waited too long to address issues and risks with my customers ❌ Forgot to celebrate the wins and milestones with my customers One day, I will write a book about these mistakes and the book cover will be the one below. 👇😂 What CS mistakes did you make early on? Repost to help other CSMs not make the same mistakes! 🔁 #CustomerSuccess #CSM #Mistakes

After months of iteration and pivoting, our new Delivery Issue Management proposition, our team is finally seeing the proof points of our hard work with happy clients! 🎉 And honestly, as a founder, this is what is making the journey really rewarding. What came from just a low NPS score in combination with very little usage of our software in Q4, rose in just barely 4 months to a staggering NPS of 70 in combination with high daily usage of our software. Key takeaways💡: 1) Delivery issues are now key prio for large retailers to manage. While it is often just 1 to 5% of the volume, it is where a majority of the headaches and painpoints are. It is just not a niche Making sure to minimize bad reviews and to maximise efficiency and savings on those issues is key in 2024. 2) Building a solution for both CS and Logistics has been doing wonders. Getting CS as key user and ambassador of the software, is making the success as a whole. 3) Focus on what we can do 10x better than others - yep the usual trap - we have been stretching ourselves thin in 2023 with multiple propositions and products, wanting to do too everything at the same time (yep, my fault). Definetly learned a lesson here. So, how are we planning on keeping the momentum and make sure we can still overdeliver towards our clients. This is what we have planned for coming months: - Many many many new carriers 🚚:  one constant feedback that we got over the years is that we would not have carrier X or Y. We are now able to integrate new carriers in matter of days instead of months. Big props to the team for making that happen. - Not plan up too much in our roadmap🔧: Like this we are able to quickly adapt to customer response and feedback, because we know there will be. - Make sure the ROI is there and visible on our software💵: In 2024 it is just all about making sure the ROI is in. Buyers are all about savings today - and this has luckily always been a key pillar at Lox. Again, huge shoutout to our incredible team for their dedication and to our clients for believing in what we're building. ✨ I am confident that we are on the right track, and I couldn't be more excited for what's next!