In this article we analyse what customer success is and how it can positively impact the fortunes of a company. First, however, it is worth understanding how the market and above all consumers’ habits have changed.
The wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has considerably increased the users who request online services. For e-commerce sites, and in general for companies that operate mainly on the web, this certainly represented an advantage, but it also brought some disadvantages.
If on the one hand it is true that the potential clientele has increased, it is equally true that competition has grown exponentially and is increasingly fierce. Let’s take as an example an e-commerce site that sells clothing online, for which competitors have literally tripled. Many physical shops, with the continuous lockdowns, have had to adapt to the new situation by bringing a large part of their business online.
The average modern customer, in addition, is increasingly attentive and expert, so they know very well that they can find the product they want at the best price. How to make the difference then? Which strategies to adopt to stand out from competitors? The answers are to be sought in customer success.
Customer success manager: what does this new figure do?
A new figure has emerged on the market: the customer success manager. This professional, supported by a customer success team that has a cross-cutting preparation, works in close contact with the marketing and sales departments in order to generate effective word of mouth and respond thoroughly to customers’ requests.
Specifically, here is what the customer success manager does:
- builds a “human” relationship with customers in order to identify their desires and objectives and win their trust;
- creates onboarding strategies to encourage customers to use a product or a service;
- lowers the customer churn percentage;
- increases sales with effective up-selling and cross-selling strategies.
The success of a business is closely linked to the full satisfaction of the customer, who has become the central pivot of every business strategy. If a consumer buys a product, is happy with it and is constantly supported and advised, they will in all probability continue to spend at your business.
The customer’s desires must be fully satisfied, but you must not promise what you cannot keep. For this reason customer support and customer success must walk together, in order to create an efficient and satisfying customer journey. Our analyses are not surprising, according to which the customers who have improved customer satisfaction have seen an increase in positive feedback of 23%, alongside which there has been a considerable increase in sales over the medium and long term.
Positive effects of customer success: word of mouth
Customer success must be built over time: after having sown, you harvest the fruits. One of the positive effects is word of mouth, which continues to be one of the most widespread marketing tools despite the new technologies.
A good part of buyers do not blindly trust advertisements, nor marketing initiatives. In practice they trust only their peers, that is, other consumers, neutral actors in the game. For this reason feedback and comments have taken on a strategic role of extraordinary importance in marketing.
This is why word of mouth can determine the fortunes of a product, or even of an entire company. Word of mouth must be continuous and positive, so you have to constantly satisfy the needs of your customers, so that they turn into an advertising vehicle able to attract other potential customers into the ranks of their friends, acquaintances and relatives.
Up-selling and cross-selling
Customer success creates a favourable indirect economy that the company must be good at making the most of. Perfect examples are up-selling and cross-selling, two sales techniques that can considerably increase sales and earnings.
Up-selling is a technique that makes it possible to sell a similar product, but of greater value, to the buyer; cross-selling is instead a technique that makes it possible to sell accessories to be used in combination with the product purchased in order to improve its performance.
In both cases it is necessary to maintain a contact with the customer even after the sale, to demonstrate that the company is always ready to answer their questions and support them. In this way the customer’s loyalty is built and they feel valued, so they will be more inclined to spend and to follow your advice.
Customer success and customer service: what changes?
There are subtle differences, which however it is worth knowing, between customer success and customer service. Customer success is proactive, since it anticipates possible critical issues during the sales process in order to create a fluid and pleasant shopping experience.
Customer service is instead reactive, that is, it gets going after having received a request or a complaint from the customer, finding the solution in real time.
To boost your customer success service and satisfy all your customers, contact us!
