After speaking to a number of company leaders during September, the fight to secure business and close B2B deals is proving to be a struggle. Price-cutting wars are causing strains and sales teams are often showing up to discussions with a one-price hard-line discussion vs. meeting customers where they are and finding ways to win the business and block the competition. It takes creativity to win business in a down market and take a hard look at the data to regroup and implement a fresh approach. However, when you win business retention becomes just as (if not more) important, and that’s where having a strong value-added customer success team can pay large dividends.
Whether you’re a small company with sales teams managing customer success or your expansion has necessitated a separate customer success team, developing this area of customer care should be top of mind for 2024.
Customer success is important any day of the week, but even more so amid a downturn. Customers will demand more value and will magnify expected outcomes. Customer success managers (CSMs) will find themselves defending their existing customer base while investing time to map account orgs, track stakeholders and focus on building real relationships.
With so many companies stretching budgets, CSMs will have no choice but to up-level their sales skills from pricing basics to value-add contract negotiations. Intent signals like page views and product usage will be amplified as key indicators for upselling and cross-selling opportunities. The need for smart content, therefore, that your customers value is going to be skyrocketing.
After speaking to a number of companies that are seeing a slowdown, here are some reasons and predictions as to why the emphasis on customer success should be a major focus in 2024 and beyond:
Customer retention over acquisition
In economic downturns, it’s often more cost-effective to retain existing customers than to acquire new ones. This means businesses will lean more heavily on their customer success teams to ensure that existing customers are satisfied, deriving value and renewing their contracts.
Increased competition
As markets get more saturated and competitive, differentiating based on product features becomes harder. One area in which businesses can distinguish themselves is through the quality of customer experience and success those teams offer. A strong customer success team can be a brand’s most powerful differentiator.
Strategic upselling and cross-selling
Tracking intent signals like page views and product usage can help CSMs identify opportunities to upsell or cross-sell, further deepening the relationship with existing customers. In tight economic scenarios, maximizing revenue from existing customers is crucial. However, if the channels between marketing and CSMs do not have daily shared data – then this is hard to see happen.
Technological advancements
In 2024, the integration of AI and machine learning with Customer Success platforms will be even more refined. This will enable CSMs to predict churn, identify upselling opportunities, and provide more personalized solutions to clients.
Holistic approach to customer relationships
Instead of being reactive, CSMs will need to be more proactive in their approach. This includes understanding the organizational dynamics of their clients, engaging with stakeholders at multiple levels, and foreseeing potential roadblocks to success.
Sales and CS integration
There’ll likely be a more profound integration between sales and customer success teams. As CSMs up-level their sales skills, we might see a blurring of lines between the roles, where CSMs not only ensure the delivery of value but also drive expansion revenue.
Shift in metrics
While traditional metrics like NPS (Net Promoter Score) and CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score) will still be relevant, there will be an emphasis on more tangible metrics related to customer growth, expansion, and advocacy.
Training and development
Companies might invest more in training their Customer Success teams in advanced negotiation, sales techniques, and strategic account management to ensure they are well-equipped to handle the evolving demands of the role.
Advocacy and community building
Happy customers can be the best advocates. CSMs will play a pivotal role in building and nurturing customer communities, driving referrals, and generating organic growth.
Given these trends and the increasing importance of ensuring customer value realization, it’s going to be wise for companies to put a strong emphasis on amplifying Customer Success as a core business function with the supporting high-touch marketing, PR and branded face-to-face event opportunities in place.
