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How to Help Customers Succeed
Art by: Keith Lowe
Hungry people are not happy people. I learned this more than 25 years ago while waiting tables in a Mexican restaurant.
The customer might not always be right, but helping them succeed means actually caring about the value you can provide. After all, they trust you with their money, loyalty and business. The least we can do is treat them right.
Being Human Rules started as random thoughts while advising customer success teams in different startups. Experience has shown these to be guiding principles that get results. Let's take a look at them now.
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Rule #1: Be Human
Art by: Josephine Rais
It's typical for customer success teams to view customers as tickets to solve rather than people. Most of the metrics used to evaluate CS teams are based on things like:
- Response time
- Number of tickets closed
- Customers retained v. lost
Now, I'm not saying don't track that stuff, because it's important. Numbers help managers improve the effectiveness of a CS team.
But you must focus on giving value.
Treat each customer as a human being first, customer second. Don't pretend to have all the answers. Just make them feel that you care, and will go to great lengths to help.
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Rule #2: Shut Up & Listen!
Art by: Iryna Korshak for Netguru
Shut up and listen - it might just be the kindest thing you can do. When it comes to helping other people, especially in business, let them talk.
Everybody has a point. From their perspective the world looks a certain way. Try to consider that, get to know them as people, and offer to help them figure it out as a fellow human being.
This applies to CS, sales, dating - you name it. Listening to people and doing what you can to make them feel heard is a skill (search it here on DeepStash!), which means we can all get better at it with a little effort.
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Rule #3: Delight the Customer
Art by: Roberlan Borges Paresqui
Surprise a customer with something delightful and the effect is magical. It takes very little to do this, but it has very big returns.
Here are a few examples of my personal experience with customer delight:
- Fast response & product replacement (Pax)
- Going the extra mile to help (TurboTax)
- Personalization (Netflix)
Each of these customer experiences gave me unexpected, delightful moments. Even when I didn't get the outcome I wanted, these companies earned my loyalty with great experiences that made me want to stay and buy more.
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Rule #4: Be Ready to Give
Art by: Ryan Vatzlavick
"Let me ask my manager and get back to you..." This sucks.
Leaders of CS teams must empower CSMs with a range of things they are authorized to offer unhappy customers.
Some examples include:
- Access to exclusive content, swag or benefits
- Offering a free month or two (subscription products)
- Providing discounts on upgrades
- Replacing products or offering free services
- Invites to customer training sessions
These are just a few things that can work if offered in a first or second touch. The more you have to offer the faster you will build trust with the customer.
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Rule #5: Write Your Own Rules
Art by: Sergey Deykin
Lists of customer success tips can provide some great insights. But use them as your starting point.
Every business has different needs, depending on what you sell, how you sell it and to whom. Being responsive and flexible while caring about their success should be a goal for every CS team.
- Write a list of your own values and best practices.
- Keep track of what works and what doesn't.
- Be willing to change things that don't work.
One of the ideas from Being Human Rules says, "broken systems cannot success." Always look for ways to deliver the best of what you have to offer.
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CURATED BY
CURATOR'S NOTE
Customers are human beings. When we make every effort to give them the most value we can success is sure to follow.
“
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