Customer success in Saas: The success of a Software-as-a-Service vendor, or any Cloud Tech vendor in that matter, is tied to its Customer Success, and both cannot happen without each other. While other products are physical assets that transfer on one time basis, SaaS and other Cloud solutions can create an intricate bond between the client and the SaaS or Cloud Tech vendor. This makes the role of cloud and SaaS customer success an ‘untapped opportunity to become a profit center’ according to Julie Weill Persofsky.

In this article, we’ll briefly explain some of the building blocks of a CSM, or Customer Success Manager, and will explore some relevant aspects to answer what kind of blocks could be beneficial for your Customer Success team.

What could be the core of Customer Success for SaaS and other Cloud solutions?

Many digital sources have different terms, but we can agree it goes beyond customer support while keeping a strong partnership with the sales team. In order for your customers to achieve their desired results from using your solutions, solid core CSM attributes would be communication skills, empathy, results-focused and problem-solving.

Key challenges to CSM

The CEO of Gainsight Nick Mehta pointed out some specific KPIs that could determine the success level of the CSM. Appointing numbers to churn rates, renewal rates and the total book of business can become solid targets. Although, when focusing too much on these numbers instead of the customers’ future needs, potential revenue or product innovation can be missed.

Another challenge could be the collaboration of the CSM with the rest of the teams. Being too isolated, they become more of an account manager focusing on revenue and solving problems instead of increasing adoption throughout the organization.

Customer success in saas best practices

Now, let’s look into some of the proven tactics in SaaS and other cloud solutions CSM. Perhaps these strategies could help you better manage your CSM team.

Starting the hiring process

Naturally, every cloud solution serves different purposes and some are more complex than others. Starting with a clear job description how your next CSM should look like. Take into consideration the complexity of your cloud solution, the potential company growth, and what kind of company culture you want to maintain.

Creating the interview process

Then design your interview process to gather the right insights as effectively as possible. This is tailor-made as every cloud solution needs different CSMs. Test the interviews with your existing team before putting them into action. Before giving the offer, be aware of what the current market could offer your next CSM.

Onboarding

But don’t stop after you hired the right CSM! Take a look at your onboarding and determine if it is built to shorten the ramping period and ensure success. Think of training, access to knowledge hubs, weekly huddles, and so on. The better the CSM is embedded in your workflow, the lower the risk of the CSM dropping out in the first months.

Where do you start?

We understand that it can confuse where to start and perhaps you want to improve the standards of your CSM team or hiring process, but the current company growth is demanding other priorities. At SUNODOS we can analyze your hiring process, benchmark it against similar job requirements and optimize your interview process before introducing the right candidates.

Feel free to contact us and schedule a discovery call to see how we can help you. Our success is your customer success!

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