Bora Lee is the Manager of Customer Enablement at ChurnZero. She is passionate about helping customer success teams succeed by crafting big-picture strategies executed through automated, streamlined processes that put the right data in front of the right customer at exactly the right time. She works hand in hand with customer success leaders to create fruitful, long-term relationships and to maximize customer satisfaction. In her free time, you will find her scuba diving and traveling.

Since customer success (CS) is still an emerging field, it’s not uncommon to find CS leaders who are founding their company’s first CS team or creating CS processes from scratch. Being the new department on the block, you may have had to find workarounds to other team’s more established processes. Or you might have encountered the common workplace scenario of inheriting your predecessor’s way of working.

No matter how your processes came to be, I can tell you one thing: they’re not perfect.

You can’t put your processes on a pedestal or become complacent with their adherence. Your market, solutions, and customers are constantly evolving. Your processes must adapt to the people and to the context – not the other way around.

Especially when you’re implementing CS processes for the very first time, it’s impossible to account for the multiple variances that will occur when you put concept into practice.

Instead of striving for process perfection, a goal more worthy of your efforts is the continuous improvement of your processes – routinely assessing their design, usage, output, and effectiveness.

And that’s where audits come in. By auditing your processes, you can uncover if dips in your performance metrics are merely a fluke or perhaps the cause of an undiagnosed bottleneck. Or if outwardly unrelated customer complaints actually stem from the same source.

As you audit over time, your small incremental efficiency gains add up. Consistent and measured refinement is the key to sustainable growth.

When auditing, it’s all about asking the right questions to uncover both the visible and underlying issues in your processes. To keep your customer success operations running smoothly, in this Process Street article, we’ve detailed a few simple, yet commonly overlooked questions to ask during your next process audit:

• Does your process align with your team’s responsibilities?
• What parts of your process generate the most feedback?
• Outside of the process, what other work does your team perform?
• Where do you have process bottlenecks?
• Where’s your team spending too much time?
• How should the process ideally work?
• Are you getting the data you need?

Let’s get right to it!
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According to a 2020 Walker study, 86% of buyers will pay more for a better customer experience.

Customer experience is a key brand differentiator, and getting it right can determine the difference between success and failure.

In this Process Street article, we examine a customer-centric approach and explain how you can use it to be more product-oriented. That is, you’ll learn how to focus on the customer’s experience when using your product.

Taking a product-oriented approach to provide a great customer experience will set you apart from your competition, and give you the edge you need to succeed.

You need to be thinking about your customer and how they interact with your product to draw appropriate customer success milestones. Following the 8 steps in this article will help you do that.

By the end of this article, you’ll have customer-success milestones that act as a guide for the delivery of an exceptional in-product user experience.

• Rising to the digital transformation and why you need to be product-oriented
• How to track the customer journey
• 8 actionable steps to make your customer success milestones product-oriented

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Joanne Camarce is a digital marketing expert specializing in SEO, eCommerce, and social media. She loves meeting new people and embraces unique challenges. When she’s not wearing her marketing hat, you’ll find Joanne fine-tuning her art and music skills.

80% of consumers say that customer experience is just as important as the products or services that a company provides.

Employees and new hires must have the skills to create positive experiences that bring customers back and get them to spread the word about your brand.

This is where people intelligence comes in.

People intelligence isn’t just a buzzword or a passing fad. 71% of organizations now see it as a high priority.

But what does people intelligence mean, and how can you apply it in your company?

In this Process Street blog post, we’ll look at the following:

• What is people intelligence?
• How can you apply people intelligence
• How can improving customer service boost your bottom line?
• Tips for building your company’s people intelligence

Let’s dive in!
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Companies with a customer-centric account health scoring system enjoy a 95% increase in customer retention.

To be more customer-centric, you need an account health scorecard that takes a holistic approach to measure your health and your customers’ health. In this Process Street article, we’ll show you how to do that.

We’ve produced your ultimate workflow guide to help you create this account health scorecard. This template is free for you to use from your Process Street account (you can sign up to create your free account here). This workflow guide has been produced based on the Customer-Centric Digital Transformation report by Deloitte.

You’ll also learn the key benefits you’d expect from taking this holistic approach to measuring an account’s health, with two real-life case studies.

This article is structured as follows:

• Create an account health scorecard that measures customer and business success
• Why you need an account health scorecard
• Case studies: Applying the account health scorecard approach in real life

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According to Deloitte Insights, advances in technology are changing the business landscape and they are calling this a digital disruption. This is altering customer expectations and demands, presenting critical challenges for customer success teams globally.

To successfully ride this wave of change, Deloitte – and us here at Process Street – believe businesses should rethink how they are measuring value delivered to the customer. The aim is to ensure these measurements are customer-centric to refine CS activities and enhance the customer’s experience.

Think of it as a customer success evolution in response to digital disruption.

This CS transformation has the potential to bolster positive referrals by 83%, lower costs by 20%, and increase customer lifetime value by x1.6.

What have you got to lose?

In this article, you’ll learn how to apply a customer-centric means of measuring customer value generated for your organization. I’ve split the process down into three steps based on the Customer-Centric Digital Transformation report by Deloitte.

• From churn reduction to customer value generation (applying customer success 2.0)
• Measuring value in 3 steps: Determining customer and internal success
• Determining value generated – Step #1: Measure the outside-in value perception
• Determining value generated – Step #2: Measuring inside-out value perception
• Determining value generated – Step #3: Measuring internal success using business outcomes

With that said, let’s jump straight to it!
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A recent Deloitte study found a mere 30% of respondents stated customer success was a strategic priority by the board of directors. Only 26% reported official business communications to regularly mention customer success.

At Process Street, we find this concerning. Technological advancements and the rise of Industry 4.0 are altering the business landscape. Businesses are facing new pressures, with changing customer demands and expectations as the biggest catalyst altering how business is done. To respond, organizations need to focus on customer success (CS).

Businesses need to lead a successful customer success transformation, one that means they’re more customer-centric. In this Process Street article, I explain how organizations should do this in three simple steps.

• Why we need to think differently about customer success
• The companies leading in customer success are making a customer-centric transition
• 3 steps to manage your customer-centric transition

With that said, let’s jump straight to it!
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This is a guest post by Andriy Zapisotskyi. Andriy is a Growth Manager at Mailtrap. He has over 5 years of experience in the field of marketing & loves to network with new people.

Jeff Gardner (Director of Customer Support & Success at Intercom in the early days) on customer communications:

“It’s got to be easy. Don’t make customers jump through hoops to use your product.

It’s got to be effective. Know everything about your product, including its limitations.

It’s got to be authentic. Make sure everyone’s aligned on your fundamental cultural values.”

As a Customer Success Manager, you represent the customer’s interest and your goal is to help them get value from your product. In many ways, they are the link between the user and the company, and that link grows stronger the more acquainted with the product the customer becomes.

CSMs are kind of like a combination of product manager and technical support; one of their chief duties is leading the Customer Success team in handling all communication from the customer about the product, be it questions about service, onboarding, or resolving technical difficulties.

It goes without saying that communication is important. The tone, content, and delivery of any kind of messaging should be refined and optimized to deliver the best possible customer experience. You should consider how to tailor different messages for different purposes, mediums, and customer profiles. A one-size-fits-all approach is unlikely to get you very far, and a keen understanding of etiquette around customer success communications is essential.

This means the CSM needs to be able to take into account the nuances of written communication with individual customers and be able to adjust their approach to each specific situation.

In this Process Street post, I’ll detail the core principles vital for a CSM to lead their team to successful communications with all customers.

• CSM communications etiquette: Ground rules
• CSM communications etiquette: Provide a solution
• CSM communications etiquette: Closing a query

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Research shows that a 5% increase in customer retention rates can boost profits by 55%.

With this in mind, when it comes to customer success, it’s important you play your cards right to retain your customers.

In this Process Street article, we draw from McKinsey & Company’s post, Introducing customer success 2.0: The new growth engine. What’s more, thinking about customer success, we ask, how can you ensure you’re implementing customer success 2.0 strategies?

To help you get started, I’ve put together your essential software stack to execute customer success 2.0. Using this list, you can easily execute the five critical elements that’ll instill a customer success philosophy in your organization. But before all, let’s quickly recap the basics, and define the difference between customer success 1.0 and 2.0.

Click on the relevant subheader to jump to your section of choice, alternatively scroll down to read all we have to say.

• Customer success 2.0 vs. customer success 1.0
• Customer success 2.0 software stack to execute the McKinsey Model
• Comparing customer success 1.0 with customer success 2.0 in practice

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Do you have a brand that you go back to, time and time again?

If you do, what is it about this brand that’s captured your loyalty?

I do not doubt that an exceptional customer experience plays its part. That is, think about how that brand makes you feel. Good huh?

According to Bain & Company, businesses that invest time and effort to optimize their customer experience (CX) flows, experience above-market revenue growth between 4-8%. With the vast choice of products, services and brands available, exceptional customer experience comes as the ultimate seduction and differentiation for businesses to stand out above competitors.

In this Process Street article, you’ll learn how to engage your customers at every point in their journey with you. You’ll learn how to consistently create a service with a smile, a product to praise, and a beloved brand.

Learn from the best as we take a glimpse into the CX operations used by the likes of Netflix, Microsoft, and of course Process Street. You’ll then be given 5 tips on how you can optimize your CX flows, taking into account the changing business landscape, and the impacts of digitalization on customer behavior and experience.

Click on the relevant subheader to jump to your section of choice. Alternatively, scroll down to read all for an in-depth understanding of CX.

• What is CX?
• Case studies: How top tech companies deliver excellent CX
• How to optimize your customer experience flows
• Using checklists to optimize your CX flows in 5 steps
• Understanding customer experience flows in a digital world

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90% of customers feel that the companies they buy from could do better when it comes to how they experience onboarding.

Customer success is about helping your customers understand and leverage the value of your product; you’re basically helping them achieve their goals. In a sense it’s one step beyond traditional customer support, taking a proactive approach to understanding and addressing customer needs.

A key component of customer success is making sure your customers are effectively onboarded.

Onboarding provides a unique opportunity for the CS team to nurture and address the key needs of a new customer, and an effective onboarding program can mean the difference between a long-term customer and a rapid churn.

For customer success teams to succeed with onboarding, CS managers should drive clear best practices and use well-structured processes to make onboarding as effortless as possible for everyone involved.

In this Process Street article, we’ll dive into:

• Customer success onboarding best practices
• Designing your customer success onboarding framework
• The customer onboarding process
• Measuring success with key customer success onboarding metrics

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