Markus Rentsch’s Post

THIS! So many CSM’s are great at the functional or being empathetic or the voice of the customer but feel off purpose when the discussion of commercial responsibility comes up. I would argue that there is no one better suited to identify growth (sales) opportunities for our customers than CSM’s. We will probably bear the brunt of the issues if there is a bad implementation or poor utilization so it’s in our best interest to only suggest new products that we know will benefit our customers. Let’s build strong strategic relationships with our Account Managers and lean in to the commercial “responsibility”.

The value of CSM is criminally underrated in most SaaS companies. There are only 2 things you can do about it: ⛔️ Keep complaining and hoping for a miracle ✅ Take up the fight and deliver irrefutable proof of value If you are in favor of the latter, here’s what you need to do: 1. Deliver substantial value for your customers ➡️ identify customer problems and resulting needs ➡️ provide outcome-focused training and education content and services ➡️ make sure your customers understand what they get 2. Turn that value into revenue ➡️ stop believing the BS about commercial responsibility ➡️ your customer relationships are built on the exchange of value ➡️ identify growth opportunities for your customers and create additional demand 3. Create a monthly report that contains: ➡️ Revenue at risk saved and recovered --> cherry on the cake if you can present a customer case that was e.g. oversold but you saved them anyways ➡️ Customer portfolio growth through expansions and upsells --> it does not matter whether you closed them, they are only happening because you created the demand for ➡️ Revenue from new acquisitions through referrals --> Ask marketing for the data about revenue per channel ➡️ Revenue from customers for life --> former customers who brought your product to their new employer because of you Remember: Your leadership cares about revenue. If you keep showing them product usage and customer health figures you will remain being perceived as glorified support. PS: Here's how I can help --> https://lnkd.in/dN2DUtDh

Customer Success Managers are critical to sustaining long-term revenue growth. Their deep customer insights allow them to identify opportunities for upselling and cross-selling, often before sales even comes into the picture. Moreover, by fostering strong relationships, CSMs can help create customer advocates who not only drive referrals but also provide invaluable feedback for product improvements. Aligning CSMs with growth KPIs ensures they’re not just focused on retention, but on unlocking new revenue streams, making them a true growth engine for the business. #customersuccess #saas #cco 

Customers as ATMS is not a growth strategy.

At some point over the years, we began to lose the essence of the CS role, focusing only on sales rather than on partnership, problem-solving, and client success. Yes, sales should and in my opinion MUST be a KPI for CS, but they need be the result of the work, not the only driver. Sales should be tied to other KPIs that prioritize client success, this is how companies achieve the sustainable growth they seek.

NRR & GRR for public SaaS companies are down, and it's not pretty! Typically, SaaS companies drive revenue growth from: 1. New logos (Net-new ARR) 2. Expansions (NRR & GRR) 3. Renewals (NRR & GRR) Managing & forecasting your pipeline is designed to: - Beat the goal (improve win rate, increase ASPs, shorten sales cycle) - Forecast your quarter accurately Yet, many companies don't manage & forecast expansions in pipeline. Here are 7 steps to grow revenue from existing accounts: 1 - Source CS-qualified leads. Incentivize your CS team on sourcing expansion opportunities. 2 - Focus on ideal expansion opportunities. Similar to Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), prioritize the "right" cross- & upsell opportunities like new products, geographies, or integrations. 3 - Qualify expansion opportunities. Apply the same rigor as with new logos to qualify expansion opportunities. 4 - Develop clear ownership & accountability. Assign clear roles (CSM, AM, or AEs) and establish rules of engagement. 5 - Leverage customer data as leading indicators. Utilize product-usage data, CRM, and CS data for seamless handovers from CS to AMs/AEs. 6 - Deal reviews. Include expansion opportunities in deal reviews and 1-1s, treating them like "new logo" opportunities with added context. 7 - Forecast. Integrate expansion opportunities into forecast meetings or host dedicated expansion opportunity sessions. What else? #saas #csm #sales Credit: mostlymetrics . com

The number 1 reason why SaaS companies fail to scale their growth: They focus on acquiring customers, not keeping and growing them. ⛔️ they spend big on ads ⛔️ invest fortunes in sales training ⛔️ try to sign everyone with a pulse The result? Painfully high churn rates and CAC while leaving 90% of revenue on the table. Here’s what the best in class do instead ✅ Acquire according to their ICP ✅ Deliver quick wins at the customer onboarding ✅ Invest in high-quality customer education and training ✅ Lead their customers to the promised land without compromise ✅ Turn customer success into demand for renewals, expansions, and upsells and get a massive amount of referrals on top. Stop pouring all your resources into new customer acquisition.  Start distributing them according to ROI. Unlocking growth from multiple angles is how you get ahead of 99% of your competitors. Are you in the 1% of SaaS companies playing the winning game? #saas #customersuccess #customervalueledgrowth

We from easy_CSM recommend companies to clearly differ between new-sales 🆕 and growth 📈 / renewal 🔁 activities by #accountmanagement and/ or the #customersuccess team. 💡 Tipp: Especially for customer success managers using Zendesk we offer a tool helping the CS team raising the MRR 📈 with their customers and a possibility to provide further recommended actions to improve the #healthscore 🏥 of their customers. #customersuccesstool

CSMs, you don't build meaningful customer relationships by 🟡 personalizing outreach 🟡 treating customers as humans 🟡 meeting them on their preferred channels That's what your customers are expecting anyways. The fastest way to build trust that powers strong relationships is to 1️⃣ Kick things off by having an old-fashioned 1:1 conversation 2️⃣ Where you are asking open questions about your customers' business 3️⃣ But otherwise shut up and let your customers do the talking 4️⃣ To make them feel heard and 5️⃣ Show that you genuinely care about their success That's not rocket science but few CSMs take the time these days. Fewer CSMs ask meaningful questions. And only a handful are able to spend 80% listening and 20% talking instead of the other way round. Be one of them. PS: Join 5.1k+ CS pros reading my newsletter for more detailed content --> https://lnkd.in/dtC7MEjP #saas #customersuccess #customervalueledgrowth

Should CSMs carry quota ❓❓❓ The industry seems divided and it is easy to see why. Here are a couple of items to consider when building your next CS function. ➡Customer Lifecycle. Does the business model rely heavily on upselling, cross-selling, or expansion within existing accounts? Assigning quotas to CSMs could be beneficial in driving those outcomes, especially if you don't already have a "farming" team in seat (typically called Account Managers). Warning: incentivizing CSMs to prioritize short-term revenue goals over the long-term success and satisfaction of customers is risky. ➡Role Definition. Clarifying the role of CSMs within the organization is equally as important. How complex is the product? Are your CSMs responsible for the post-sale experience - onboarding, project managing, adoption and outcomes? Do they have time / the skills to prioritize farming in addition to all of this? For the 40% of you not carrying quota. What metrics are you owning if you aren't owning revenue? Are those enough in 2024? Would love to hear more in the comments ⬇⬇⬇. Thanks to the 170+ of you voted! Enjoying seeing this polls grow. Check back next week for more. #customersuccess #saas