Mehtaphysical Musings: Born to Run — Customer Success 2.0
As musical genius and philosopher of our time, Taylor Swift, once sang: “These things will change. Can you feel it now?” But my first love of music started with the 80s rock artist ‘The Boss,’ Bruce Springsteen, who sang about being “Born to Run”— to know what to do in the face of that change.
Change has been a big theme in the Customer Success world, whether it’s developing durable growth strategies or proving ROI to investors. We’ve deemed this new wave of CS “Customer Success 2.0.” If you go back in the history books, Salesforce pioneered the first iteration of CS, where a department was created to solve churn on its own. While that isolationist mentality worked for a while, it was never a long term solution.
Customer Success 2.0 is about making CS an enterprise-wide priority. Every person in a company needs to be aligned around the customer, whether you’re in Sales, Marketing, or CS. At the end of the day, its value that matters—not churn. Value is the thing that mitigates churn and drives Net Dollar Retention.
Vendor consolidation is one of those strategies that can help CS reach this northstar. In the video below, I talk about the old days of CS — when it worked in a silo and created fractured touchpoints that could overwhelm a customer. The Gainsight Platform is our iteration of Customer Success 2.0, combining product experience, community-based initiatives, customer education, and more into one value-providing touchpoint. Check out the video below to also learn more about how the Gainsight Platform embraces this CS 2.0 mindset, and let me know what you think.
How to Prove the ROI of Customer Success to Your Leadership Team
A common question from Customer Success executives (and leaders in general) is "how do I get my CEO and leadership team to buy into what I'm doing?" Another way to put it is "they're asking for the ROI of Customer Success."
Now to many of us, that's like asking "does gravity exist?" But for the less-informed, it's a legitimate question.
I've learned that the most effective answer is a combination of data and anecdotes. You need both, because you have to appeal to the mind AND the heart. Often, executives fail to get sponsorship because they only do one or the other.
Some examples for the 🤯 Mind / Data side:
Some examples of the ❤️ Heart / Anecdotes side:
Combine data and anecdotes and you will win minds and hearts.
You can check out other leaders’ comments in the original LinkedIn post here.
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Current Mood
Everyone knows one thing about me for certain: when I open my mouth, a Taylor Swift reference is imminent. But lately, I’ve been returning to my roots—Bruce Springsteen, my first musical obsession. Your initial reaction might be, “what could T Swift and Bruce Springsteen possibly have in common?” And there is only one answer: Nick Mehta’s adoration. I’m not sure where this journey will take me, but bear with me as I reflect on a decade’s worth of Taylor Swift puns and look ahead.
DON’T WALK — RUN! PULSE ENCORE COMING TO A CITY NEAR YOU
Pulse is going on the road this year to share the latest trends in Customer Success including AI and the next evolution coming our way!
Can’t wait to see you in New York City, NY on September 28, 2023, or Austin, Texas on October 19, 2023, or both!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!
Helping Software Sales Reps Get To The Top 1% Without Burning Out 👊 Former #1 Rep at Salesforce in 4 Different Roles | Named Top 40 CROs to Watch In 2023 | 5x Sales Leader | Author | Beautiful Savage
1yThanks, checking it out
Hampton, the private community for high-growth founders
1yWhat's the biggest barrier for customers to reach Customer Success 2.0?
Principal | Chief Operating Officer
1yI hear Nick Mehta’s voice, “Move over, Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen, because the real rockstars of the business world are those embracing 'Customer Success 2.0'! Let's all sing along to the tune of alignment, value, and enterprise-wide priority. No more isolationist mentalities or churny choruses! It's time to rock the customer-centric stage and prove that it's all about the value, no churn attached!" Thanks for sharing!
Customer Success Expert | Fractional Chief Customer Officer | Growth and Retention Driver | Product-Market Fit | Customer Research
1yI remember singing Jungleland and Born to Run at the top of my lungs and the Eras concert is the Born in the USA concert of 2023. That being said, Customer Success must be a value not only a function. Customer Success teams are simply the face of the organization for the client. They need the rest of the company to believe customer questions are coming to them as well.