Customer Success in Organizational Culture 

To develop a digital product or service, it is necessary to understand the customer’s needs. However, to ensure that they feel satisfied, it is not enough just to do what was signed in the contract. It is necessary to deliver value, quality and a good experience to build a healthy and lasting relationship. From this context, Bruna Ricardo, spoke with colleagues in another edition of SoftDrops*, about Customer Success (CS) and the importance of delivering a positive experience compatible with the company’s purpose for the customer – at all stages of your journey with the organization.

The Product Owner (PO) has already worked in this area and shared some of her knowledge with other employees. Customer Success is when your customers achieve their Desired Outcome through their interactions with your company (Lincoln Murphy).

The role of Customer Success  

According to Bruna, the person who works with Customer Success acts on four main points, aiming at ensuring that the customer has a satisfactory experience and, consequently, also promoting benefits for the organization. 

• Retention: for the company, acquiring a new customer can be up to seven times more expensive than keeping one; 
• Enchantment: support and ensure that the customer knows and makes the most of the products and services offered; 
• Value delivery: the customer receives what he expects, following from the negotiation to the delivery of what was agreed, aligning expectations; 
• Expansion: support in renewing contracts or contracting additional services. Monitor the client’s health and identify new needs, proposing new services to be offered. 

Customer Success and the Customer Journey

Several corporates, mainly in the technology area, are investing in teams responsible for this follow-up. With that in mind, Bruna highlighted the importance of distinguishing Customer Success from sectors such as Support and Service. These fronts act reactively, focusing on solving specific problems and managing crises. The CS person works proactively, guiding the client throughout their relationship with the company, being data-driven and implementing a follow-up plan. 

However, Bruna clarified that the responsibility for delivering success is not just of one person or one sector, it must be shared. Everyone is responsible, as everyone interacts in some way with the customer. It’s not just people from the Commercial or Customer Success areas who act as points of contact.  

There are also those involved in running the project, all this impacts on the experience. That is why Customer Success must also be part of the company’s organizational culture, ensuring that service is qualified throughout the customer’s journey, as shown in the figure below.

Customer Success x Customer Experience

Bruna also reinforced the difference between the role of Customer Success and Customer Experience (CX). Even if they have common goals, the CX person is responsible for defining the identity of the experience and ensuring that the entire organization is aware of it. It is only after this stage that the figure of CS appears, ensuring that the experience will be delivered continuously, acting as an interlocutor between the areas. 

This reinforces the idea that customer success should be seen as company value. If that assumption is part of the organizational culture, it will be possible to provide the same experience at all points of contact. 

Bruna concluded her presentation by reinforcing that we always deliver success, in every interaction that the customer has with the company. If this is not clear, each area will have its individual metrics and objectives, without this common goal – so it is necessary to work together to prevent this from happening.

*SoftDrops is a knowledge exchange event that takes place every Wednesday at SoftDesign. Each week, an employee is willing to expose to colleagues some topic of interest that is related to the three pillars of our business: design, agility and technology. The mini lecture lasts around thirty minutes and is followed by a chat between the participants.