Recession-Proof Customer Success | Snack-Size AI Ep. 4

Transcript:

I am Erica Hansen, and I’m the VP of Customer Success here at Conversica. I’m incredibly passionate about our customers and the value we extend to them daily.

Recession-proofing has become a big topic around here lately. One of the things I find through our Customer Success Managers is sometimes they’re afraid to ask for help. And believe it or not, asking for help is a strategic lever. So, as I thought about that, I thought about H.

H is for hero. And I don’t mean a great big superhero. I mean a modern-day hero. Your existing customers need help. This is also a transition for them. They’re going through the same thing. They’re thinking about how to help their customers, and they are likely struggling as well. And they need someone to relate to.

Your existing customers will notice if you are there for them, and that will affect you in the long run, and if they double down with you on their recovery. Your product is more than a tool. Your product is really the end-to-end customer experience and that touch point that your customer has with everyone in their interactions with you.

The E is for evolution. Changes will be happening across layers of your customers’ organizations. We’re seeing this today, but your savvy customers will be making adjustments to continue to stay above water and thinking about how they could even thrive in the recession.

One of the things that we’ve been talking about with our CS teams is trying to evolve with our customers. Reinforcing that evolution is a positive thing, and more importantly, that it’s providing current value.

L is for leadership. One of the best gifts that you can give to your customers is to act in an advisory capacity. Being brave and bold about leading them through this and being confident to show them that you can help them succeed with your product or your solutions, and really improve the outcomes. So show them that having your products or services embedded into their ecosystem is part of their go-forward strategy that will help them to weather the recession.

P is for performance. A lot of us talk about outcomes in Customer Success. And speaking of outcomes, as budgets may be reallocated, make sure that your product is sticky. More than ever, those outcomes and ROI will be scrutinized, growth plans will need to be revisited. It’s imperative that Customer Success teams really show users and advocates and the executive leadership that ROI is there and that the product or service is business critical.

We’re really focused on performance more so than we have been in the past and showing that value and increasing the product stickiness really helps our customers. And we know that doubling down there will help get them through the recession.

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