Customer Success as a Growth
Engine: Ideal Customers,
Advocates, and Upsells
Sales Hacker Conference SF
November 6, 2014
@lincolnmurphy
Customer Success = “Helping your customers achieve their desired outcome through the use of your product.”
“Enter the conversation already taking place in your customer’s mind.” – Robert Collier, c1937
Success = Their Desired Outcome
Success = Their Desired Outcome
Right Message at the Right Time…
… but what about the right person?
IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILE
ReadyWillingAbleSuccess PotentialAcquisition EfficiencyExpansion PotentialAdvocacy Potential
IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILERemember, Ideal
Customer is SituationalReadyWillingAbleSuccess PotentialAcquisition EfficiencyExpansion PotentialAdvocacy Potential
IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILE
I already said that,but whatever.
ReadyWillingAbleSuccess PotentialAcquisition EfficiencyExpansion PotentialAdvocacy Potential
IDEAL CUSTOMER PROFILE
ReadyWillingAbleSuccess PotentialAcquisition EfficiencyExpansion PotentialAdvocacy Potential
The Proper Order…
1. Ideal Customer Profile
2. Persona Development
You can’t know what Marketing Channels, Pitch, Pricing, or Messaging to use until you are clear on your Ideal Customer Profile.
http://sixteenventures.com/saleshacker
NEW OPPORTUNITIES
1. Determine the Situation you’re Solving For
2. Get access to your Customer Data
3. Find the Customers that Match your Situational Criteria
4. Append Data for those customers (Demo, Tech, etc.)
5. Look for common / shared characteristics
6. Find new customers matching those characteristics
7. Profit!
METHODOLOGY
FIND YOUR MOST SUCCESSFUL
CUSTOMERS... AND GO GET MORE
JUST LIKE THEM
• You could pull together:
• average Net Promoter Score (NPS) over time
• Sales cycle length
• Time to first value
• On-boarding/implementation milestones and timing
• Customer Support data
• Get your Account Managers to apply a “health” score – based
on their gut – to each of the customers they manage
• Gainsight makes this easy don’t be afraid to pitch
your product!
SURFACE YOUR MOST SUCCESSFUL CUSTOMERS
FIND YOUR MOST EFFICIENTLY
ACQUIRED CUSTOMERS… AND GO
GET MORE JUST LIKE THEM
• Look for customers:
• That had a short sales cycle
• Efficient (Fully-loaded) Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
• Have a high Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
• Agreed to long-term contracts
• Frequently Increase usage/buy add-ons/etc.
• Have a low cost to support
• Or all of the above?
• What are the patterns? What are the characteristics of
those customers?
FIND YOUR MOST EFFICIENTLY ACQUIRED CUSTOMERS
IDENTIFY CUSTOMERS THAT
EXPANDED THEIR USE OF YOUR
PRODUCT… AND GO GET MORE
JUST LIKE THEM
• Intra-Company Virality
• List companies that have expanded their use over their
lifetime with your company.
• Who did you initially sell to? What dept/persona?
• When it comes to expansion potential, that potential is
only realized when the customers have achieved
success... when their customer health score is high.
• No Customer Success… No Expansion Revenue. Period.
IDENTIFY CUSTOMERS THAT EXPANDED USE
FIND YOUR CUSTOMERS THAT ARE
YOUR BIGGEST ADVOCATES…
AND GO GET MORE JUST LIKE
THEM
• Inter-Company Virality
• Chasing logos is fine... If they bring you more logos!
• Look for customers that have:
• Referred new customers (in-product, WOM, etc.)
• Have given testimonials
• Have talked to prospects on your behalf
• Have spoken at your events
• Participated in case studies with you
• If not for you, have they done it for others?
FIND YOUR BIGGEST CUSTOMER ADVOCATES
http://sixteenventures.com/saleshacker
LASER-TARGETED UPSELL
OPPORTUNITIES
1. Be Clear On What Success Means for your Customer
2. Set Goals With Your Customers
3. Benchmark Where Your Customers Start
4. Mention Upsells Early In Their Lifecycle
5. Identify Success Milestones For Upsell
6. Improve Time to First Value and Upsell Faster
7. Ask for the Sale at the Appropriate time
UPSELL OPPORTUNITIES
http://sixteenventures.com/saleshacker
Thank you!