Sales Management

Leveraging Voice of the Customer

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www.salesbenchmarkindex.com info@salesbenchmarkindex.com 1-888-556-7338

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The Situation• $75M SAAS Software Company:

– ~1000 customers– 75%+ renewal rates @ 80%+ of revenue– Renewal-based models get higher

price/share if renewal rates are 90%+• Sales Leader wants to:

– Understand challenges regarding retention• Get Customer, Investor, and Employee views on

why renewals happen or don’t happen

– Know how to increase to 90% renewal rates

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What Did Not Work• Relying on Sales Force to understand

retention challenges• Using surveys from customer service

interactions to glean defection reasons• Marketing reaching out to select

customers for feedback

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What Did Work• Online Surveys (12 to 15 questions):

• Large (10,000+) survey audience• Targeted user base, not just company base

• Customer Interviews (8 to 10 questions):• In-depth and interactive interviews with the

main users of the software at a customer• Found out the delighters and detractors of

the software and customer experience• Sales Rep Interviews (12 to 15 questions):

• Determined trends among customers

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VOC Survey Question SampleWhat information or support do you feel the Acme team PROVIDES TODAY that has the most value? (please choose all that apply)

Answer OptionsResponse Percent

Response Count

Technical support 54.9% 145Best practices 53.8% 142Continued training 41.3% 109Benchmark data 29.2% 77Industry trends 20.5% 54Other   9.5% 25A plan to follow 9.1% 24

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Customer Interview Questions1. How long have you been using Acme?

a. Were you the decision maker in bringing Acme on board? 2. Do you feel you are a power user of Acme today?

a. How long did it take to get there? b. What would you say was the tipping point? c. If you were starting over from scratch, what would you do differently to ramp your

capabilities faster? d. Is this something you would have paid a premium for?

3. What is the relationship b/t sales and marketing for your organization (separate or single leader)? a. How involved was sales in making the decision to purchase Acme? b. How was the decision to use Acme communicated to the sales team when you purchased?

What visibility does the sales organization have today regarding the impact of demand generation and Acme?

4. When you think about the results Acme provides, what are your expectations? a. Are you getting the results you initially set out to achieve? b. How do you measure the value of Acme and the results?

5. How would you like Acme to assist in helping improve your business results? a. In your opinion, are there additional support functions they can provide? b. When you interact with Acme, what type of interaction do you look for (support, strategic,

best practices, enablement, etc.)? c. Who do you prefer to interact with (customer service, account manager, etc.)? d. How would you like Acme see improve your interactions with Acme’s Account Mgr, CSM,

ProServe, Training, Tech Support, etc. or provide a better customer experience? e. How would you rate Acme’s services and the customer experience they provide? What are you NOT getting from these mentioned Acme roles that you would like to see more of?

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Customer Interview CommentsComments Summary:

Many of the users weren't around for implementation, so don't know the reasons.Many newer customers noted that they know the impact hasn't been seen yet due to time since implementation.Some remark that the learning curve is long.No competitor significantly stood out that wasn't available in selection.Competitor products were mentioned multiple times.

Customers see they must select high cost in one of two places: training or resource use. Cost of training every new user is high, but so is the cost of having employees learn on the fly (which is hard on work forces that are stretched thin).Customer service is cited as an issue by several customers, though there appear to be some stars.Many implementation experience comments focused on bad partner relationships, though many mentioned that their interaction with Acme was good.Many customers have very high ease of use expectations due to overselling, but then find the product UI to not be intuitive.The learning curve is long for users who don't have significant software use experience.Many users seem to know there is capability being left on the table, but they don't know where to look or what it is they haven't found yet. They find things gradually as time progresses.

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• Client had a better appreciation of their customers’ needs and desires

• Understood the range of buyers • Gained insight into what was currently

working and what needed improvement• Client was able to put together a multi-

phased program to address this newfound information

Resulting Action

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VOC Finding: Customer Evolution

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Infancy Adolescence Adulthood

TraitsNew to Acme (<12 mo.) 1st time userHighly Tactical

12-36 months with AcmeRunning email campaignsAcme supports ICP

36+ months Campaigns implementedSome lead scoring/nurturing

Next Steps

ContentCampaign success (opens, CTAs, > leads)Campaign consistency

Lead scoringNurture campaignsImproved lead qualityReporting-usage metrics

Strategic executionRevenue liftReporting-business objectivesSales/Marketing alignment

Emotion Confusion Enthusiasm Frustration

Relation-ship Help DeskImplementation team Customer Success Manager Strategic Consultant

Success Blocking & Tackling New Skill Acquisition Marketing generates revenue

Tactical Acme for DummiesAcme University Leveraging value of Acme Strategic insight

Results-based best practices

Approach Tactical >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Strategic

Longer tenure of Acme user = Higher perceived attainment of business objectives.

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Resulting Action:Defined Ideal Customer Lifecycle (ICL)

Sales Campaign Discovery

Successful Implementation

Benchmark Milestones

Proactive Account Management

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Proactive Account Management• Tiered/Segmentation approach?

– Best people on best accounts– Role clarity– Over resource the top– Customer tenure– Account/Opp Size

• Continuing education– Beyond Acme University– Advanced reporting skills– Best practice discussions– Peer group interaction

• Consultative account managers– Monthly/Quarterly cadence– Strategic expertise– Customer intimacy

• Customer success and account management piece is a huge component that Competitor doesn’t have.

• We hired one of their best practice consultants to come in. It felt canned like something they would do at a trade show. Not customized to us. Talking at us as opposed to understanding our situation and how to build an aligned sales/marketing structure using Acme. We would like consultants to come in and understand how sales/marketing have become aligned in other firms and help us get there.

• I’ve only talked with one person one time. He expects me to reach out to him and I would like him to be more proactive. I would like him to share best practices of issues he’s solved so I don’t always have to search around for things.

• Feels like we are bringing them along as opposed to them leading us with best practices. We provide our roadmap and he looks at it and doesn’t add much value. It’s not a strategic partnership at this point.

• We want a consultative account executive. Someone who has line of sight into what different customers are doing with Acme. Leverage best practices to help us get more out of the system.

• A single point of contact who has intimacy with my account, our objectives, and who checked in with us regularly.

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Learn More

Contact us to hear the rest of the story...Contact us if you would like to understand better how to learn from your customers’ voices to

focus your Sales Force Effectiveness efforts for a higher return.

Email - info@salesbenchmarkindex.comPhone - 1-888-556-7338Web: http://www.salesbenchmarkindex.com

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