Customer Success Trends in 2021

Thanks to the unique situation that 2020 presented to us, customer success leaders can be ultimately prepared for what 2021 will bring. While customer behavior and engagement preferences have already seen drastic changes in recent years, this year really upped the ante for customer success teams. Today, there is a stronger alignment between customer success and sales. To drive sales, it is important to focus on those long-term customer retention goals and connect with the customer and maximizes the value of the business. Recent report found that customers are willing to pay more for great customer experience.

So, what are the trends that will continue to move forward with momentum in 2021? Here are my 2 cents:

Scaling Our CSM

Customers and their expectations increase but customer success teams don’t increase in the same ratio. Technology will scale our efforts: Customer education programs and tech-touch (one-to-many) strategies to support customer growth will become essential. As a result of COVID-19, we meet online and rely on online information. This means customer engagement, education programs, self-service approach must be addressed and can be found online.

Support & Real-Time Responses

Ensuring customers are engaged at their point of need is a must. By using support in a structured way, we can ensure customers are getting quick answers and feeling supported — which translates to happy customers a lot of the time. Pro-active service, learning from the past (& on going learning) and transparency, are the game changer.

Remote Customer Success

The new remote world also comes with a new set of challenges. Customer success has to continue to deliver results while working remotely and (often) asynchronously — without blocking work with too many online meetings. Not being able to connect to customers in other ways than digitally will make this increasingly difficult, especially as customer numbers grow.

Personalization, Personalization, Personalization

Personalization is going to be the most outstanding trend in 2021. Every customer loves to be approached individually, hear them out, and get exact solutions to their problems.

The level of personalization you offer your customers can be a determining factor in their success. A personalized approach isn’t just wanted — it’s expected. Personalization done right can create a better onboarding experience, quicker product adoption and increased retention.

Empowering with Learning & Knowledge Base

CSU teams should be able to find, learn and implement the relevant product knowledge in the right moments. The quicker CSU team can find accurate knowledge, the more efficient and timely their responses will be: A central knowledge base for all of your resources and learning can be so crucial to success. Customer success teams should be encouraged to create content in addition to self-learning and on-going training.

Proactive Engagement

Merely supplying the products, providing support, and checking in periodically won’t suffice. We constantly have to make efforts, identify the growth opportunities, and work on the churn rates and revenue models. We should always ask how can our product/service deliver more value to the customers? How can our business enhance relationships with customers? How can our business perform better than competitors?

Go Beyond Your Product & Service

There are plenty of businesses out selling a product similar to yours. What’s your different?

• Educate the customers about your products & deliver product updates wisely
• Bring the customer in the spotlight and know your customer’s metrics for success.

Have a great 2021!