Your company’s customer success team is all about ensuring satisfaction after the sale. A major component to this is, of course, effective onboarding. But as with the sales process, today’s customers aren’t going to be content with a cookie-cutter approach to adoption and ongoing training. They are expecting a more tailored experience that addresses their unique needs. Fail to achieve their high standards, and the Adoption and Loyalty Phases of the buyer’s journey can be jeopardized, not to mention the Advocacy Phase.
So as a customer success professional, what can you do to ensure you’re meeting your clients’ expectations during these crucial later stages of the sales cycle? Especially if you work with clients in multiple industries, how can you create that personalized experience they are clamoring for?
Effective use of Industry Intelligence makes it simple. Let’s take a look at some specific tactics that customer success teams can use to create that “wow” experience.
>> Related: See Vertical IQ in action all along your buyer’s journey
Adoption Phase
By the time clients have reached the Adoption Phase of the buyer’s journey, a lot has already transpired. They became aware of your brand, considered their various buying options, and ultimately decided your company offered the best solution to their need.
But bear in mind: The people who will be implementing your product or service weren’t necessarily at the table when that choice was made. This is why it is so important to get buy-in from downstream employees during the Adoption Phase of the buyer’s journey.
To get the extended team on board, education is crucial, and personalization will make your message resonate even more. Fortunately, this is the customer success team’s forte! Create education pieces tailored to the client’s industry using Industry Intelligence to connect the dots between their needs and your solution.
The customer success team can further demonstrate the reasons the decision makers selected your company and solution and the strategic value you bring to the table by sharing Industry Intelligence. Data and insights like the Industry Profile, Quarterly Updates, and Big Picture Video, as well as industry news articles, accelerate this process and further promote adoption across the business for even better results and ROI.
Loyalty Phase
During the Loyalty Phase of the buyer’s journey, your focus should be on remaining top-of-mind and adding continual value after the sale. This truly should be an ongoing effort for your customer success team as they are charged with doing everything they can to ensure the client steers clear of avoidable pitfalls and can overcome any obstacles they may encounter.
Industry Intelligence helps you guide the new client and their team in the right direction (and even identify and capture upsell opportunities). Solidify this burgeoning relationship by sharing industry-specific Quarterly Updates, current news articles, Local Economy reports, individual Industry Profile chapters, Financial Benchmarks, and more.
By passing along this value-added Industry Intelligence to your clients and providing them with tips on how to use the insights, your customer success team helps the client make informed decisions using the most current data and details, compiled by experts, instead of relying on guesses or assumptions. The result will be an exceptional customer experience that solidifies the client’s loyalty to your product and brand.
Advocacy Phase
The Advocacy Phase of the buyer’s journey is all about creating happy, long-term customers who will readily endorse your brand and your solutions. When your customer success team uses Industry Intelligence to continually prove your company to be a high-value partner, your customers will be eager to recommend you and share their positive experience with others.
To stay top-of-mind and continuously prove your value, customer success teams should reach out regularly with relevant industry tidbits, as well as more in-depth details from Industry Profiles and Quarterly Updates. Share Local Economy data, which reveals the dynamics at play in specific markets and arms your client with the insights needed to take full advantage of new opportunities.
Leveraging Industry Intelligence on an ongoing basis during the Advocacy stage positions your company as a trusted advisor. By adding this value, your customer success team is the conduit through which clients become eager to expand their own relationship with you, as well as advocate on your behalf to their friends and colleagues.
>> Free eBook: Deliver Value at Every Turn: Industry Intelligence Across the Buyer’s Journey
Put the “success” in customer success team
We hear from some Vertical IQ customers who tell us they have users who still only think about Industry Intelligence from a prospecting perspective. While there’s no doubt that Industry Intelligence is absolutely invaluable during your client team’s prospecting efforts, it is in fact designed to support the entire life of a business relationship: from the Awareness Phase all the way through to the Advocacy Phase.
When your customer success team incorporates Industry Intelligence into the educational efforts during the Adoption Phase of the buyer’s journey, it sets the stage for a more successful implementation. It also sets your company up to wow the client and build allegiance during the Loyalty Phase and eventually convert them into raving fans during the Advocacy Phase.
As with any change, this new way of thinking about your customer success strategy and tactics may take a little getting used to, but the end result of your efforts will be worth it when your clients are not only willing but eager to promote your brand to others.
Want to learn more about how your customer success team can effectively incorporate Industry Intelligence into the buyer’s journey? Contact us today for a free demo!
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