Why do people buy from your company or any company for that matter? Is it because they just want to give you money or do you think that they have some other motive like they believe that by purchasing your product or service, you’ll solve a problem for them? In other words, do they get the desired outcome they were hoping for by buying your product?

If you believe the latter is the case, then you understand the principles of customer success, even if you don’t consciously call these interactions by that name. This principle is so critical that some companies have whole teams dedicated to it. This post covers some of the steps you can take in order to build a world-class customer success team.

1. Identify Your Target Customer

If you’re trying to be all things to all people, then your efforts will consistently fail in your customers’ eyes; instead, you need to identify your ideal customer, according to HubSpot.

Why is this? It comes down to this. Customers purchase your product or service specifically because they believe that they’ll get a certain outcome by doing so. Let’s make a hypothetical to demonstrate how this works in practice.

Suppose you write cookbooks. (Stay with us here.) Suppose further that you specialize in writing about baked goods. Finally, let’s suppose that a customer comes to you wanting to know how to grill a burger. Would your cookbook be helpful for this customer’s task? It’s not likely.

This seems like a silly example, but it proves a point. Creating products that satisfy the problem/ desire of your ideal customer means that your customer stands a better chance of being successful if you’ve created a product that specifically addresses his/ her issue. The team you’ve assigned to make your customers successful must know who your company’s ideal customer is or your team won’t be able to reach their goals.

2. Make It Easy for the Team to Accomplish This Goal

Many managers neglect to train their employees. This is a mistake. It sets your team up for failure. After you’ve chosen your team, then make sure you provide training for them and make it easy to understand. This is especially true when it comes to the customer success software you use.

Here’s a simple rule of thumb. If you explain your product or service to your customers via infographics, videos, and illustrated texts, then use these same types of tools to train your team.

3. Don’t Make Your Customer Guess

An article on the Salesforce website drives home an important point. Sending in a customer service rep to help your customer and then an account rep and then someone from accounting etc. is going to confuse your customer and amplify the risk of customer churn.

When you’re developing your team, make sure that every team member has the heart of a party host. This sounds funny but thinks about it. When you go to a party, a good host will introduce you to people you don’t know. The host doesn’t wait for people to mingle. He/ she makes it happen in a comfortable, welcoming way.

Your success team can do the same. It can be as simple as making a phone call to make an introduction or as elaborate as providing pictures and bios on your company’s “About Us” page.

Final Words

Your customer success team plays a crucial role in your company’s churn rates. The happier your customers are and the more satisfied they are with their purchase, the greater the chance that you have of keeping a happy customer. This is the true meaning of success in your customers’ eyes. If your customer gets what he/ she wants by purchasing your product or service, then you’ve done your job, which helps your company keep that customer for a long time