If we as Customer Success practitioners are doing our jobs properly, your customers will drop everything to take your up-sell and cross-sell telephone calls and thank you profusely at the end of the call.
Sound impossible?
That’s the first sign you might be doing things wrong.
Should Sales or Customer Success handle Upsells?
This has to be one of the top 5 questions I get when discussing the Customer Journey. It can be easy for Sales-minded people to see this as a sales function. Why not? Sales people are proud of their sales skills. They know it’s their singular focus, the one thing their careers and personal brand reputation is based on. So, in the words of John Fogertys’ song Centerfield…put me in coach, I’m ready to play!
But hold your horses!
What do you think would happen if the Customer Success Manager, who has developed into a trusted advisor in the eyes of your clientele, isn’t the one to tell your customer of this great thing they can’t live without? If you said, “break the trust,” give yourself a pat on the back.
Customer Success Managers are in a unique position. These CSM’s act as:
1. Voice of the customer
2. Trusted Advisor
3. Facilitator
4. Analytics Master
Customers are always changing and always growing. I beg you; please don’t attempt to bring in a fresh voice at the 11th hour. Not only will it bite you on the ass for this specific opportunity, but could easily hamper any future opportunities, even if only subconsciously.
7 tips you can implement today!
1. Customer Success Managers need to understand they are doing their customer a disservice by not offering the up-sell, cross-sell, or professional development. In other words, the CSM needs to buy into the idea that in order for the customer to grow, they need these additional services. If you have a feature that can double their productivity but you don’t offer the service because you project onto the customer that “asking for money” will make everyone uncomfortable, YOU WOULD BE WRONG! Can you imagine if someone could double your productivity but didn’t tell you because they thought you would not want to pay a nominal fee?! Remember, assigning a fee to your offering doesn’t devalue, it reinforces value.
2. At a regular interval, determine which free features or functions within your application the customer is not using. Make sure they use them and, more importantly, measure and track the value added and hit the customer over the head with how valuable it was! The trust built through these interactions will pave the way for future paid add-ons.
3. Customer Success Managers should be the expert in their own product and have sufficient domain expertise. As such have a clear understanding of the value they are offering before making the suggestion, whether that is in increased productivity, revenue growth, reducing costs, reducing overhead, or improving efficiencies.
4. Determine if the offering helps the customer achieve their own definition of success! Bonus points if you help the customer redefine their version of success.
5. Have use cases locked and loaded, ready to support your suggestions.
6. Companies should never incentivize Customer Success Managers to sell more. Let it happen organically, don’t assign a quota! This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t add it to our KPI reports, but it should be used as a trigger for training only!
7. Train the CSM’s on Consultative Selling. OR call us at 424-307-GROW and we will create a custom training.
BONUS TIP:
Never attempt to offer an up-sell or cross-sell that isn’t a good fit! That’s not what Customer Success is about. Purpose driven selling beats quota driven every time.
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