3 Factors That Can Blindside Customer Success

As a customer success team, it's crucial to be aware of potential blindsides that can shake the very foundation of customer retention and renewals. These blindsides can come in many forms and can be grouped into three main categories: external factors, internal factors, and executional factors.

External factors refer to situations that are completely out of our control, such as unforeseen competition, economic downturns, or changes in customer needs or preferences. It's a gut-wrenching feeling when a new competitor enters the market, offering similar products or services at a lower price point, making it harder to retain customers and increase renewals. By monitoring data within user forums and support calls, the customer success team can stay informed about market trends and potential competitors, allowing them to proactively address these external factors.

Internal factors refer to situations that are within our control, such as technical issues or product defects, poor customer service or support, unmet or unclear customer expectations, pricing or contract changes, or lack of communication or transparency. It can be devastating to a customer success team when a product defect causes frustration for the customer and decreases their satisfaction. By reviewing data within user forums and support calls, the customer success team can identify technical issues or product defects early on and take action to address them before they become major problems. This can lead to difficulty in retaining and renewing customers and the feeling of helplessness can be overwhelming.

Executional factors refer to the day-to-day actions of the customer success team, such as difficulty in scaling or expanding products/services to meet customer needs, training or onboarding customers, or measuring or demonstrating ROI to customers. It can be frustrating when a customer success team may be blindsided by a lack of scalability in their product, which prevents them from meeting the needs of larger customers and increases the chances of losing those customers. By analyzing data from support calls and user forums, the customer success team can identify customer needs and preferences and take action to scale their products and services accordingly.

It's essential for customer success teams to be proactive in identifying and mitigating potential blindsides. By monitoring data within user forums and support calls, the customer success team can stay informed about potential blindsides and take action to mitigate them. This can include regularly monitoring the market for new competition, implementing strategies for addressing product defects or technical issues, and actively communicating with customers to ensure their needs and expectations are being met. By being aware of these potential blindsides and taking action to mitigate them, customer success teams can increase the chances of retaining and renewing customers and avoid feelings of helplessness.