A Handbook for Customer Success Professionals
Are you in Customer Success or looking to join this fast-growing profession, and seeking a practical guide for everything you need to know?
Thanks to the vast experience of Ruben Rabago and Ashvin Vaidyanathan and the many months they spent toiling away, the industry now has a practical, thorough guide, called The Customer Success Professional's Handbook, released in early 2020.
Alan Armstrong and the Art of Interviewing
IcebergIQ is proud to share that its predecessor Eigenworks contributed to this book. Specifically, the late Alan Armstrong, Eigenworks CEO, was asked to provide his perspective on why it’s important to speak with your customers.
“When Ashvin and I went about to begin structuring the content of our new book … we were literally compelled to bring in Alan, the very person responsible for elevating our own appreciation for the art of interviewing people,” said Ruben in Gainsight’s Customer Success podcast (listen on Apple or SoundCloud).
“And I say ‘people,’ not customers, because this is very much a human element for the purposes of churn analysis and win/loss.”
Basics of an Effective Interview
Alan’s chapter, entitled Your Customers are Lying to You — Getting the Real Story on Why Your Customers Churn, covers the basics of an effective interview, including:
When you approach former customers, be explicit that you are conducting research, not trying to re-engage them. Don’t treat the conversation as a sales call.
Put aside your own bias in the conversation as much as possible, because your goal is to have the customer tell you their story. After you get the full story, you can diagnose issues.
Build trust by listening carefully and encouraging the customer to go deeper. “I often say that our job here is to talk the customer into their opinions, with lines such as ‘Yes, I hear you. That makes sense. Tell me more,’” Alan wrote.
Test your CS practices with “What About” questions, and test the strength of the customer’s churn decision with “What If” questions. These questions ask what might have happened if things had been different, and can uncover some illuminating insights.
CSMs and the "Gift of Listening"
Thank you to Ruben and Ashvin for sharing what they have learned from working with hundreds of organizations. As they both sum it up:
“The gift of listening, once again, comes to the fore as one of the greatest skills you can have as a CSM. It must be embraced, encouraged, and used properly to benefit you, your company, and most of all, the customer.”