Align metrics to business objectives
This is Step 1 of 10 Steps to a High Performing Client Success Team, and there are two parts to this one:
Align your customer’s success metrics to your buyer’s budget.
Align your team’s success metrics to your company’s top goals.
Your customers must define what success looks like (in their own terms), and identify the higher level business outcome those metrics align to.
This is your customer’s “Why” for spending money on your solution year after year, so your CSMs should explore it deeply and expose it—higher and wider across their organization. Make sure to connect the dots for all relevant, budget-owning stakeholders.
Similarly, optimal performance requires your team members to understand exactly how their work drives the business forward. This is especially true when things aren’t going so well. When budgets are tight, layoffs are happening, and people are stretch thin. They need to feel that their work matters, and the best way to do this is through alignment.
What are the goals and priorities being discussed at the top level of your organization? Ensure each role on your team has a goal that aligns directly to one of those.
Not sure how to do this? I’ve been there, let’s talk!