By Shelly Shearlds
Embarking on a new venture within an organization presents a formidable challenge for novice and seasoned Customer Success leaders. The initial 90-day period, although fleeting, is a critical window for shaping your leadership trajectory and delving into customer dynamics.
A customer listening tour is a powerful resource that Customer Success leaders rely on to establish vital connections and acquire invaluable insights, shaping immediate and long-term strategies.
What is a Customer Listening tour? Unlike a Voice of Customer program, a listening tour is often a one-time event a new leader undertakes, whereas a VoC program is an ongoing, company-wide endeavor. Both facilitate the comprehension, assessment, and formulation of strategies to address customer needs. Consequently, inserting a customer listening tour into the customer journey is one of the most recommended initiatives for any new leader.
Embrace the Opportunity of Novelty
In the early days, you have a distinct advantage. You are a neutral entity, unburdened by previous biases. Customers naturally tend to trust you more during this stage, as they recognize your sincere eagerness to listen and take action. Your impartial approach sets the stage for meaningful interactions, fostering an environment of open communication.
It's essential to recognize that this window of opportunity doesn't last long. Your schedule will inevitably become busier as you immerse yourself further into your role. Seize the chance to invest quality time in gathering customer feedback and integrating it with the broader organizational strategy.
Strategies for Effective Call Preparation
Thoughtful Time Allocation
Devote a total of three focused hours for each customer call. Dedicate one hour to thorough preparation, one hour for the customer call itself, allowing for an in-depth discussion, and spend the final hour summarizing call notes, sending a thoughtful thank-you email, crafting a preliminary action plan, and scheduling an internal strategy call.
Leveraging Existing Resources
Review the Customer Success team’s EBR or QBR notes, as these documents offer a wealth of knowledge about the customer's objectives, challenges, and aspirations.
Reach out to your Sales team partners and review account notes housed within the CRM to learn more about why the customer decided to invest in your product in the first place.
Collaborate with cross-functional leaders and your Executive team to extract essential nuggets of information that can contribute to a more informed and holistic conversation.
Review the customer’s website, paying attention to how they position themselves to their customer.
Effective Call Questions and Topics
Begin by delving into the individual's mission within their organization. Understand the overarching objectives their team strives to achieve for the company's greater good.
Request insights into the organization's overarching strategy. Prioritize their perspective on how they contribute to their customers' success.
Engage in a candid discussion about how your technology compares to competitors.
Don't shy away from asking them what your organization could be doing better to help them achieve their goals.
Post-Call Action: Closing the Feedback Loop
This step is where many customer listening tours face difficulties. After carefully gathering necessary information, talking to customers, and finding feedback that could shape the organization's plans, what happens next with this valuable data is crucial for progress.
Share the feedback with cross-functional leaders to break down silos and forge a collaborative partnership that champions customer-centricity.
Empower your Customer Success team to take the reins after getting feedback. This organized effort blends smoothly with planning for the customer's account, showing your strong dedication to building trust. When customers see actual actions being taken, they know their ideas matter and are being listened to.
Incorporating these refined strategies into your customer listening approach will undoubtedly elevate the quality of your interactions. By tapping into existing resources, asking insightful questions, and thoughtfully managing your time, you'll be better equipped to foster valuable relationships and contribute to your organization's success.
Best of success in your new role! If you leveraged any of these tips, let us know how it went.
The Success League is a global customer success consulting firm that also offers coaching and certification training for CS professionals. Please visit TheSuccessLeague.io for more information on these and our other offerings.
Shelly Shearlds - With more than 20 years of experience in post-sales success, Shelly is passionate about optimizing the customer lifecycle to drive revenue growth. She is currently the Senior Director of Account Management and Customer Enablement at Medrio, a Clinical software company supporting the Pharmaceutical, Biotech, and Clinical Research sectors. Never one to shy away from a challenge, she recently joined the founding team at Success in Black, an organization committed to fostering more diverse, inclusive, and equitable growth within the Saas community.