Being a CSM, or being in any client facing role, listening and patience are critical. Making sure you're in touch with your customers and understand how they're feeling can make or break a relationship. Patience is in short supply in a CSM role where, almost by definition, you have too little time and too much to do. CSM training needs to include things like "how to be patient when you don't have the time." If you can master this skill you will be invaluable to your team and your company.
Agreed, CSMs need to track what's going on in Support with their customers, but just as listening to your customers shouldn't only happen when their renewal is coming up, paying attention to Support shouldn't be just before a conversation with the customer. Ideally, we want to know what's going on with all of our customers. Both teams can really benefit from a regular exchange of information. What trends is Support tracking? Who seems at risk for churn? What are CSMs noticing about their customers that Support should be aware of? Can you set up automated alerts to be notified when one of your customers submits a Support case? Is someone making Product aware of trends in customer feedback?
I love the idea of framing the customer relationship in terms of moments of truth. But you have to show up in order to gain the benefit. Ideally, you'll get ahead of it. How do we build a foundation in our process that makes room for things like listening, patience, and understanding? How do we make sure we're at the dock rather than the airport when the ship comes in?
Being a CSM, or being in any client facing role, listening and patience are critical. Making sure you're in touch with your customers and understand how they're feeling can make or break a relationship. Patience is in short supply in a CSM role where, almost by definition, you have too little time and too much to do. CSM training needs to include things like "how to be patient when you don't have the time." If you can master this skill you will be invaluable to your team and your company.
Agreed, CSMs need to track what's going on in Support with their customers, but just as listening to your customers shouldn't only happen when their renewal is coming up, paying attention to Support shouldn't be just before a conversation with the customer. Ideally, we want to know what's going on with all of our customers. Both teams can really benefit from a regular exchange of information. What trends is Support tracking? Who seems at risk for churn? What are CSMs noticing about their customers that Support should be aware of? Can you set up automated alerts to be notified when one of your customers submits a Support case? Is someone making Product aware of trends in customer feedback?
I love the idea of framing the customer relationship in terms of moments of truth. But you have to show up in order to gain the benefit. Ideally, you'll get ahead of it. How do we build a foundation in our process that makes room for things like listening, patience, and understanding? How do we make sure we're at the dock rather than the airport when the ship comes in?