The Importance of a Cross-Functional Approach in Customer Success

By CIOReview | Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Today customer success has more prominence over company profits and business success. As a business strategy, customer success aids companies realize business objectives by ensuring that their customers are getting the promised business benefits. To build a customer-centric approach, various departments of an organization must collaborate and create a relationship that is based solely on understanding the customer needs and devising a strategy that will make them successful. An empowered team that can communicate effectively can develop processes that increase customer success at every step of the customer journey. Ensuring customer success can harness customer retention, customer acquisition, churn reduction, brand promotion, and profitability.

A cross-functional approach can build a customer-centric mentality. It unites departments into working together to figure out customer needs and make them achieve their goals. The lack of cross-functionality encourages silos. Silos are harmful to the organization as it affects communication between departments and leads to the lack of a common goal.

When it comes to customer marketing, marketing and customer success have to integrate their strategies. They have to make sure that the right customers are being targeted and the appropriate values are being communicated. Customer marketing should be seen as an investment in retention and growth. Customer success and sales should also work together on finding a success persona, handoff, and long term successes. Customers that have a positive experience with the organization will consider it part of their success, and most provide with company referrals for the sales team to leverage. Consistent communication with customers ensures that all the product updates are being adequately communicated. Apart from this sharing feedback and including product team in customer conversation will sharpen the product’s strategy and vision to enhance the customer experience.

Developing a cross-functional approach to customer success brings several improvements over time. The revenue will become higher, churn rates will be reduced, and the referrals will increase. Above all this, a cross-functional approach will bring the company a harmony among departments which will automatically reflect in other external processes.