CFOs scrutinizing the tech stack are quick to question redundancies. When they see email communication capabilities in both your Marketing Automation Platform (MAP) and Customer Success Platform (CSP), they’re bound to ask, “Why do we need both?”
It’s a valid question—but the answer lies in understanding and reconciling the distinct roles each tool plays in the buyer and customer journey. MAPs and CSPs are designed for different phases of the customer lifecycle, managed by different teams, and geared toward different outcomes.
For each tool to succeed, it must be used to fulfill its intended purpose. When CSPs are deployed strategically, they handle much more than email outreach; they deliver insights that enable proactive engagement, driving long-term retention and expansion opportunities back to your business.
Let’s explore why both these tools are essential for your organization’s growth.
Different Tools for Different Jobs
Using a MAP to manage post-sale customer communications is like using the back of a screwdriver to hammer a nail: it might work, but it’s inefficient and could be prone to errors because of a lack of in-depth customer data. MAPs are built for marketing tasks like lead acquisition, nurturing prospects, and driving conversions. They excel at managing pre-sales interactions.
CSPs on the other hand are designed specifically to orchestrate the post-sale experience. As part of a robust post-sales operating system, a CSP can combine email, in-app messaging, and human connection with data-driven insights to support onboarding, proactive interventions, and renewal management. This tailored approach allows teams to address the unique and evolving needs of existing customers, which is something marketing tools simply aren’t built to handle.
More and more, organizations are recognizing the distinct value of each tool in the customer journey. According to our recent report The Customer Success Index 2024 (CS Index), there was more than a 50% decline in CS teams relying on a MAP for customer communications in favor of dedicated post-sales tools and systems.
CSPs Offer Better Insights for Timely Customer Intervention
One of the core strengths of a CSP is its ability to harness real-time customer insights to trigger timely and personalized communications.
For example, a CSP pulls in usage metrics, Net Promoter Scores (NPS), support ticket history, and surfaces health scores to identify when a customer may need extra attention. Whether it’s a decline in product engagement or a sign of dissatisfaction, these insights enable targeted messages to be sent at the perfect moment—avoiding the pitfalls of lacking an accurate picture of customer health.
MAPs operate on a broader, prospect-focused level. They typically don’t aggregate the data needed to anticipate or respond to the signals that indicate a customer’s evolving needs. Unlike MAPs, which might send an upsell email to a high-risk customer, CSPs are able to leverage health scores to fine-tune communication, ensuring you know not only what to send but also what to avoid sending. This thoughtful approach helps build trust, reduce churn risk, and drive meaningful engagement.
Separate Systems, Unified Goals
While CSPs and MAPs serve distinct purposes, they can complement each other to create a seamless overall experience. Separating marketing and customer success communications offers two key advantages:
- Focus of Responsibilities: Marketing teams can concentrate on acquisition, while post-sale teams focus on retention and growth, driving value for the business across your entire revenue pipeline.
- Communication Prioritization: Customers can be enrolled in distinct types of email communications, ensuring critical post-sale updates aren’t overshadowed by marketing messages. Allowing customers to easily opt out of marketing emails, while still receiving essential updates, will provide a better experience and ensure important information always reaches them.
Additionally, with sophisticated CSPs Customer Success Managers (CSMs) can send personalized emails to multiple customer contacts and roles directly, improving efficiency without sacrificing the human touch.
A Foundation for the Customer Operating System
Ultimately, a CSP is more than just a tool for post-sale communications—it’s the foundation of a broader customer operating system. By combining insights, automation, and human intervention, CSPs help organizations retain and grow their customer base. They empower teams to deliver consistent, high-value communications throughout the entire customer journey, from onboarding to renewal and beyond.
When used together, CSPs and MAPs create a powerful system that ensures customers feel supported and valued at every stage of their journey.
Learn More
Now that you understand the critical role CSPs play in growing your business, you need to decide which CSP will grow with you. See why Gainsight is ranked as a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Customer Success Platforms.
