Technology is truly amazing, isn’t it? Saving lives, saving time, saving the world.… or so we would believe if we listened to every claim. Choosing the right solution is hard enough, but measuring the efficacy of a solution before you buy is equally challenging. In the world of Customer Success Management, understanding the need to bring in technology is often easier than justifying its impact on the bottom line. I’ve discussed the three ways of attacking the ROI justification issue in an earlier post, but this time I want to arm you with an ROI Calculator that’ll show you exactly how much your business can save/earn by investing in the right technology partner.
But before you start using it, let’s take a step back and talk about the problem.
There was a time when companies did not have to fight for a customer’s business again and again. It’s not that businesses didn’t care about their customers, there was just no revenue incentive to ensure Customer Success. Most of the investment was made up-front, and customers lacked real leverage with their vendors since they were basically locked in for life.
As recurring revenue models become more prominent, and as the subscription economy expands in size, businesses have to be more strategic about customer retention and success.
It’s not wrong to say that selling a product or service online is becoming easier. The cost of trying something new is lower, since there is very little upfront investment. According to LinkedIn, customers are almost 60% through their decision making process before they hit the “Contact Sales” button online.
If acquiring customers is becoming easier, then keeping them becomes more difficult. This is the truth that keeps CEOs of recurring revenue businesses and their Customer Success teams up at night.
When it comes to looking for a solution, businesses have traditionally responded by throwing bodies at the problem. This strategy falls short more often than not, and even if it does succeed, it turns out to be too expensive to sustain. Here are a couple of reasons why this approach is a big FAIL:
- By the time you know that a customer is at-risk, it may be too late. Without some kind of early warning system, these struggling customers can be easily ignored for too long. And when they are discovered, they are exponentially more difficult to retain.
- Not identifying opportunities to sell additional products and professional services at the right time means that you are slowing down revenue growth from your current customer base. In simpler terms, you are not maximizing Customer Lifetime Value (CLV/LTV).
- Tackling issues by hiring more bodies is an extremely inefficient way of scaling. You are not really doing anything to maximize your existing team’s efficiency.
Circling back to the point I made earlier: What if technology could actually address these issues for you?
Use our CSM technology ROI calculator to look at the hard numbers yourself. You’ve all seen ROI models before, often spitting out huge and unrealistic numbers. That’s not the goal here. Input even conservative estimates and you’ll be delighted to see the impact that the right technology partner can have on your bottom line. We’d love to get your feedback along the way so we can continue to improve it.
