The respective administrators of the shopper success crew and the product crew have been actually going at it. The assembly we have been in was purported to be a discussion board the place the 2 groups may commerce notes and collaborate on the product roadmap.
But, there wasn’t a complete lot of teamwork happening—individuals have been merely speaking previous one another. Buyer success would attest one thing like “If we don’t construct this characteristic for this buyer, they received’t renew.” In flip, the product crew would counter by explaining the technical challenges of constructing the performance. Neither aspect was listening to the opposite.
Sound acquainted?
As the brand new chief of this CS group, I ended the assembly. I proposed attendees take a break and requested the CS crew members to regroup later.
We’d spend that point reviewing and implementing a number of classes I’ve discovered from working with dozens of product groups all through my profession. It could change your complete dynamic of the CS crew’s relationship with their product counterparts for the higher.
Since then, I’ve introduced those self same practices to each crew I’ve led and have seen them flip distant colleagues into shut allies.
Listed below are 3 ways to assist product administration so you are able to do the identical.
1. Remodel buyer suggestions into information
Buyer success ought to mixture, arrange, and current the shopper suggestions it receives right into a complete record of priorities. As a CS chief, sit down together with your CSMs to evaluation the totally different options their prospects have requested. This may be performed collectively as a crew or individually in one-on-one conferences.
In both case, when documenting suggestions, CSMs ought to embody necessary particulars, like:
- Who particularly requested the characteristic, and why?
- How a lot income is doubtlessly impacted by the characteristic?
- What number of prospects will the characteristic have an effect on?
- What worth does this characteristic supply to the broader buyer base?
- Does this characteristic deal with the necessity behind the necessity? In different phrases, does it get to the foundation of the issue or is it a superficial resolution?
When you’ve collected this info, you possibly can remodel it into usable information by neatly organizing the suggestions right into a easy spreadsheet just like the one beneath to indicate the potential macro impact of suggestions on prospects and the enterprise.
(Click on the picture to enlarge.)
You’d be stunned—gathering and presenting suggestions this manner will do wonders in a gathering with product administration. It’s considerate, sensible, and legitimizes your efforts. It additionally standardizes your course of so that you begin talking the identical language.
Product and buyer success groups have alternative ways of speaking and eager about issues. That’s why we do two totally different jobs.
Nevertheless, as my colleague Abby Hammer, who’s the chief product officer right here at ChurnZero likes to say, information is our frequent floor. When buyer success groups use a spreadsheet like this, it exhibits they’re being deliberate and intentional about their suggestions.
2. Set up a gathering cadence
The conferences between buyer success and product administration needs to be each constant and frequent. I like to recommend a weekly or month-to-month assembly cadence. Quarterly conferences are too far aside; information goes stale and the quantity of points to handle builds up. Within the absence of a cadence, conferences are usually advert hoc, casual, or worse, solely occur when there’s a buyer disaster.
Set a transparent and structured agenda for each assembly. The client success crew ought to have already assessed each request listed of their spreadsheet and have a greenback worth connected to it together with the potential affect it would have on the fiscal quarter.
That is additionally a superb time to debate with the product crew the way you’re accumulating information. Invite them to touch upon the format. This helps you uncover modifications that might make the info extra helpful to them, which is able to in flip helps the case you make on behalf of shoppers for particular options.
You would possibly, for instance, discover that marrying buyer characteristic requests with associated buyer assist tickets helps product managers understand the total affect of a request.
3. At all times again your product crew
In case you’ve undertaken the primary two steps, you then’re effectively in your technique to facilitating a productive relationship between each groups. There’s one remaining half that I all the time inform my CSMs to try for—and that’s to be an advocate for the product crew.
This implies by no means indulging in a dialog with prospects the place you utilize your product crew as a scapegoat for product limitations and buyer frustrations.
Most CSMs don’t got down to say such issues. Nevertheless, after they discover themselves in tense buyer conditions, it may be robust to confront the discomfort. Within the warmth of the second, finger-pointing can and does slip out in a bid to deflect consideration and anger. Keep away from taking part in this blame recreation. It weakens the integrity of your phrases, your crew, and your relationship together with your product counterparts.
As an advocate for the product crew, CSMs can parlay buyer inquiries about options that haven’t been constructed right into a dialog about what was developed or improved. For instance, a CSM may say one thing like, “Whereas that performance wasn’t delivered, the crew did introduce these different three options up to now quarter—and right here’s what that might imply for what you are promoting.”
Enterprise relationships make a distinction in enterprise efficiency
If there’s a typical thread amongst these three ideas, it’s relationship constructing. Get to know your product crew and be proactive about serving to them—somewhat than solely participating them when there’s a buyer disaster. If it’s one-sided, it received’t work. Set up equal reciprocity.
On the finish of the day, product administration and buyer success need the identical issues: to herald new prospects and retain present ones. Following easy steps like these will vastly enhance the enterprise relationship and, within the grand scheme, make a distinction within the firm’s efficiency.
Discover out simply how aligned you’re together with your product crew in our article, “The 4 ranges of buyer success and product alignment maturity.”
