How Better Customer Relationship Management Can Increase ROI
Customer ROI goes beyond revenue to sentiment, loyalty, and trust. Learn three relationship management strategies CSMs use to grow customer ROI and retention.
TL;DR
- Customer ROI goes beyond the monetary value of an account to include user sentiment, stakeholder loyalty and trust, and executive-level communication.
- Strong relationships are often the only thing keeping an issue-ridden account from churning — those relationships are the customer ROI.
- Going "high and wide" — building relationships across and high up in a customer organization — creates product champions and drives long-term revenue growth.
- Every account should feel like your number one customer regardless of revenue potential, which builds the trust that leads to testimonials, case studies, and expansion.
If you are a customer success team leader or a CSM, you spend your days establishing and nurturing customer relationships, so obviously you realize how important they are to the ongoing success of your organization. But do you also have a good idea on the ROI they can ‘deliver’ to your team?
What is customer ROI?
When a new customer first comes onboard with an organization, the CSM will map out thecustomer lifecycle journey that highlights areas of growth potential within an account. Understanding this potential – aka a customer’s long-term value – can help measure the ROI of a customer.
Customer ROI goes beyond the monetary value of an account. Things like user sentiment, stakeholder loyalty and trust, and executive-level communication are all facets of customer ROI. Many times, the only thing keeping an issue-ridden account from churning is the established relationships – aka the customer ROI.
Increasing ROI with better customer relationship management
Modern customer success is all about personalization and relationships, which is why customer relationship management is so important. Here are three ways CSMs can increase customer ROI with better, more focused customer relationship management strategies:
1. Personal customer relationships are still king: Even though 2020 has definitely been lacking in in-person engagement, personal relationships are still number one in the customer success world. Establishing strong, valuable relationships across a customer account can build product champions, bring in new testimonials and feedback from users, and boost customer ROI. This is known as going ‘high and wide’ within an organization – establishing relationships high up and across a customer organization to ensure you have a strong network of advocates.
2. Focus on executive-level touches: Part of the ‘high and wide’ approach mentioned before is the focus on executive relationships. While managers and end-users may be valuable stakeholders, executives and high-level team leaders are the ones that can vouch for your product and be a decision maker when the time comes. Establishing andnurturing executive relationships can widen your product’s reach within a customer organization and lead to long-term revenue growth.
3. Every customer should feel like number one: Even if you are managing a dozen accounts as a CSM, every single one should feel like the most important customer in your book – regardless of revenue potential. This goes a long way in establishing trust and transparency with a customer, which can lead to extremely valuable ROI opportunities down the road, such as testimonials, speaking positions, case studies, and more.
Analyzing your current customer ROI
As a quick activity, your customer success team should do a quick audit of your current customer ROI. Some of the benefits of a strong customer ROI include increased renewal rates, recommendations and testimonials, account growth, and strong industry relationships. After your internal audit, leveraging a customer success management platform like ClientSuccess can help ensure that your organization is putting its best foot forward when it comes to growing and managing customer ROI.
You can learn more by contacting our team or accessing these additional resources:
- eBook: 5 Ways to Surprise and Delight Your Customers
- Toolkit: Customer Success Metrics Toolkit
- Webinar: When to Invest, Specialize, and Scale Customer Success
Frequently Asked Questions
What is customer ROI?
How does better customer relationship management increase ROI?
What does "high and wide" mean in customer success?
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