Today’s brands focus on many customer-centric terms – one of the most recent (and misunderstood) is “customer success”. Although it’s understandable to assume that this factor is the same as “customer satisfaction”, the two concepts are, in fact, not interchangeable. So what are we actually looking at when considering customer success versus customer satisfaction?
To analyze the difference, we must consider the evolution of customer success. It originated in the early days of Software as a Service (SaaS) organizations, when many original users would test drive a service, and then cancel. This, of course, led to a high churn rate, which is the kiss of death for most organizations. These software developers realized that buyer retention could be achieved by developing a set of techniques designed to retain buyers, which help to expand the customer base by adding users to an existing account or enticing existing users to spend more money by purchasing upgrades. In this context, “customer success” became the definition for not only retaining customers but encouraging them to purchase more.
In today’s market, customer success has taken on an enhanced meaning. The focus is truly on the success of the buyer as opposed to the seller. The question becomes “How can my customer be successful as a result of my efforts?”, shifting the focus from the product to the customer. When using this perspective to examine the customer journey, it becomes increasingly clear that customer success and customer satisfaction are two different animals.
That said, it’s important to note that successful brands need to continue prioritizing their customers’ happiness. Customer success is simply another customer-centric goal to strive for that extends far beyond customer satisfaction. It’s a marker that is personal to every customer – and they vary in a vast number of ways – from socioeconomic backgrounds to age, gender, tastes, geographic location and more. Businesses need to develop personas for these many user categories – and these categories will vary wildly according to the type of business.
Ultimately, however, crafting a clear definition of success for these various personas will enable businesses to identify the specific needs and wants of their customers, structure targeted programs and tools to deliver solutions, and build the kind of agility necessary to maintain this level of success. Consistently helping users achieve their desired outcomes is a science unto itself, but the brands that master this concept will be frontrunners. These leaders will be able to define their customer personas and success maps, identify unmet needs, and simplify customer success processes.
Customer service outsourcing companies can become a dynamic part of the flourishing e-commerce model that continues to flourish with added focus on customer success. An established outsourcing company like award-winning Anexa can partner in your development of robust online sales platforms, providing unmatched customer service that authentically represents your brand, along with customer outreach campaigns and surveys, tech support and social media management. Trusting Anexa’s specialized agents to operate your customer-centric activities leaves you in the driver’s seat to capture a strong position in the critical e-commerce lane.
Questions? Reach out to Anexa for information on how we can support your customer service AND customer success models.