Martech is a team sport, and no one wins it alone. Success depends on collaboration across internal teams and external partners.
The customer success manager, or CSM, is one of the most important – and often underutilized – partners of the marketing technology staff. They play an important role in shaping the seller-customer relationship and long-term success.
Value of customer success managers
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) vendors typically assign customers CSMs for large products and contracts. CSMs aim to help customers effectively use their product or platform for success. They play an important role in ensuring that customers renew, which is what they win.
They help customers work through challenges, empower users, explain product updates, integrate a product or platform with other systems, discover new use cases, help with the renewal process (and define contract items), determine return on investment (ROI) and more.
There are several ways CSMs can help martech practitioners.
Partnership
The components of the Martech stack rarely work in isolation. They are often integrated with other systems. Sometimes, one stack element determines another. For example, a core component may have only one native integration in the category of supporting solutions (eg, content management systems and website accessibility compliance monitoring). That integration is maintained by cooperation.
A CSM can play an important role in informing martech practitioners about how integration is evolving, making the innovation process more visible. They can also help deal with confusion, as a supporting vendor has a strong incentive to maintain multiple relationships to remain a preferred partner.
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Active support
CSMs are only successful if their customers are happy and doing well with the product or service. That gives them a lot of motivation to support their customers continuously.
As product experts, CSMs must monitor product usage, performance and KPI metrics. Ideally, they identify issues and trends of concern before they become problems. And they are well-positioned to recognize signs that customers may not realize are worth paying attention to.
For any martech professional, it’s best to solve the problem before the CEO knows and starts asking questions. CSMs should help avoid those situations. Discussing applicable support topics should occur during regular scheduled customer calls.
Product roads
Martech platforms and products rarely stand still. In fact, they need to evolve to meet new technologies, trends and patterns in consumer behavior.
CSMs are essential resources for martech staff to stay up-to-date on how a product or platform is evolving. This includes product updates as they come out and those coming in the future.
This can help the organization plan these product updates. That may include preparing mergers, reviewing terms and conditions and other public disclosures, training power users and related activities.
From a salesperson’s perspective, this is important in identifying sales opportunities.
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Preparing to redo
In addition to accounting for product updates from a technical and performance perspective, product updates are also part of how retailers justify price increases during the update process.
Ideally, by keeping customers informed about product updates, CSMs help them understand the added value the retailer adds. When it’s time to work with account managers to renew, that task can help explain any price changes.
Admittedly, product reviews vary in value. However, CSMs can help eliminate unnecessary drama during renovations. This also gives martech professionals time to evaluate whether the product updates really justify the price increase, enabling them to negotiate more effectively.
Use of the product
Martech tools are easy to buy but difficult to implement effectively. CSMs can help ensure that organizations are getting enough money for their money.
It’s not uncommon for organizations – and people, too – to pay for features they don’t use. There are many reasons for this, including insufficient user power, integration dependencies and simple inattention.
One of the main objectives of CSMs is to ensure customer satisfaction. A key strategy to achieve that is helping customers understand how to make the most of the product or platform. Martech employees are obvious partners in this effort, and working together to achieve that goal is a win-win for both the vendor and the customer.
Customer advocate
CSMs can also act as customer advocates. This is especially useful under several different conditions.
If a customer is a small player in a larger customer base, they may have specific needs but lack the ability to successfully advocate for them. A CSM can help explain to their employer why a seemingly small customer deserves attention.
As in any relationship, sometimes disagreements arise between the seller and the customer. Ideally, the CSM has worked closely with the customer, and when other vendor stakeholders raise concerns, the CSM can help resolve the situation. Although the CSM’s loyalty is to the merchant, they can still help the customer in these situations.
CSMs with productive customer relationships may promote those customers as candidates for beta testing features. Getting early access to new features and helping shape them can provide significant benefits.
If a customer project involves multiple vendors, CSMs can back up the customer’s view with other vendors. Many competing vendors can’t do it all, but their value varies depending on the situation. Registering a CSM for a central product to help recruit other sellers can be helpful.
CSMs can identify opportunities to show the customer. For example, they can help secure a case study for a discount or other benefits. They can also help position the customer as a leader in a particular area. CSMs can make strong advocates.
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Transforming CSMs into strategic partners
CSMs often become trusted partners who help smooth issues, communicate internally and protect long-term relationships. Although their primary responsibility is with the seller, that doesn’t stop them from supporting customer needs along the way. When martech employees work closely with CSMs, both parties are likely to derive real, lasting value from the partnership.
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