Customer Experience, zBlog
Customer Success vs. Company Success: Not a Zero-Sum Game
trantorindia | Updated: January 9, 2023
Customer success vs. company success. It’s either one of these, or is it?
“We’re not competitor obsessed; we’re customer obsessed.” – Jeff Bezos
Part of the work that went into catapulting Amazon to the Fortune 500 No. 2 position this year was that very quote by Jeff Bezos.
The recent aggressive advent of technology-powered channels initiated a tidal wave of alternatives and options for customers. Businesses were under immense pressure, vying for more customers.
Does customer acquisition trump customer success? We have uncovered some interesting insights about the effects of customer success on company growth.
The Impermanence of Customer Acquisition as a Growth Metric
An increase in the number of customers of a business is considered one of the most definitive markers of growth. However, most mid-riser companies need to realize that there are other benchmarks. You need to understand your customers’ needs to retain them.
Speaking of which, the Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is a parameter that can dent the revenue figures and operations, especially for businesses that do not invest equally in customer success.
Sales operations are undoubtedly necessary, given that they are a source of immediate revenue gain. However, a compromise in customer success investment because of sales tends to unleash a dangerous variable into the equation—customer churn.
Here is a question businesses need to ask themselves:
Can your CAC justify the churn losses due to a lack of a customer success management plan?
Harvard Business Review published a study about customer acquisition costs vis-à-vis customer retention eight years ago that is still relevant in this scenario. The study reported that customer acquisition is five times as costly as customer retention.
The reason is quite simple: customers want to be looked after. If you pick customer success apart, you will find five critical factors at its core that can make or break your brand in the long term:
So, how can a business convert customer churn into customer success? Let’s understand this further.
Turning the Tables: From Zero-Sum Transience to Net-Positive Growth Strategy
Modern customers and their needs drive most business strategies today. Until now, these strategies focused on a “trade-off,” making the customer choose between product and value.
The inherent choice between what’s better for “me” and what’s better for “the world” is the root of the zero-sum game. However, technology has changed that. (Interesting read on the subject: The Positive Sum Game by Herman Toch)
The accessibility of technology has made it possible for businesses today to bundle product and shareholder value together, freeing the customer from compromise.
Product x Value x Customer Success can bring a company to the tipping point from zero-sum to net positive.
In a report by HubSpot, 80% of the respondents agreed their customers had higher expectations from the company. Collate that with the fact that about 40% of the companies thought of customer service as an expense instead of a growth opportunity, and you will see the problem.
The customer perspective of companies has undergone a paradigm shift, changing their expectations. Customers today seek more than just the product and brand value; they seek the potential for a long-term association. This is what makes customer success the cornerstone of company success.
A company must deliver on that expected potential to gain customer loyalty through customer success management.
Driving Growth in Tandem with Customer Success
We have now established beyond doubt that customer success management is crucial for company success. And when it comes to the question – Customer success vs. company success, both complement one another. With the help of a customer success specialist like us, your business can artfully convert the precarious zero-sum game into net-positive growth.
Trantor assists you in achieving purposeful business growth through actionable customer success operations.
Through the years, Trantor has supported countless reputed companies through their CSM woes, helping them consistently deliver exemplary customer experience.
We also helped increase the annual sales for a leading fashion retailer in the US by 35%, bringing their annual CSAT scores to peak in hattrick.
