Nichole Harrop

Love these tips from Daphne to stop CSM’s being reactive and start being proactive

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Stop settling for bad CS jobs—ask these questions! Just because they say it’s CS doesn’t mean it is. Last week, I interviewed a CSM currently at a startup that does everything wrong when it comes to CS. Everything, we talk about here on LI every day until we're sick of it 🤢 This CSM was desperate for a way out, but afraid to quit because of the shaky job market. 😬 Sound familiar? My skin crawls knowing that in 2024, companies like this still exist. But here’s the harsh reality: they do. Some companies out there are posting CS roles that are support positions disguised as something they’re not. They talk a big game, act like they’ve got a "well-oiled" CS department, but behind the scenes? 🚨 It's a chaotic mess.🚨 𝗧𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗻𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲: ✋🏽 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗱! You deserve better. You deserve to work for a company that respects CS and sets you up for success, not failure. Here’s the good news: not every company is like that. ✅ There are CEOs and leaders who “get” Customer Success. 🙌🏽 To you, I say: THANK YOU! Your efforts are what’s driving this industry forward. You understand that CS isn’t just a “nice-to-have,” it’s a business growth engine. ❌ To those that don't? Well, you’re not just hurting your company; you’re damaging your brand and reputation. But let's get back to YOU, the job seeker. You don’t have to fall into this trap again. 👇🏽 Here are some questions you can ask during your next interview to suss out if a company knows their stuff: How many accounts does a CSM handle? • Who does the CS team report to? • How do you invest in the growth of your CS team? • How does CS, Product, and Engineering collaborate? • How does your company define the role of Customer Success? • What happens when a customer isn’t a good fit for your product? • What indicator do you look at to see that your CS team is performing? • Give an example of how a CSM helped shape or influence company strategy? • Describe a time when CS had to push back on Sales for overpromising to a customer? • What’s your customer churn rate, and what’s being done to improve it? • How are customer feedback and issues escalated and resolved? • Walk me through your CS process from onboarding to retention? • What tools are in place to support the CS team’s work? • What is the average tenure of a CS team member? • How do you measure the success of your CSMs? Ask these, and you'll quickly know if you're walking into a well-structured CS department or a dumpster fire. 🚒🔥 👉🏽 What’s the worst CS experience you’ve ever had at a company? What other questions can you ask to test the CS maturity level? Drop it in the comments! #customersuccess #saas #startups #careercoaching  #CS #CSM #SuccessHacks #customersuccessmanager #lessonsfromanewvp  

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One of my favorite sales plays is so simple it's amazing this isn't taught as 101.... 💡 Whenever you have an opportunity go Closed/Lost....Mark follow up reminders to check back in at 6 months with something you saw related to their industry, and then at 9 and 10 months 'check in'(or some variation of the same). ......consider churn rate.....10-20% of those closed/lost deals aren't happy with their choice and are likely to reconsider and switch. 70% of the time the person with their foot in the door wins first! So advantage to you bc/ you've done deep discovery and stayed engaged.

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CSM, get out of the hamster wheel before you burn out. ❌ Stop fire-fighting ❌ Stop with check-in calls ❌ Stop reacting to your inbox ❌ Stop taking support queries ❌ Stop ineffective repetitive tasks ❌ Stop solving for this month's number ❌ Stop emailing unresponsive contacts ❌ Stop only prioritising in-month renewals ❌ Stop manually doing what should be automated A ton of hard work. Very little to show for it. You'll never get out of the rat race if you keep working this way. Here's a different and better way of CSM-ing: ✅ Establish your customers' expected outcomes ✅ Build a Success Plan from day one ✅ Ensure they have the right set-up ✅ Hold customers accountable ✅ Report on and share results ✅ Ask if they intend to renew ✅ Monitor leading indicators ✅ Pick up the phone ✅ Multi-thread Proactive, strategic and consultative. 1000x better. If reading this makes you feel ashamed because you don't know where to start or overwhelmed because your current work situation is too chaotic to create the time for this, you're not alone. Thousands of CSMs feel exactly the same way. I know what you're thinking: -> You can't afford to stop right now -> You don't have time to make changes -> You only need to weather the storm and things will get better I've been there too. But these are the excuses that are holding you back. Nobody is coming to save you. You need to save yourself. So here's my advice: 🛑 Stop everything 🛑 Book 2 days "OOO" in your calendar. And do these 3 exercises: 1- Create a Calendar Blueprint: Set up a separate calendar from your current one. You'll use this to design a new calendar blueprint for yourself. You should add every single thing you need to do proactively in this calendar, it's the baseline for you to start changing the make-up of your working day. 📆 I'll link the one I designed for CSMs in the comments. 2- Book of Business Review: Do a full review of your customers and place them into one of the 4 buckets of priority. This way you can decide which customers to pay attention to and which ones to de-prioritise at this time. 🧰 Engagement prioritisation framework linked in the comments. 3- Calendar Planning Book or delete meetings based on customers you need to prioritise over the coming 6-8 weeks. Craft unique messages to send to these customers with compelling reasons why they should attend. 🤖 Use the T.A.V.U method I shared in the newsletter a few weeks ago + ChatGPT can help you be efficient here. Do these 3 things and I promise you that you'll: - get better results - transform your work-life - improve your mental health Create the space. 📥 If you're interested in improving your Customer Success skills, consider joining 10k+ CS Professionals who read my weekly newsletter on how to build and scale a CS Team [sign up in the comments section]. #csm #customersuccess #customerexperience #revops #saas

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🚀When Life Gives You Layoffs, Make Lemonade!! 🍋 We’ve all seen the headlines—layoffs are happening left and right, and it can feel like the world’s a bit upside down. But here’s the thing:- tough times don’t last, but tough (and creative!) people do!!! So how do we keep our spirits up and our skills sharp? Here’s my game plan: 1. Learn Like a Sponge 🧽: Dive into something new! Whether it’s mastering a new software, picking up a new language, or even learning how to juggle (because why not?), there’s always something cool to add to your toolkit. 2. Networking = Making New Friends 🎉: Who says networking has to be boring? Reach out to old contacts and making new ones—because you never know where a casual chat might lead. Plus, it’s always fun to swap stories and ideas. 3. Channel Your Inner Optimist 🌈: It’s easy to get caught up in the doom and gloom, but choose to focus on the silver linings. Every setback is a setup for a comeback, right? 4. Self-Care is the New Hustle 💪: Whether it’s a yoga session, a Netflix binge, or just taking a walk, make sure to keep your mind and body in check. Balance is key! Let’s keep the good vibes going and support each other through this rollercoaster ride. What’s your go-to strategy for staying upbeat and motivated? Drop your thoughts below! 👇 #StayPositive #KeepLearning #CareerGrowth #NetworkingFun #WeGotThis

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Is it true that only 36% of your team is actively engaged on a daily basis? A recent poll I read shows that the majority of your team members are either disengaged or, worse, "actively" disengaged. Perhaps your employees are feeling burned out. Certainly the past four years have been a rollercoaster for all of us. My latest article published in Utah Business has some great advice for managers to help their employees become re-engaged at work. Suggestion #3 really resonates with me, as it seems like there is never a "slow" time these days for employees to breathe, refocus and get caught up. Let me know your thoughts and if you have any other tips to share! #peo #professionalemployerorganization #employeeengagement

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What are some of the best methods you've used to identify leadership potential in folks without formal management experience? "Methods" could mean a personality/skills assessment, job application process, interview questions, or anything else that comes to mind. Thank you for your help!

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Accidentally texting the wrong person? Happens to the best of us. But what if it happens at work and you risk losing a client or candidate? Too scary to even imagine! But worry not. We got your back. Recruit CRM’s 'Off-Limits' feature will save you the hassle with just a single tag that lets you know which records are off-limits. Swipe through till the end to see what all it can do for you! For more, book a demo to check it out live. ✨ Link in comments. #recruitcrm #recruitment #recruiting #recruitmentsoftware #atssoftware #aiinrecruitment

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Empathy + Directness = Results (My formula for CSM clients) 93 success stories. 93 people who: • Kept going • Accepted the setbacks • Pushed through the endless QBRs. • Despite the rejections moved forward I work with those who accept I have a savage mentality. I don’t care if you’ve been rejected 50 times. I don’t care if you’ve been rejected 500 times. I don't care if you felt it went well and you vibed. I don’t care if you’ve got another presentation to prep. I’ll be there every step of the way. I’ve done calls on planes, trains, snowy logging roads, boats, patios, airports—and, yes, under the bunkbed. Why? Because your success drives me. I don't do this for the "Top 100 Influencer ego boost" I do this to change peoples lives. My style? Tough love mixed with empathy. I push you to be better, but I’m in your corner, cheering louder than anyone else. So if you’re ready for real accountability, real feedback, and someone who’s walked this path, twice... Then let's get to work. 👇 I'm running a CSM interview gauntlet next week; go to my profile's featured section to sign up

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"Wait, workers want more meetings?" You read that right! I know, I was surprised too. And so was Inc. Magazine when they reviewed the findings from Calendly's State of Meetings Report.  But according to the research, 81% of U.S. and U.K. workers said that more meetings would help them in some way...IF those meetings are done right. So what's the secret? Check out the full Inc. article for insights from our Founder and CEO Tope Awotona, and more: https://lnkd.in/etmRQmU5 #BetterMeetings

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I am going to take the other side. In my experience, metrics that people are judged by drive behavior. I understand why retention dollars is an important CCO metric, but any flavor of sales metrics into a CCO role impacts their behavior and that of their staff. I have always believed that the CCO and their organization is meant to be the advocate and the voice of the customer. The moment that the CCO and their organization's comp/performance is driven by selling to the customer, their intentions come into question. I still believe there is immeasurable value in being able to tell the customer, truthfully, that no one's compensation in the CCO's organization, including the CCO, is driven by selling them anything. The moment you put the CCO under a CRO, unless you structure their role, performance, and compensation under the CRO as net retention only, you lose legitimacy. I think that there is value in having positive friction between the customer and sales groups at any company. There needs to be an ongoing push/pull between them to ensure that the customer is getting the value that they deserve. Customer advocacy needs to continue. Retention should be the driver, not revenue expansion, for the CCO and their organization.

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#Customer_Experience = Growth #Customer_Service is part of Customer Experience. Customer Experience is the umbrella ☂

😇 New CSM: I say yes to every request from my accounts because that is what it means to be a good CSM. 🙃 Intermediate CSM: I will diplomatically avoid saying no by framing negatives as positives to help my customer sentiment. 😎 Experienced CSM: I get invited to calls by other CSMs just to tell clients ‘No’ to their faces. Your clients can handle a ‘no’. What they don’t like is a ‘no, and here is why I won’t do anything about it.’ Or ‘no, and I am not willing to explore other solutions with you’. You have to be willing to say no to some things to get to the things that are worth doing. As your colleagues in sales are fond of saying, no isn’t the end of a conversation, it’s the start of one. Which CSM are you?

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On a flight this week, I paid attention to the Delta safety video. As part of that video, they mention how they’re putting customers first. It’s a nice sentiment, but just like so many other companies, it’s misplaced. The more effective, more efficient and better way to do it is to put employees first. When you do that, your employees will put your customers first and the your customers will put your organization and it’s profits first. Putting customers first seems like a good idea, but it is the classic case of getting the cart ahead of the horse and horses are notoriously sucky at pushing carts. If you think I’m making this concept up, there’s real science behind it. One of the places you can read about this is in an article about the “Service Profit Chain” in an article from 1993. So it’s also not new science. Another place you can hear about this is on The Love Monday Podcast which hits on Monday.

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If I woke up this morning and decided to move back into a customer facing CSM role, here are the 5 things I do to master the role: 1) Spend day 1 on building my reports. You will never get this day back, and building out reports while also working on your customer issues or running your outreach is a challenge. And I’m not talking about the reports your enablement teams have built, I mean creating the reports that you want and need. Even if it’s an excel sheet, having these ready to go will make you much more efficient at your job and be a better resource for your customers. I would at least ensure I had the following: - Report on all my renewals, showcasing renewal dates, customer sentiment and upcoming contract changes. - A lead scoring dashboard so that I can quickly identify which of my customers I need to be proactive with - A state of the customer dashboard that shows my average MRR, the LTV of my book, NPS data, open support tickets and how I’m performing against my targets - A clean forecast that shows outgoings and incomings for the next 12 months 2) Set up a regular meeting cadence with my top 20% customers. And I don’t just mean by MRR, I’d also look at the importance of their logo to our business in terms of brand value and industry influence. 3) Take control of my calendar from day 1. If you don’t control your time, others will do it for you and you won’t like the results. I would ensure my day has 3 hours set aside for customer calls, 1 hour for my reporting, 1 hour for dedicated admin time (Slack, internal emails etc) and 1 hour for outreach. The rest of my day I will leave for internal meetings etc, and of course make adjustments as needed for kick offs or mandatory meetings, but this is the structure I will establish right from the start. 4) Don’t sell a single thing for the first month and don’t talk about myself - take the month to listen to my customers and start documenting everything I hear. What are the common paint points for my customers and how do I get this to our product team? What makes my happy customers so satisfied and how do I pass this onto my sales team? What features are missing in my market and how do my customers solve for those gaps today? How do my customers find answers to their problems? Then take this information and build out the 3 personas that live in my book. 5) Call shadow, and not just with my team. Call shadow sales, call shadow implementation, call shadow renewals, call shadow the research calls UX run. The more I see of the entire picture that my customers go through the clearer my role becomes and were I can drive the most value. Curious though, if you are a CS people lesder, what lessons would you bring with you if you decided to become a customer facing rep again?

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Every CSM should be able to answer these 7 questions: - What is the customer’s goal? - How is it measured? - What is the customer’s problem? - Why does this problem exist? - How can it be solved? - What do we need to provide to do so? - Did our customers get their desired outcomes? Because this is what customer success is all about. Everything else is redundant. Customer success needs to become simple, effective, and customer-centric. PS: Join 5k+ CS pros and sign up for my weekly newsletter if you like this post --> https://lnkd.in/dtC7MEjP

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Every CSM should be able to answer these 7 questions: - What is the customer’s goal? - How is it measured? - What is the customer’s problem? - Why does this problem exist? - How can it be solved? - What do we need to provide to do so? - Did our customers get their desired outcomes? Because this is what customer success is all about. Everything else is redundant. Customer success needs to become simple, effective, and customer-centric. PS: Join 6.9k+ CS pros and sign up for my weekly newsletter if you like this post --> https://lnkd.in/dtC7MEjP

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Is Customer Service Really a Cost Center? It's high time we reframed the conversation around customer service. Too often, it's seen as a mere expense, a necessary evil that drains resources. But let's challenge this outdated notion. Customer service isn't just a department; it's a strategic function that directly impacts the bottom line. Each interaction is a golden opportunity to build lasting relationships, foster loyalty, and drive growth. When customers feel valued and understood, they become advocates for your brand. They're more likely to make repeat purchases, refer friends and family, and even pay a premium for your products or services. It's time to invest in customer service, not just manage costs. By empowering our front-line teams, we can transform customer experiences, increase customer lifetime value, and ultimately boost profitability. Let's shift the paradigm. Customer service is not a cost center; it's a profit generator. #customerservice #customercentric #businessgrowth #profitcenter #customerloyalty #investincustomers

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