Chris Regester’s Post

Along with top charts "stuff", several signs for my dearest growth-makers to watch out, especially when vendor selection (or even re-selection) is driving you crazy: 1. Objectivity: Any chart is fine. The importance lies in who evaluates/votes (eg G2, Gartner is a ranking platform for real users to vote for, not a specific assessment board) 2. Appropriateness: Label the tool with any definition you want. The importance is what you need that tool for, what criteria, and are there any special requirements that you will never compromise on (eg: consulting team, having ready-to-use templates, minimal tech involvement, etc.) 3. Independence: whatever technology your competitor is using. It's more vital to understand why they buy (different buying needs), how they apply it (different resources - staff, time, costs), and whether there is anything to do in the future (development plan, products and customers can't be the same). P/s 1: A week ago, a client told me they used to choose vendor A because their competitor also used vendor A, and now both of them come to me and Insider. for migration timeline. @@ P/s 2: Can't pick one quote for this photo since all are so relatable. Ah if you've read this far, I'd love to know your favorite quote also, pls leave in the comment. "Customer Success is where 90% of the Revenue is." - Jason Lemkin “Better” suggests a journey of constant improvement and makes us feel like we are being invited to contribute our talents and energies to make progress in that journey. “Better,” in the Infinite Game, is better than “best.” - Simon Sinek "Our motto is when they go low, you go high.” - Michelle Obama "Great things in business are never done by one person. They're done by a team of people." - Steve Jobs --- 🎉 We’ve been recognized as a @Gartner® Peer Insights™ 2023 Customers’ Choice for #PersonalizationEngines ⭐ Having been a leader for three years in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Personalization Engines, the Customers' Choice distinction is a testament to the positive reviews from our customers. ❤️ This recognition cements our standing as the #1 choice for marketers in Personalization and Customer Experience (CX). 🚀 Our platform received the highest scores across several categories, including a score of 4.8/5 for our overall rating across all vendors. 🔥 We’re the #1 product in all four categories:  🥇 Product Capabilities (4.8/5) 🥇 Sales Experience (4.8/5) 🥇 Deployment Experience (4.7/5) 🥇 Support Experience (4.8/5) A special thanks to our customers in Vietnam for this recognition. Together, we are co-piloting the future of marketing and #CX with leading brands like Vietnam Airlines, MB Bank, VPBank, Generali, Guardian, Watsons, FPT Shop, and more. Click here to find out more - https://bit.ly/3T59BaL #technology #martech #cdp #cep #cxp #marketingautomation #gartner #personalisation

🚀 New CS reasearch report you won't want to miss 🚀 #ICYMI The Revenue Mystery: Why Customer Success Leaders Struggle to Prove the Value of CS launched this week. We surveyed 409 B2B Customer Success leaders to reveal the challenges and opportunities in measuring CS impact. Here are some stats I found particularly interesting: ➡️ CS Teams Deserve More ❤️: 77% of companies prioritize Customer Success as a strategic imperative. 53% of CS leaders say their teams receive fewer resources than Sales, even when CS generates more revenue. ➡️ Data Challenges: 67% of CS leaders lack proper data to gain leadership buy-in. 56% face difficulties due to a lack of standardized metrics. ➡️ Demonstrating Value = Job Security: 45% of CS leaders believe their job security depends on proving revenue impact. 64% of Chief Customer Officers feel this pressure. ➡️ NRR Challenges: 78% of CS leaders actively seek better ways to track revenue impact. 73% don't know their Net Revenue Retention (NRR) for the year to date. ➡️ Technology is your friend: 84% of Customer Success Platform (CSP) users can accurately measure impact. CSP users were 41% more likely to report team growth over the past year. Understanding CS's revenue impact is critical yet challenging. Reliable data and measurement tools are essential for better strategic decisions and securing resources. Download the full report here: https://lnkd.in/g26xA5vf #CustomerSuccess #SaaS #CSP #CustomerEngagement #Retention #Research #benchmark #churn #NRR #CSM #CS #revenue

I'm thrilled to share some exciting news! Shippeo has been named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platforms! We're also incredibly proud to be the Customers’ Choice in the 2023 Gartner® Voice of the Customer report, with the highest willingness to recommend among all recognized providers. We believe these recognitions validate our dedication to delivering the most advanced RTTV solutions on a global scale. We've experienced strong growth and market momentum growth across North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe, tripling our customer base in just two years. North America stands out, 153% year over year growth in this region. Additionally, an impressive 25% of all new revenue is generated by companies switching to Shippeo from our competitors. Our data-centric approach to visibility, combined with exceptional customer support, resonates strongly with the North American RTTV market. This success wouldn't be possible without our incredible partners. Since 2020, our collaboration with e2open has evolved into a powerhouse partnership. Through close cooperation and a shared commitment to excellence, we've achieved remarkable success together, propelling Shippeo's global expansion. Thank you to our dedicated team, valued customers, and fantastic partners for your support. Let's keep innovating to operate more resilient, sustainable, and customer-centric supply chains. Please take a moment to read the report here. https://lnkd.in/gFxgt6kQ

You know that phrase, "Whoever gets closer to the customer wins"? There's so much buyer data out there – Gartner research, Forrester’s, industry reports. If everyone has access to the same data, how can you get an edge? You need to talk to your customers directly. Those studies are not specific to your audience. “But Hannah, the data directly understands my buyers. It’s exactly what we need.” Sure, trends, patterns, and overviews may point you in the right direction, but you’ll gain a much bigger advantage if you layer on primary customer research. “But, that takes a ton of effort. Why do I actually need it?” Because when you talk to your customers directly, you get intel that no other industry study or report can give you. This is your real competitive advantage. When you have insights into exactly how YOUR customers think and make decisions, you can improve sales calls, your messaging will resonate more, you can close leaks in your funnel, build products that are more relevant, shorten your sales cycle, and on and on. B2B buyer studies and reports are great. But they're also generic, and everyone (including your competitors) has access to them. “Ok, I’m convinced. So how do I get started?” Great question. If you want to stand above your competition and sell more, you need to invest in the skills and techniques to collect rich, high-quality voice-of-customer data – whether that's through training your team or hiring a third-party researcher. It's not enough to just get close to your customers; that's table stakes. You need to get closer than anyone else. If you need help, shoot me a DM. I can run a gap analysis to audit the data you have and pinpoint the data you’re missing, so you can run customer interviews efficiently and with clear focus.

Metrics for Expanding Markets In my August 5 post I provided a perspective on how C-Level Executives are measured. The three common macro categories are Expanding Markets, Improving Internal Efficiencies (Decreasing Cost), and Expanding their Customer Base. In this segment I wanted to focus on supporting metrics associated with Expanding Markets as part of the C-Level Metrics – KPIs and KRIs. Critical KPIs and KRIs for Expanding Markets 1. Revenue Generation KPIs: ·        Revenue growth from new markets: Measures the direct impact of new market entry on overall revenue. ·        Average revenue per customer (ARPU): Assesses the profitability of customers in new markets. ·        Customer acquisition cost (CAC): Evaluates the efficiency of acquiring customers in new markets. ·        Sales cycle length: Tracks the time it takes to close deals in new markets. KRIs: ·        Decline in revenue from existing markets: Indicates potential cannibalization or market saturation. ·        Increase in customer churn: Signals potential issues with product-market fit or customer satisfaction. 2. Risk Mitigation KPIs: ·        Market diversification index: Measures the concentration of revenue across different markets. ·        Operational efficiency ratio: Assesses the cost-effectiveness of operations in new markets. ·        Financial performance of new markets: Evaluates the profitability of each new market. KRIs: ·        Increase in market volatility: Signals potential economic or political instability in new markets. ·        Decline in profit margins: Indicates challenges in adapting to local market conditions. 3. Competitive Advantage KPIs: ·        Market share in new markets: Measures the company's position relative to competitors. ·        Brand awareness and recall: Assesses the effectiveness of branding and marketing efforts. ·        Customer satisfaction and loyalty: Measures the company's ability to build a strong customer base. KRIs: ·        Increased competitive activity: Signals growing competition in new markets. ·        Decline in brand reputation: Indicates potential damage to the company's image. 4. Growth Potential KPIs: ·        Market penetration: Measures the proportion of the target market reached. ·        Customer lifetime value (CLTV): Assesses the long-term value of customers in new markets. ·        New product/service adoption rate: Measures the success of new offerings in new markets. KRIs: ·        Slower-than-expected market growth: Indicates potential challenges in expanding market share. ·        High customer acquisition costs: Signals difficulties in acquiring new customers. By tracking these KPIs and KRIs, organizations can effectively monitor the performance of their market expansion initiatives and make data-driven decisions to optimize their strategies. In the next segment I will discuss KPIs and KRIs associated with Improving Internal Efficiencies (Decreasing Costs).

Over the years, folks have reached out and asked me about what I measure regularly. I measure a lot regularly, but there are a few key metrics, meetings, and frameworks that I have historically looked at to keep me informed on where we are. Here's what I am consistently looking at: – NRR - Net Revenue Retention – GRR - Gross Renewal Rate – NPS - Net Promotor Score – TTFV - Time To First Value – CSAT - Customer Satisfaction – DSO – Pipeline – New sales closed – New sales forecasted Also, other things I find helpful: – Churn forecast one year out reviewed heavily on a monthly cadence and bi-weekly At-Risk meetings with my CS Leadership. – Monthly: Red, Yellow, and Green meetings with the entire CS team where I get downloaded on the current state of the portfolio. – EBRs - How many executive business reviews have we completed, what's in the hopper, what are we missing? – OKRs - Objectives Key Results - How are we progressing on our projects and/or things we need to achieve for the quarter, and how are those feeding into the things we need to accomplish for the next year (or so). – Health Score that includes the following (but not limited to): usage health, NPS, an adoption scorecard which consists of the current product investment (more purchased, more points), have they completed case studies and so on, customer tenure, engagement with their CSM, manual sentiment set by CSM. – Customer Goals - The customer achieves their goals, realizes ROI, and actively participates in setting new goals. Other things that should be looked at/implemented: – Doing SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunities, threats) for top strategic accounts on a regular cadence. – Having a solid customer maturity model across the entire portfolio. Less is always more, but these things are sure to give you a strong understanding of what’s going on in your customer portfolio.

Identify what services your competitors are offering that you’re not, plus any recurring pain points clients encounter with those companies. Rather than simply mirroring competitor actions, leverage data tools to find what’s working and what isn’t. https://lnkd.in/g8qfDy4c

💵A Renewed Focus on Retention 💴 Did you know customer acquisition costs have skyrocketed by 60% over the past half-decade? The climb in inflation, increasingly tight labor markets, and an unpredictable supply chain environment pose significant challenges to sustainable growth strategies. In this climate, SaaS companies are pivoting their strategy towards something potentially more fruitful: optimizing their existing customer base. However, diving into the pool of renewal opportunities has its challenges. Revenue, Customer Success, and Finance leaders frequently encounter discrepancies, ranging from aggregating accurate data to battling incomplete or erroneous information. And let's not even start on the Herculean effort required when this data is scattered across numerous systems or buried in spreadsheets. Picture this: Your revenue operations team is buried under a mountain of CRM data, sifting through to pinpoint renewal opportunities. They're piecing together contract details like a complex jigsaw puzzle, making closing books a nightmare. Meanwhile, disjointed workflows and processes between revenue and accounting are transforming what should be a streamlined customer subscription process into an outright hassle. ⏰ It's time for a different approach. #CustomerSuccess #RevOps #Retention

Identify what services your competitors are offering that you’re not, plus any recurring pain points clients encounter with those companies. Rather than simply mirroring competitor actions, leverage data tools to find what’s working and what isn’t. https://lnkd.in/gy4mabG9

Changes to the Forrester Wave – Bye Bye Challengers! If you’re invited to a Forrester Wave, brace yourself for some significant changes to this decades old methodology. There has been little to no change for the last 22 years. Overall, I think most of the changes are welcome, and the digital experience for Forrester customers will be of significant value for tech buyers especially. On the surface the most obvious change that goes into effect for any new Wave kicking off after July 1st is a move from 4 bands to just 3, obliterating the Challenger band. It seems Forrester believes that any vendor included in a Wave is in a position to challenge the market, and I agree – a Wave includes only the most significant vendors in a given market, after all. A more subtle but significant update is that instead of the bubble representing revenue/ size, the dots are now changing to include 1 - 3 rings that serve as customer feedback indicators. See Vendor 6 in the graphic below? That one is a customer fave. ·       Single ring – Default marker that according to Forrester, all vendors should expect.    ·       Double ring – Superior customer feedback evidenced through Wave research.  ·       Triple ring – Customer Favorite. The customer feedback from your Wave customer references is supposed to just reinforce the analyst’s experience that this is a vendor that clients love to work with. Think you can land a ‘Customer Favorite’ badge? Think again. Forrester says most vendors invited to a Wave should assume representation with the standard marker, which is just the 1 ring. In fact, Forrester intends for there to be fewer Customer Favorite badges than Waves in total. Right, fewer than one per Wave. I’m still trying to figure out what I think of this – one the one hand, Forrester is ensuring the badge really means something. But can one vendor in a given market really be that much better than all others? I’m skeptical. Let’s say one vendor gets a 95 (not Forrester’s methodology at all; just illustrative), and 2 others get a 93 or a 90. Is it fair for vendor 1 to get such a significant award over the others, that are still quite good? I don’t think so. One of the cooler updates is to the digital experience (DX) for Forrester customers. Log in, look up a Wave, and you can create a custom report card via the ‘Help Me Find a Vendor’ button. It starts off with a wizard; you choose the capabilities most important to you, the strategic criteria (innovation, roadmap, vision, etc.), and vendors are custom ranked according to your criteria. The resulting scorecard includes alternative vendors, capability comparisons, and more. This is exactly what Buyers want; now they get their own bespoke Leader quadrant and short list. This should drive new customer growth for Forrester as well, in my opinion.  I'm looking forward to seeing how these changes land for Forrester. What do you think?? #analystrelations Forrester #archat