One of The Rolling Stone’s hit songs from early in their career is “Time Is On My Side.”
“Time Is On My Side” is a good way to think about time as a Customer Success Manager.
We have the potential to use time to our advantage and alternatively time can cause us significant issues with clients.
Let’s review some examples:
Managing Deliverables: CSMs are responsible for a number of deliverables to our customers. When we complete deliverables in a reasonable timeframe we show the customer we care. When we are delayed we run the risk of a customer thinking we’re not engaged in their business.
Addressing Account Risks: we will encounter ongoing risks in our role such as transitioning account champions, competitive challenges and the changing economy. When we act on risks sooner we put ourselves in a better position to address them.
Tracking to Plan: CSMs help customers achieve their goals across the customer journey. We can help our customers “push it” at each stage so they can reach their desired outcomes as planned.
Communicating Reliably: Promptly responding to our customers, keeping customers up to date on projects and sharing status on delays helps us be a trusted partner.
Solving Critical Issues: CSMs will face urgent problems during our time working with customers. It’s necessary we address the problems with urgency and resolve them as soon as possible.
Staying ahead on all aspects of our customers can be challenge. Having a sense of when you feel behind with your customers can be a great time to speak with your manager or colleagues about how to get support on slipping projects.
CSMs can use time to grow our customer relationships, improve customer experience and help our customers capture business opportunities.