Operating model development for the Customer
SUCCESS function

– Build the end-to-end customer experience

management operating model that includes functions, tools, processes, and capabilities.

– Test the hypotheses, through the pilot, on

the sales process.

A highly motivated and result-driven project leader acting as a "client's advocate."
A cross-functional team consisting of marketing managers, analysts, process optimization specialists, and the transformation office staff.
15 salespeople who agreed to test the operating model on their customers.

Three-week sprints: regular pre-scheduled sprint planning meetings, stand-ups, mini-team workshops, demos, and retrospectives.
A virtual team room with a collaboration board and constantly available video conferencing domain, group chats on topics for prompt issue resolution.
A constructive and fast mechanism for problem escalation.

team

Work format

–
–

–

–

–

–

–

–



–

–

–

–

–

–


–

–

–


–

–


–


–

–
–

–

–

–

–

Good design is obvious. Great design is transparent.

Good design is obvious. Great design is transparent.

– Three-week sprints: regular pre-scheduled

sprint planning meetings, stand-ups, mini-team workshops, demos, and retrospectives.

– A virtual team room with a collaboration

board and constantly available video conferencing domain, group chats on topics for prompt issue resolution.

– A constructive and fast mechanism for

problem escalation.

1. Conducted 15 in-depth interviews with B2B customers to explore their needs based on specific previous experiences.

2. Collected feedback from 35 customers regarding their level of satisfaction with the work of our sales team during the procurement stage.

Based on these results and the high level of support from the sales team, the company decided to launch a customer success function.

Using established best practices for the feedback collection:

А. PILOTED A SYSTEM TO COLLECT FEEDBACK FROM CUSTOMERS AT THE SALES STAGE:

what we dELIVERED:

–
–
–

revealed new insights for salespeople and sales support teams,
helped increase the transparency of customer decision drivers,
allowed for the identification of initiatives for systematic improvement of customer success.

–
–
–

– revealed new insights for salespeople and

– helped increase the transparency of customer

sales support teams,

decision drivers,

systematic improvement of the customer experience.

– allowed for the identification of initiatives for

On the transactional level: regularly collect and work on client feedback for a sample of transactions/projects, and synthesize trends at the company level for decision-making.
On the strategic level: manage customer journeys through transformation initiatives, monitor progress towards the target model, and regularly update the target customer journey (every 1-2 years).
On the advanced analytical level: connect customer success data with operational analytics, predict customer behavior, and suggest proactive actions.

1.

2.

3.

1.



2.




3.

1.


2.


3.

1.


2.


3.

1.

2.

3.

В. agreed on initial 3 TASKS in customer success:

The main principle of the operating model was to spread the best customer success practices across various divisions rather than create a substantial centralized unit.
We appointed a function leader and set up a compact permanent unit consisting of the voice of customer specialists to conduct client interviews, a process automation staff, and data analysts.
The unit serves as the center of excellence and works on critical customer feedback.
In the target model, the customer success function will cover all business cycle stages: sales and onboarding, solution implementation, service use, contract renewals, and cross-selling.
The sales stage will be scaled up first, as the team has already started to work on it during the pilot.

С. DESIGNED TARGET OPERATING MODEL PRINCIPLES AND SET UP THE TEAM:

–

–

–
–

–

–



–




–

–




–

–


–


–

–


–

–


–


–

–


–

–

–

–
–

–

– The main principle of the operating model

was to spread the CX best practices across various divisions rather than create
a substantial centralized unit.

– We appointed a function leader and set up

a compact permanent unit consisting of the voice of customer specialists to conduct client interviews, a process automation staff, and data analysts.

– The unit serves as the center of excellence

and works on critical customer feedback.

– In the target model, the CX function will

cover all business cycle stages: sales and onboarding, solution implementation, service use, contract renewals, and cross-selling.

the team has already started to work on it during the pilot.

– The sales stage will be scaled up first, as

Learn how to collect customer feedback by increasing automation and customer outreach regularly.
Develop the practice of using the voice of the customer research results for the sales teams and company leadership.
Spread the culture of collecting and working on client feedback among salespeople and the sales support team.

D. STARTED TO IMPLEMENT TASKS RELATED TO THE TRANSACTION LEVEL FOR THE SALES STAGE:

–
–
–

–


–


–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–
–

–

The customer success team ran the pilot with 15+ salespeople and built a scaling-up plan. The upcoming customer feedback-gathering approaches will differ depending on the size of the deal, the type of customer, and the strategic importance of the sale. Some of the surveys will be conducted online, some through short interviews.

A vital element of the plan is automation, which should allow the customer success team to improve the efficiency of the sales pipeline screening, gather information on deals, and run online surveys.

– Learn how to collect customer feedback by

increasing automation and customer outreach regularly.

– Develop the practice of using the voice of

the customer research results for the sales teams and company leadership.

– Spread the culture of collecting and working

upon client feedback among salespeople and the sales support team.

in THE FIRST YEAR, THE customer success TEAM WILL COLLECT FEEDBACK ON:

75%

Of total potential revenue

15%

Of potential sales opportunities

Previously the sales team was the single point of truth for “the voice of the customer.” For many years this system worked well. The hypothesis that the company needed a holistic customer success system, at first, was not credible. Therefore, there was a need to test the hypothesis immediately on customers together with salespeople.

The interim customer success team quickly established itself as a neutral company representative passionate about improving client results. This approach allowed the company to collect new insights, increase customer loyalty, and even find new leads. The salespeople provided full support once the customer success team quickly demonstrated their value.

The entire salespeople and support staff discussed customer feedback for each sale. The customer success experts then moderated a review of the sale, which allowed those involved to constructively draw conclusions for future sales.

The customer success team did not replace salespeople's work but expanded the level of interaction with the clients and deepened the exploration of their needs. Involving the sales team from the beginning was a critical factor in the success of the customer success team.

LESSONS LEARNED

FEEDBACK

«The work of the customer success team makes it possible to put together the pieces of the puzzle for better client understanding, gather insights about new clients, including non-loyal ones, demonstrate loyalty, and improve our brand.»

SALESPEOPLE:

«Having received working tools, we are highly motivated to spread customer success practices throughout the company. We see a high level of trust from salespeople who reach out with additional requests for hypothesis testing with customers, finding new leads, and gathering feedback at other stages of the interaction with the client beyond sales.»

customer success TEAM:

90% of the surveyed clients saw the benefit and expressed their willingness to provide feedback, and some clients asked for feedback on themselves and their teams.

COMPANY CLIENTS ABOUT customer success TEAM:

«The launch of the customer success function changed the paradigm of our transformation, and we will definitely scale up the customer success practices to all stages of the business cycle.»

COMPANY MANAGEMENT: