34 articles in this category
Jason Lemkin of Storm Ventures says customer success is where 90% of revenue comes from - the post-sale relationship, not the initial sale. Customer success is proactive (preventing problems) versus customer service which is reactive (fixing problems). Lincoln Murphy identifies eight elements for systematic management, while five organizational models suit different company stages from startup to enterprise.
Gartner reports 80% of future revenue comes from 20% of existing customers - yet most B2B companies allocate only 20% of marketing to retention. Customer onboarding encompasses the entire journey from prospect to loyal customer. Nielsen shows 92% of consumers base purchases on peer reviews, and McKinsey finds 50% of purchases are influenced by recommendations. Properly onboarded customers become vocal advocates.
Friend recommendations outweigh a thousand ignored marketing messages, making customer loyalty the holy grail of CXM. Effective systems require automatic content updates (manual updates allow errors), easy collaboration (centralized information beats email chains), and continuous monitoring providing real-time insights into how each client experiences your business across four lifecycle phases: awareness, evaluation, purchasing, and post-purchase.
Three adoption strategies exist: Big Bang (everyone switches same day for instant change but high risk), Parallel (old and new systems run simultaneously allowing fallback but people resist changing), and Phased (gradual team-by-team rollout that's organized but slower). Strategy choice depends on user count, risk tolerance, training capacity, and system complexity.
A service level agreement defines client-provider relationships through seven essential components: service description, reliability, responsiveness, reporting, performance monitoring, penalties, and constraints. Measurability determines success since you get what you measure, with quantifiable metrics enabling confident outsourcing.
Customer lifecycle spans five stages from reach to loyalty, with repeat customers driving 3-7 times more revenue per visit than one-time buyers. Between 25-40% of stable businesses' total revenues come from returning customers. The cycle runs as an ellipsis, not a straight line, ideally moving customers through stages repeatedly over time.