Traits to Succeed in Customer Success
John Ciannello September 5th, 2021
When I first heard the phrase “customer success,” I thought it was just a fancy, new-age term to replace the boring and tired “customer service” but I quickly learned that this is not the case.
What is Customer Success?
Customer success is so much more than responding to problems and just doing the bare minimum. Effective customer success representatives and teams have a genuine focus on providing the greatest possible experience for their customers and that’s what sets them apart.
Key Characteristics
Proactivity
It is more than safe to say that being proactive is far more beneficial than a reactive approach to your career. When it comes to customer success, proactivity improves the experience for the customer, but also the company. If you’re coming up with solutions for problems that have yet to occur, then there is no need to scramble around trying to fix things when they do arise.
Proactive people not only get the job done, but they get it done well, really well. If you need proof, just think about the last time you had an issue with your phone, computer, or something along those lines, and you had to get in touch with the company. Did they have a FAQ page prepared? Did they have a chatbot on their website? If you talked to someone on the phone, did they seem to be familiar with your problem? If you answered yes, then you dealt with a proactive customer success representative, and they most likely did an excellent job!
Poise
A great customer success representative or team must be poised and ready for any situation that comes across their desk.
People want reassurance. That statement can be applied to a ton of different aspects in life, but it especially applies to a company’s customers. Someone who is poised and prepared to handle any problem that a customer presents is going to do well in the customer success field. It is best to be cool, calm, and composed when dealing with customers. Doing this gives the customer the impression that their dilemma is being taken seriously, and is being handled by a qualified professional.
Oftentimes, football coaches will teach their quarterbacks that they need to be poised in the pocket. So, if you can handle customer problems the way Tom Brady handles NFL defenses, you’ll be on your way to the customer success hall of fame in no time!
Humility
It’s okay to not know all of the answers, and sometimes we forget that. While a customer might appreciate the feeling that all of their problems are easily remedied, it’s not always that simple. It can be equally comforting to hear “I’m not very familiar with this problem, but I can assure you that my colleagues and myself are doing everything we can to provide you with a solution.”
This approach makes sure you don’t make promises you can’t keep, as well as avoiding a source of disappointment for the customer. Sometimes a reminder that we’re only human is much needed, for both the customer and the customer success rep/team.
Bottom line, if you want to be successful in customer success, go the extra mile. Take that extra step, put yourself in the position of the customer, and most importantly, be genuine, It will take you to the places you want to go!
John Ciannello 