Importance of aligning customer
Since customers are the lifeblood of any organization, and the reason for its success and higher revenue, aligning customer support and customer success should be perhaps the most important thing to do.
Among all the departments in an organization, customer support and customer success are the only two teams that work closely with customers to create a good brand reputation in their minds.
Since customer success is an extension of customer support, let us begin the article by understanding customer support first.
What is customer support?
Customer support is purely a distinct function, no matter how many organizations perceive it to be a part of customer success. The customer support team is responsible for taking care of customers’ problems, often solving product issues and providing product guidance to specific customers. They are often more reactive in nature as compared to the customer success teams when it comes to assisting customers.
What is customer success?
Customer success is a more proactive and data-driven approach to empowering customers to make the most out of a product or service. Customer success teams track customer lifecycles in order to nurture customer relationships and boost customer lifetime value.
Working hand-in-hand
Many companies are already doing an excellent job by aligning their customer support team with the customer success team. While the companies that aren’t should also step into the game, as both teams are equally crucial for the organization’s growth. Moreover, both teams working together can make a big difference in how the customers perceive your brand; let us know how.
When customer support professionals encounter the same problem over and over again, they’ll eventually work with the product team to fix the bug and later inform the CSM team about the changes.
Similarly, when a customer success manager assists a customer in a more proactive approach, they gradually become the customer’s champion. In addition, if they see a recurring issue or notice difficulties with the UI or customer experience, they can lend a hand to improve the process.
However, if both teams fail to align, it will lead to miscommunication, unresolved issues, customer churn, and perhaps even loss of revenue. That’s why it’s crucial for customer support and customer success teams to work hand-in-hand.
When completely aligned, the teams can achieve incredible success internally and also provide value for the end customer.