“Technique with out ways is the slowest path to victory. Techniques with out technique is the noise earlier than defeat.” — Solar Tzu, “The Artwork of Warfare”
Buyer success (CS) practitioners usually speak to me about postsale technique and ways. What I’ve seen from these conversations is that these phrases are getting used interchangeably regardless of being completely different, although complementary, ideas. In Forrester’s State Of Buyer Engagement Survey, 2024, nonetheless, we discovered that CS groups over-rotate on the tactical.
Our information overview report on B2B buyer success obligations exhibits that solely a few quarter of CS practitioner actions are strategic. Solely three strategic CS obligations — buyer segmentation, establishing robust relationships with decision-makers and key stakeholders, and figuring out total technique for the client’s postsale expertise — rose to the highest 12 buyer success remits. The opposite 9 obligations within the high 12 are tactical. Monitoring targets and sharing progress towards buyer outcomes — joint buyer success plans — barely registered. If the long-term aim of CS is to positively affect retention, buyer outcomes must be close to the highest of the checklist.
If any of this resonates, reassess your CS technique. To succeed, CS should have the proper constitution, funding, alignment with the enterprise, and skill to handle the client journey. Should you haven’t revisited your technique shortly, now could be the time to take action. Your CS technique should evolve to make sure that it’s in lockstep with the corporate’s targets and the altering wants of your market.
To learn extra about the place buyer success groups spend their time and different challenges they’re going through, dig into our information overview report, 2024 Information Reveals Buyer Success As Much less Reactive However Nonetheless Tactical.
And if you happen to’d wish to assess your individual buyer success technique, attain out to your account staff to schedule a steerage session with us.
