The days of selling the product to clients and saying “Thank you for shopping with us” are over. In other words, it is not enough.
In the SaaS (Software as a Service) industry, software providers need their clients to renew their contracts every year. Companies are looking for solutions to improve service and simplicity of the software to increase client retention.
The common solutions are technical support and customer success. Customer success actively takes part in the beginning of the customer’s relationship with the service. Conversely, technical support helps the customer with an urgent solution to a problem.
The two services are important and knowing the difference is an important factor for business success.
Customer success is trending in the B2B industry as an area for direct customer connection. Lincoln Murphy, a customer-centric growth expert consultant, defines customer success:
“Customer success is when your customers achieve their desired results through interactions with your company.”
Based on this definition, the customer success team ensures the customer’s success by maintaining periodic contact to be helpful.
In these interactions, the customer success team learns more about the customers’ problems to offer solutions. Therefore, a customer success team member must be organized and proactive to ensure customer success.
Some examples include developing training materials, collecting user feedback, proposing changes, following up and creating strategies to ensure the continual optimization of the software.
Technical support provides help in software installation, configuration and maintenance, among testing and monitoring its performance to maintain quality standards.
It is important to expect worst-case scenarios because ignoring them can cause additional expenses. Therefore, combating failures are essential to maintain client loyalty.
Technical support prevents the company from creating an insecure environment that causes clients to worry and consider alternatives.
“Customer success is very important in strengthening a customer-centric culture. It is critical to the company’s growth strategy,” says Carolina Guima, Customer Success Manager team at Zoox Smart Data.
Now, it is important to realize the differences between them.
You just got Zoox Smart Wi-Fi for your business. After the sales team assisted you, they transfer you to the customer success team. They will accompany you and teach you about how to use the tool integrally and strategically for your business.
Firstly, customer success will develop training, be available for concerns, and propose ways to optimize the platform’s use. This process is customer onboarding. The objective is to describe the client’s journey from their first contact with the software to improve an understanding of the software’s value.
Secondly, if a connection or platform problem occurs, you will contact the technical support. They will ensure that everything works as promised.
With this example, customer success becomes a set of proactive and holistic interactions, while technical support helps upon the client’s request. In this manner, consistency continues from beginning to the end.