Great customer service leads to customer success. With how much the field is growing and with more leadership roles being created every day, knowing how to manage clients has become more important than ever. Here are some useful tips for higher-ups on how to make a positive impact in the Customer Success industry:
Know the True Role of a Leader
While managers are focused on the nuances of how a business should operate, leadership needs to consistently empower their teams to achieve. The leader can uplift others through providing coaching, mentorship and constructive feedback.
Know your Analytics
Analytics are the spokes of the internet marketing wheel, and more often than not data is what clients prioritize above all else. In this vein, leveraging data to drive business improvements makes leaders dramatically more likely to succeed in an ever-changing market.
Be a Good Listener
Knowing how to be an active listener makes for a great leader. Before asking clients anything, leaders should always defer to and listen to what the clients have to say, and really let them drive the conversation forward. This will ultimately help to build trust and a strong rapport between the leader, their business and the end customer.
Be Supportive Every Step of the Way
Leaders must be motivated and supportive at every stage of a company’s growth. Empowering the vision of a company while also helping the company overcome challenges along the way through in-depth knowledge is crucial.
Stay Calm at All Times
When a client is experiencing a fire drill, the service leader should always strive to remain calm to promote stability and efficiency. To aid the customer, leaders should also be adept at managing client expectations while simultaneously providing practical solutions for solving the issue at hand to their internal teams, that can be executed on quickly and easily.
Teach, Don’t Lecture
The best way to support clients is by teaching them without doing the work for them. Service leaders also have the ability to empower their customers about new advancements in the industry that will often help strengthen and grow the client’s business.
Challenge Them into Growth
While it is important to develop a relationship with a customer that is trusting and transparent, successful leaders should feel confident pushing back on their clients to help expose them to different perspective as well as new ideas and solutions.
Keep an Eye on the Horizon
A leader must also keep an eye on growth for the future. Appropriate decisions that can solidify a business’s success for the future should be made by higher-ups on a regular basis.
Help Develop Their Voice
While a customer is growing and expanding, they will want to feel like they’re being heard and supported by their partners. Customer success leaders can help clients build out a compelling voice and position in their industries to further strengthen their social presence.
Compare Selling to Advocacy
Customer success leaders should think of selling as they would think of advocacy. When leaders advocate for their clients, everyone expands and wins.