@joshuajforman The Developmental Stages of the StartUp ~ Customer Relationship Joshua Forman

@joshuajforman Agenda Thank You’s About Me Purpose of Presentation Developmental Stages Customer Success Evolution Early States of StartUp ~ Customer Relationship From Simple to Complex Developmental Lines of StartUp ~ Customer Relationship Relative Maturity Rates

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@joshuajforman About Me 20 years In technology 8 years Customer Success Executive 7 years In StartUps Consultant Business Technology Consumer Technology Product Systems Integrator Held Roles As: Experience Includes: Depth of Experience

@joshuajforman About Me Built Marketed Sold Implemented Bought Adopted Working knowledge of how technology products are: Breadth of Experience

@joshuajforman Purpose of Presentation You are better able to make relationships with your customers and Assess Plan Anticipate How you make those relationships

@joshuajforman Purpose of the Presentation Factors influencing your territory: – Your target customer B2B / B2C Customer Demographics – Complexity of Product Self-service functionality? – Pricing Model

@joshuajforman Growing companies and customer relationships is a mix of science and art Developmental Stages

@joshuajforman For any stage, there are developmental tasks you must master before moving to the next stage Company Development How you engage with customers today How you prepare to engage tomorrow Stage AStage B Developmental Stages

@joshuajforman Customer Success Evolution One-Time Transactional Recurring Lifetime Value Then Now Revenue Approach

@joshuajforman Customer Success Evolution Graph From: critical-in-saas/ Impact of Churn

@joshuajforman UpSell to Grow Faster Graph From: survey/ Customer Success Evolution UpSell Opportunity

@joshuajforman Customer Success Evolution Goal – Continually Increasing Customer Lifetime Value Renewals: Reduce Churn Increase Upsell – Create Value for Your Customers Strategy – Master the developmental tasks relevant to your stage – Plan for future stages

@joshuajforman Company’s Early Stages Product / Solution Fit Product / Solution Fit Product / Market Fit Product / Market Fit Scale Maurya’s Running Lean Stages

@joshuajforman Company’s Early Stages Product / Solution Fit Product / Solution Fit Product / Market Fit Product / Market Fit Scale Founders Founders start delegating to Others Maurya’s Running Lean Stages Who is Responsible for Customer Relationship Founders start delegating responsibility to delegate

@joshuajforman Graph From: ifecycle Company’s Early Stages As defined originally by Everett Rogers in “Diffusion of Innovations”, 1961 Made popular by Geoffrey Moore in Crossing the Chasm, 1991 Technology Adoption Lifecycle

@joshuajforman Company’s Early Stages Product / Solution Fit Product / Solution Fit Product / Market Fit Product / Market Fit Scale Founders Maurya’s Running Lean Stages Innovators Early Adopters Customer Psychographic Organization Developing from Simple to Complex Who is Responsible for Customer Relationship Founders start delegating to Others Founders have delegated responsibility to delegate

@joshuajforman From Simple to Complex Pictures From: io_Animals/Chpt_32_Animal_Diversity/AnimalEmbry oDevel_L.gif & /fetal-development-barriers.html io_Animals/Chpt_32_Animal_Diversity/AnimalEmbry oDevel_L.gif

@joshuajforman From Simple to Complex Pictures From: io_Animals/Chpt_32_Animal_Diversity/AnimalEmbr yoDevel_L.gif Differentiation Multiply Differentiation

@joshuajforman As Company Develops, Differentiation is a major developmental task Founders Customer Success Marketing Implementation Support Account Management Lead Gen Branding Creative Etc.. From Simple to Complex

@joshuajforman Developmental Lines Developmental lines of activities in your customer relationships: Those that provide value to the Customer: – On-boarding – Technical Support – Continuous Value Creation Those that provide value to the Company: – Feedback – Referral Customers – Market Advocates

@joshuajforman Developmental Lines Capability Maturity Model (CMM) Initial / Adhoc Repeatable Defined Measured & Managed Optimizing / Continuous Improvement New process in initial stage Process is repeatable, some learning has taken place, and some documentation Process is defined as “the way we do it” and documented Measurements are in place, and reviewed regularly, leading to ability to manage process Process is being continually improved Process Maturity

@joshuajforman Developmental Line: Deliver Initial Product Value Assess how to grow customers use of the product On Boarding / Professional Services Self Service Functionality / Productized Services Are your services a product or a feature? Initial Repeatable Defined Measure & Manage Optimizing Develop Self Service, Template Implementation Plans, Productizing Services Processes Documented Processes

@joshuajforman Start with initial on-boarding process. Eventually find repeatable process that works Developmental Line: Initial / Adhoc Repeatable Defined Measured & Managed Optimizing / Continuous Improvement On Boarding / Professional Services

@joshuajforman More Complex Product: – Develop project templates Developmental Line: Initial / Adhoc Repeatable Defined Measured & Managed Optimizing / Continuous Improvement On Boarding / Professional Services Self Service On-boarding: – Develop self-service wizards

@joshuajforman More Complex Product: – Measure project completion time – Measure CSAT Developmental Line: Initial / Adhoc Repeatable Defined Measured & Managed Optimizing / Continuous Improvement On Boarding / Professional Services Self Service On-boarding: – Measure effectiveness of process *You can’t just measure, have to use the metrics to manage the process

@joshuajforman Developmental Line: Initial / Adhoc Repeatable Defined Measured & Managed Optimizing / Continuous Improvement Learning Metrics Internal Feedback External Feedback Continuous Improvement Improved Processes New Metrics Better Management On Boarding / Professional Services *Assess how to grow customers use of the product

@joshuajforman Developmental Line: Phone & Ticket System Ticket System Web Portal Web Portal Knowledge Base Customer Communities Technical Support ZenDesk, FreshDesk, UserVoice NOT Remedy, ServiceNow ZenDesk, FreshDesk, UserVoice NOT Remedy, ServiceNow Initial Repeatable Defined Measure & Manage Optimizing Tools Social Heard, Understood, Satisfied Processes

@joshuajforman Customer Heard Customer Understood Customer Satisfied Process Step Key Factor Quick Response Customer knows you understand them, the context, & the problem Customer satisfaction with you. Developmental Line: Technical Support Heard, Understood, Satisfied

@joshuajforman Customer Heard Customer Understood Customer Satisfied Process Step Key Factor Quick Response Customer knows you understand them, the context, & the problem Developmental Line: Technical Support Heard, Understood, Satisfied Maybe show them a different way to look at it Customer satisfaction with you.

@joshuajforman Customer Heard Customer Understood Customer Satisfied Process Step Key Factor Quick Response Customer knows you understand them, the context, & the problem Developmental Line: Technical Support Heard, Understood, Satisfied You may not have even solved the problem Maybe show them a different way to look at it Customer satisfaction with you.

@joshuajforman Having as needed one-on-one conversations Customers ing individuals or alias conversations not centrally routed or tracked May have process to be able to repeat with multiple customers Developmental Line: Technical Support Initial / Adhoc Repeatable Defined Measured & Managed Optimizing / Continuous Improvement

@joshuajforman Implement a ticket system to easily move to Defined: – Requires you to define your workflow of how to respond to customer questions / issues – Defines your portal experience – Defines your knowledge base – Can also define how you interact socially Developmental Line: Technical Support Initial / Adhoc Repeatable Defined Measured & Managed Optimizing / Continuous Improvement

@joshuajforman Utilize canned reports (and build your own) to measure and manage performance Developmental Line: Technical Support Initial / Adhoc Repeatable Defined Measured & Managed Optimizing / Continuous Improvement *You can’t just run the reports, you have to manage your processes with them

@joshuajforman Developmental Line: Initial / Adhoc Repeatable Defined Measured & Managed Optimizing / Continuous Improvement Technical Support Learning Metrics Internal Feedback External Feedback Continuous Improvement Improved Processes New Metrics Better Manageability Happier Employees

@joshuajforman Developmental Line: 1-on-1 UpSell: Drive Adoption & Expansion UpSell: Drive Adoption & Expansion Continuous Value Creation Differentiate Customer Processes: - No Touch - Low Touch - High Touch Customer Health: Monitoring & Measuring Customer Health: Monitoring & Measuring Totango, BlueNose, Preact Initial Repeatable Defined Measure & Manage Optimizing Tools Stakeholder Capability Matrix, Proactive Monitoring Processes Segment Customers

@joshuajforman Developmental Line: Continuous Value Creation UpSell Two ways to drive UpSells: – Help new customer end users adopt existing products and features – Expand product and feature use by current or new end users

@joshuajforman Developmental Line: Continuous Value Creation Adoption & Expansion

@joshuajforman Developmental Line: Initial / Adhoc Repeatable Defined Measured & Managed Optimizing / Continuous Improvement Continuous Value Creation “Regular” customer check-ins that are adhoc conversations. No repeatable process on what to ask or how to connect.

@joshuajforman Developmental Line: Initial / Adhoc Repeatable Defined Measured & Managed Optimizing / Continuous Improvement Create repeatable processes for different customer segments and touch frequency Use customer success tools to define when interactions are needed -Customers in danger of cancellation -Customers with upsell opportunity Continuous Value Creation

@joshuajforman Developmental Line: Initial / Adhoc Repeatable Defined Measured & Managed Optimizing / Continuous Improvement Utilize canned reports (and build your own) to measure and manage customer accounts *Know what customers are doing, not just what they are saying they are doing Continuous Value Creation

@joshuajforman Developmental Line Initial / Adhoc Repeatable Defined Measured & Managed Optimizing / Continuous Improvement Continuous Value Creation Learning Metrics Internal Feedback External Feedback Continuous Improvement Improved Processes New Metrics Better Forecasting

@joshuajforman MarketingSalesCustomer Success New Customer Leads / Oppty’s ResponsibleConsultedInformed Close New CustomersInformedResponsibleConsulted Existing Customer – Renewal InformedConsultedResponsible Existing Customer – New Oppty Identification InformedConsultedResponsible Existing Customer – New Oppty Close InformedResponsibleConsulted Customer Revenue Responsibility Matrix Developmental Line:

@joshuajforman Relative Maturity Rates Initial Repeatable Defined Managed & Measured Optimized On Boarding Continuous Value Creation Technical Support

@joshuajforman In Closing And in the end, the value you create is equal to the value you make

@joshuajforman Thank Blog:

@joshuajforman References the-art-of-the-upsell/ the-art-of-the-upsell/ Crossing The Chasm, Geoffrey Moore, 1999 Running Lean, Ash Maurya Modus Law Foundry Group Service Excellence Managing the Software Process, 1989 by Watts HumphreyWatts Humphrey Individual graphics references on specific slide