gainsight & eigenworks - buyer as hero

The Hero’s Journey in Customer Success

Presented 11/12/2015 Alan Armstrong, CEO Eigenworks

Eigenworks, Inc. [email protected]

Slides and resources: bit.ly/buyerherowebinar

Alan Armstrong Founder & CEO

Eigenworks

Tracey Bozzelli VP, Growth Hacker

Blackbaud

Today’s Speakers

© Eigenworks Inc. 2015. All rights reserved.

Slides and resources: bit.ly/buyerherowebinar

© Eigenworks Inc. 2015. All rights reserved. CONFIDENTIAL FOR [CUSTOMER]

The Subscription Economy changes everything



“Customer Success is the centerpiece of the subscription economy, because 80% of your company’s future revenue depends on value

derived after the purchase.”

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However…

Customer Success is still being defined

Sales delivers customers without the deep story


Customer Success is left to “make” the customer successful with an incomplete

picture of the user, buyer and organizational goals.


But you can’t make a customer successful


You can only guide them


Old ways

New ways

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But before you can do that you need to know

Why What How


Are you:

•  A Technician?

•  Or a Guide?


Can you talk about the destination, not just the tools?


A New Approach: The Buyer as Hero

A map you can use to gain a deeper understanding of: "   what success means to them "   how to facilitate their success

by speaking their language "   how to measure your impact

in terms that matter to them


The Hero’s Journey


Source: wikipedia

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Using the Hero’s Journey to Discover Buyer’s Quest

Self

Mandate

Experience

Restate Affirm

Confirm

What about

…

Restate Affirm

Confirm

What if …

Hero

Barrier

Solution


"   Value of the quest… ▶  what about your quest? ▶  how critical is the quest?

"   Overcoming barriers ▶  Did you see feature X? ▶  Were you given support?

Diagnostic Question: “What About …?”


"   Try out potential fixes ▶  what if we provided … ▶  what if we partnered with … ▶  what if we integrated ...

"   Ask customer for ideas ▶  what would a good fix look like? ▶  what would you need to be

successful?

Vision/Possibility Question: “What If …?”


Buyer Discovery Program

"   30 conversations is sufficient to discover the stories present in the whole population

"   For large populations, choose a segment that represents the largest learning opportunity

"   Balance ‘good’ and ‘bad’ customers about 50/50. eg: study both churned accounts and successful renewals

"   Be careful not to draw conclusions too quickly; reserve judgment until you can look at the whole study

"   Tell customers you are doing strategic research to improve your company’s products and services


Buyer As Hero™ at Blackbaud

Under increasing competitive pressure, Blackbaud used this framework to align strategic initiatives with customer needs


Redemption

Photo source: Meuy Tzeo

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“Blackbaud nearly lost our business. But they redeemed themselves. … what really helped them? In front of our President and the executive management team, they said point blank, 'we screwed up. We recognize that we didn't give you the service. But we believe that we can be good partners again. We are going to prove it to you. Here is how.' ” Mary Todd Winchester, Vice President of Administration & Operations

Chesapeake Bay

Foundation

Photo Source: Old Dominion University, College of Sciences, Chesapeake Bay Program http://ww2.sci.odu.edu/chesapeakebay/ Quote source: Buyer Intelligence Interview


Tracey Bozzelli, VP, Blackbaud

“Eigenworks helped give us a customer blueprint and how customers define ‘success.’

… now we are able to better instrument and build

Calls to Actions triggered off what customers actually value.”


Questions Answers

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EIGENWORKS Biographies

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Alan Armstrong, Founder and CEO, Eigenworks


Alan Armstrong founded Eigenworks in September 2008 out of his passion for and understanding of the unique perspective on buyer intelligence captured the phrase “The Buyer as Hero”™. By treating buyers as organizational heroes, Eigenworks gets deep insight to the reasons organizations make buying decisions. Eigenworks systematically uncovers the patterns inherent in these decisions. These win, lose, erosion and renewal insights allow Eigenworks’ client to greatly enhance their competitive position in their marketplaces. Eigenworks’ success is driven by Alan’s entrepreneurial drive and his deep experience as a business development and product management executive in the software and information services industry. A natural innovator, Alan has contributed to the business success of his past employers through his strategic insight and product management creativity. His prowess as a musician underlies the synergistic approach he takes to business success, both for Eigenworks and for his clients. Alan speaks regularly at conferences on customer success management, buyer intelligence and strategic marketing.

gainsight & eigenworks - buyer as hero

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