successfactory_blueprint_rev_c

3 PHASE Success Plan

OBJECTIVE: To build brand advocates through value creation, strong relationships, transparency and trust; thus, ensuring maximum

retention and growth potential

© 2015, SuccessFactory Partners LLC

CHURN & GROWTH

OVERVIEW

We understand and address Churn and Growth with the Success Plan

CHURN has an exponen/al nega%ve affect on compounded growth

As a SaaS company becomes larger, the size of the subscrip8on base becomes large enough that any kind of churn against that base becomes a large number. The loss of revenue requires more and more bookings coming from new customers just to replace the churn. As a result, growth substan8ally slows.

Conversely, the established base represents a lage opportunity for addi1onal revenue which in most cases can outpace new bookings.

*Images reproduced from h"p://www.forentrepreneurs.com/why-‐churn-‐is-‐cri$cal-‐in-‐saas/

In this example, the business is nearly

three times bigger than one with 2.5% churn.

Clearly getting to negative (or very low)

churn is one of the most powerful

accelerators for growth.

Looking at the graph to the right, we can see that

Churn is really not that big of a number in the

early startup months. But as the company gets

towards the end of its fifth year, even at a relatively low churn rate of 2.5%, in

this example, you are losing $64k a month

which is extremely hard to replace with new

customer bookings. And with a churn rate of 5%,

that number is even worse at $90k.


SUCCESS PLAN

OVERVIEW PURPOSE

It all starts with defining the purpose. The people, technology and processes you put in place, and the interac8ons your company has with its customers, will reflect what your purpose is. Ge5ng a clear understanding about the purpose will define the rest of the blueprint.

PEOPLE

People are the lifeblood of any organiza3on and the highest performing organiza(ons make sure that the right peope are doing the right ac1vi1es. This means that people are in roles that maximize their strengths and the ‘team’ of people are balanced in this regard. Building a high performing and efficient team starts with knowing how to organiza(onally align to your customers. A proper assessment and mapping with help eliminate gaps and inefficiencies and utlize your people in the right ways.

TECHNOLOGY

The technology represents the tools you will use to measure and assist with the processes that you put in place to serve the people towards their purpose. The right technology will vary depending on the business. Having a clear defini5on around the purpose, people and processes will ensure that the most effec3ve and efficient tools are u(lized.

PROCESS

Once the purpose is clearly defined and the people put in the right places, processes need to be created or refined to compliment the purpose. The right processes with guide the people and technology into success realiza1on.

ASSESS

In order to effectively align the right people, processes and technology to ensure a positive customer experience, you must understand more about your customers and how your people, processes and technology affect their motivations and experience. In order to accurately understand this, you must be in their shoes. A through assessment will utilize qualitative and quantitative data points to help map the optimal journey and shed light onto your operational strengths and weaknesses.

MAP

A customer experience assessment (map) tells the story of the customer’s experience: from initial contact, through the process of engagement and into a long-‐term relationship. It shows the hot spots, inflection points and the moments of truth your customers’ experience. By utilizing the data points and narratives collected in the assessment, with the experiences and knowledge of your stakeholders, you can build a blueprint (map) that will be the guide to determining the right people, processes and technology properly the near and long-‐term needs of the customer.

REALIZE

In order to realize the purpose set forth in the foundational step of the blueprint, a proper assessment and map must be created and communicated. The map will be the living (evolving) guide to aligning your people, processes and technology towards success. Realization occurs across many aspects of a company and includes cross-‐functional teams. Without overwhelming buy-‐in cross-‐functionally, the integrity of your employee experience will be compromised.


ASSESS

PHASE 1

Objective: To understand more about your customers and how your organizational alignment and processes affect their motivations and experiences. A key milestone will be to identify specific areas of opportunity to drive retention, reduce gross churn and increase innovation.

The Assessment will:

• Provide an overview of a key customer experience.

• Identify key interactions that the customer has with the organization. • Isolate the user’s feelings, motivations and questions for each of these interactions.

• Provide a sense of the customer’s greater motivation. What do they wish to achieve, and what are their expectations of the organization and the software?

Why Start with an Assessment?


RESEARCH & DISCOVERY: ~2-3 Weeks

PHASE 1

TOP STAKEHOLDERS TOP INITIATIVES TO DRIVE SUCCESS

Create a shared frame of reference around the customer experience.

Build organizational knowledge of customer behaviors and needs across channels.

Identify specific areas of opportunity to drive retention, reduce churn and reduce operational inefficiencies (gaps).

Distribute key customer insights and recommendations.

CUSTOMERS

PRODUCT MARKETING

SUPPORT

SALES

PHASE 1

Uncovering the Current Truth

The value of the assessment is directly tied to the quality of insights it communicates. It is very important to scour the organization for existing data and insights relevant to the experiences we are attempting to map in Phase 2. The assessment will help us get started, while bringing focus to the research around remaining, unanswered questions.


RESEARCH DISCOVERY

Many insights can be drawn from reviewing web analytics and digging deep into data sources that reveal what current customers are doing when they interact with your organization. Paired with customer satisfaction data, you can spot issues in your customer funnel or see which channels and touch points generally get higher or lower marks. In addition to analyzing existing data, it is useful to create a survey targeted at existing and prospective customers. A survey can answer basic questions, help validate what you learn in qualitative studies, or yield insights that help prioritize the focus of the customer interviews.

Qualitative

Quantitative

Having conversations with customers is a common and reliably successful method used to gain insights on churn and growth. We will focus on interviewing and observing customers in their natural setting to obtain the most relevant data.

&

TIMELINE

• Get to know the team and key stakeholders and understand their organizational goals and objectives.

• Understand current state/processes, (onboarding, churn, renewals, training, conversions, escalations, etc.)

Gather Qualitative Info o Conduct employee

interviews with Sales, Support, etc.

o Conduct customer interviews w/ a sample that includes customers and non-customers

Gather Quantitative Info o Measure customer

engagement using data around experience, churn, usage, upsell, CSAT, etc

o Identify stickiness features o Build and send survey to

existing and churned customers

o Analyze social media based sentiment.

o Verticle/Size analysis

Focus Groups (optional) o Do online or onsite focus

groups

Behaviour Testing (optional) o Do web-based or onsite

behaviour testing and product onboarding walthroughs.

ASSESSMENT: ~2-3 Weeks

PHASE 1


MAPPING: ~2 Weeks

PHASE 2

PHASE 2

Mapping the Journey

A customer experience assessment (map) tells the story of the customer’s experience: from initial contact, through the process of engagement and into a long-term relationship. It is used as the blueprint to understand how the

organization needs to be structured to meet the near and long-term needs of the customer.

1 2

Journey Mapping Steps

Conduct Journey Mapping workshop. This typically is a 2 day session involving key stakeholders from all parts of the organization.

Transform the map into an actionable plan that focuses on short-term, mid-range and long-term goals.


REALIZE (TBD)

PHASE 3

TOP INITIATIVES TO DRIVE SUCCESS

Drive renewals and growth to company/cs plan and objectives

Establish key metrics for CS organization; refine and/or create processes

Define and communicate compensation and incentives plans

Align CS organization to plan and determine resource growth, as required

Refine and mesure against key metrics and performance indicators

Drive customer adoption

Increase customer loyality

Achieve agreed upon net churn ratio in defined market segments

Maximize customer advocacy channels

Employees: Hire, develop, incent, retain and coach Customers: Drive brand advocacy, growth and retention &

PHASE 3

Taking Action

The experience map created in Phase 2 allows the organization to chart corrective actions to better meet the needs of its customers. It is the blueprint that defines how to align people, process and technology to provide a

transparent, fluid and great customer experience.

Define functional areas and develop cross-functional processes

successfactory_blueprint_rev_c

Documents

people people

right people

right technology

right processes

team of people

success plan churn

address churn

kind of churn