Moving from defense to offense in CS

Shifting from defense to offense in Customer Success is not a simple task. But to help your customers achieve their business goals, you need to have a proactive mindset and not a reactive to-do-list. So, how do you make a move and find the time to focus on the offensive? And what are some metrics that companies should focus on to see CS as a value realization?

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Harini Gokul, Head of Customer Success at AWS about her experience of shaping and building CS as a value realization.

Harini is a global business and technology leader. She has twenty years of experience directing over 2500 global employees at Microsoft and is currently a part of Amazon’s Web Services Executive team where she oversees the CS department.

For any business, it is important to know how much the customer matter and really define how CS can drive value. This is something Harini has seen developing in CS departments that were undergoing digital transformation and innovation for decades. So, where do you see some similarities and differences within that new versus the old side of value realization for CS?

“It comes down to customer obsession and defining value the way our customers define it. Not what I think it is, not what you believe it is, but to truly work backward and learn what success looks like for our customer.”

Metrics are very important as you make the transition from reactive to more proactive. For example, usage, customer health, and lifetime value. Thus, many metrics are often thrown around and SaaS leaders who are building CS teams are often trying to figure out which ones to use. So, what are some metrics that companies should focus on to see CS as a value realization?

“I think when done right, your customer becomes your advocate. That is the ultimate sign of a trusted relationship where we've added value and helped them move on their journey. Is our customer adopting and using the right services? How are we doing in terms of growing the customer? And so the final part comes back to acceleration. Where are we able to do what we said we would do faster, quicker, cheaper, better?”

Listen now to the full conversation with Harini and Anika to learn about her experience of shaping and building CS as a value realization.