Do we have power to control the way we think? Can we develop our skills, talent and intellect over time, or is it something that we are born with and is irreversible? Fortunately, the answers to all these questions is yes! On that note, the thread of contact between customer success and growth mindset is starting to become stronger, especially when it comes to establishing supreme customer onboarding practices. To flair well in this game, you need to read on the following:

• Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset
• Benefits of a Growth Mindset in Customer Success
• How can one develop a Growth Mindset?

Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset 

Growth Mindset: With a growth mindset, one views success and intelligence as qualities that can evolve and develop with time. In simpler words, they can be improvised through dedicated effort and actions. This kind of mindset sees setbacks and failings as a vital part of the learning curve.

Here, the people seldom operate in a single mindset and tend to operate on a spectrum of ideologies and views. And believe that they are crucial to increase one’s motivation. They also tag these setbacks under the temporary category from which they can recover and gain excellence. A growth mindset is much-needed for resilience, exceeding performances and learning in the customer success niche.

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Fixed Mindset: Fixed Mindset is more or less the complete opposite of a growth mindset. A person with a fixed mindset believes that attributes like intelligence, skills, and talent are fixed by birth and are rather innate facets. They are also the ones who steer away from the challenges in life and give up too easily.

That is mainly because they see these traits to be something you are, and not something you develop with time. Often, this kind of mindset leads to overthinking or negative thinking. For instance, if they fail to onboard a client successfully, they will naturally assume that they were not adequately smart enough to pass through.

Here is an informative infographic by the psychologist, Carol Dweck where she has laid out the differences between growth mindset vs fixed mindset in an easy way:

Benefits of a Growth Mindset in Customer Success

• A growth mindset allows the team members to see the customers just like they see their colleagues – competent, capable and cautious.
• For a Customer Success Manager, success is aligning the success of a customer with his own. Aside from this, they ensure that they solve their concerns and support their customer’s understanding of a given product or service. Sometimes the CSMs assume that onboarding is just the first phase of transferring the knowledge to the customer about the do’s and don’ts. But a good CSM is the one who sees the issues during onboarding as golden opportunities. They see it as mere bumps in the road to a successful implementation. That is the crux of the growth mindset.
• With a growth mindset, you zero in on the quality of the processes, engaging into which leads to success. Even though you see failures or setbacks in your way, you will take them up as challenges that will result in only better consequences. These challenges are opportunities to improve and grow with time. And you have nothing to lose.
• A growth mindset adds a positive effect on your mind and body. This also cuts down on the various psychological problems, such as anxiety, anxiousness and depression. It enhances your concentration power and allows you to put in more effort than usual. This will let you have lesser behavioral problems too.

How can one develop a Growth Mindset? 

Note that your brain is totally malleable and you have the power to direct it whichever way you wish to. On similar tracks, it is possible to promote a growth mindset in customer success by constantly improving through your dedicated efforts and thoughts. Here are several ways to develop a growth mindset:

Start Rewarding the Efforts

Sometimes, participation is more important than winning, as they say. True enough, it is never too late to reward the efforts that your customers put forth and exert. It shouldn’t always be a winning moment that is worth a reward. According to a publication by Researchgate, you will find many statistical annotations that have proven that rewarding the efforts over the results have actually gone on to render improved performances.

Ignore the inner voice of Fixed Mindset

Do never let your negative inner voice act against the positive growth mindset. Remove words like ‘I can’t do this,’ or ‘it is impossible’ from your dictionary. Try to inculcate a thought process where you nurture and foster your mindset. Take it up as a challenge that will only hone you and prepare you for the future. Look at this example here that talks about practicing growth mindset self-talk:

Failures are the stepping stones to success

You must have heard this proverb a couple of times while you were growing up, but does it hold true in adulthood? Yes, it does. There could be times when the customer is disappointed with your business and would like to churn away, there could also come a time when they say that your services are too pricey and would not be able to do business with you. Begin to see failures, confusions and setbacks as a part and parcel of the learning curve. The more you acclimate yourself to these pitfalls, you will soon discover that they did have so much latent potential to learn from. Therefore, accept failures with the same grace as you would have to success.

Reset your Comfort Zone

The best way to foster a growth mindset is by getting out of your comfort zone. You need to be brave enough to accept difficulties and accept challenges with a positive outlook. Strive to choose the road less traveled and you will soon find ways that will garnish your growing capabilities. Give your customers nothing short of excellence, and they will stick around with you for life. But for that, you will have to stop aiming for comfort and pick the harder options instead. This way, you can pave the way to a growth mindset.

Ask for Feedback

As and when you receive customer feedback, make it a point to learn how and where to improve. Try and solicit feedback on your performance from your beloved customers and keep an open mindset to what they have got to suggest to you. Scientifically, feedback has been linked with a pleasurable response and it has proven to enhance a growth mindset. It will give you a golden chance to revamp your efforts and foster a positive change in yourself.

That’s a Wrap

In the game of growth mindset vs. fixed mindset, the former definitely has an edge over the latter. When you do so, you will soon realize that there is so much more to life than it was before. This will give you a positive lens to view the world from a different perspective. Start valuing intelligence, character and personality, and you will be able to believe that these are something that each of you can work upon and not everything has to be innate. On that note, do know that changing our beliefs can have a powerful impact. It is the growth mindset that creates a powerful passion to learn and evolve with time.

WRITTEN BYSwati Somineni

An implementation engineer with six years of experience is a seasoned professional specialising in implementing and integrating complex systems and technologies for businesses. Possessing a diverse skill set that combines technical expertise, and project management capabilities.

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