When your company acquires new customers, it doesn’t end there. Now you’ll need help monitoring their behaviors and patterns and keeping them around.

So, how will you do that?

You’ll need a customer success platform that assesses customer relationships, product usage, customer onboarding, and much more. A dedicated CS platform can provide ample benefits to your business, such as reducing customer friction and increasing customer success interactions. But it can act as a double-edged sword if you’re not ready for it.

This article will discuss how to tell if your company is ready for one or if you should wait and what factors to consider when choosing one.

Top Signs Your Company is Ready for Customer Success Software

Here are some vital signs that’ll help you determine if your company is ready to invest in customer success software.

Your Company is Growing

When you’re just starting, it’s easy to manage your customer base and form solid, meaningful relationships with them without a tool. But once your customer base starts growing, developing those same qualities of relationships and maintaining your existing ones is impossible.

And once you notice that your customers aren’t as loyal as before and you’re not as in tune with what’s going on with them, it’s time for a CS tool.

You Feel Something is Lacking

Another sign that you need customer success software is a lack of knowledge. A lack of knowledge can cause you to provide inadequate service to your customers and leave you in the dark about their actions and patterns.

And when this happens, it can negatively affect your business and lead to more customers churning in favor of a more personalized experience.

Your Company is Overusing your CRM

SaaS firms use CRM platforms regularly, and they can help manage customer success tasks to an extent. But they’re not designed to focus on CS. While they handle some customer onboarding, customer upselling, and other factors, they don’t provide all the functionality of a CS platform.

You have Processes in Place, but They Don’t Seem Enough

Customer success isn’t the same concept from decades ago; it evolved. It’s not just about solving customer problems. It’s more than explaining the product to the customers and helping with complaints.

Customer success is a long-term process that helps you change the way customers interact with the company. If you don’t have a CS platform, you need one to drive repeatable success and meet expectations, processes, goals, metrics, and responsibilities.

Your Customer Success Teams is Stressed

Your customer success team is the core of your business. If your customer-facing teams are constantly overwhelmed with the volume of customers and repetitive tasks, your business can suffer.

You can set your team up for success with the right software and tools by minimizing problems and improving efficiency. Improved customer service enhances personalization and eliminates repetitive interactions. This also reduces data silos problems because your customers won’t need to explain their issues repeatedly; your team will have everything they need in one place.

Upsells and Cross-Sells are Decreasing

Customer success teams can talk to customers about upgrading their subscription on time with a CS platform. You need to take these numbers seriously to improve customer success processes.

When is Not the Right Time to Invest in a Customer Success Software

Customer success software is not something that works for every business. Sometimes, it might be the right tool, just at the wrong time. So, before you invest in one, you need to check if you’re ready for it.

Here are some points to note:

• You’re still trying to understand your business
• It’s not clear how customers use your product
• There’s no product-market fit
• You’re sure what to track
• You feel the software will interrupt your natural business flow

Key Factors to Consider While Choosing a Customer Success Software

There are many factors that companies can keep in mind while choosing a customer success software. Here are some critical factors to consider while choosing one:

• You need to make sure the platform you chose will help you with your business needs. You can find this data via a platform’s use cases and its features.
• CS leaders need to look at the platform’s usability – what works for the product and what doesn’t. It should also be easy for CSMs to use without a complex learning curve.
• The software’s integrations need to be compatible with various tech stacks that you’re currently using. Or plan to use in the future.
• Data security is another important factor to consider. Is the platform safe and secure to handle your client information? Also, can the platform allow for different reporting requirements that will ensure success at board meetings, presentations, and more?

If these requirements are met, then it might be the right platform for your business.

Bottom Line

For SaaS companies, customer success tools can be an absolute game-changer. But it needs to be at the right time and the right tool. It’ll help you save accounts and improve upsell and cross-sell rates. You’ll also be aware of any customer challenges that may arise and can track KPIs and customer health scores.

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