Customer Experience goals are determined as part of your Customer Lifecycle model. These goals should define the key deliverables and types of experiences that will created repeat customers for each target market.
The challenge is in how to define what the end game goal and values are for the customer that will create the repeat buying and investment in your products and services. Even once you defined these goals, they will continue to be modified with changes in the economic market, competitive landscape and industry innovations.
Customer Success goals can be defined as a holistic set that work across all market segments or a specific set of goals for each market segment.
I recommend the following process in determining Customer Success Goals:
A. Define Customer Life Cycle Management (CLM) model for each market segment
B. Define the problems you are solving
C. Define the specific outcomes required to deliver value for customers in each market segment.
D. Define the plan required to deliver on the high value outcomes.
E. Define the services and resources required to execute on the plan.
F. Define adoption, usage and activity metrics to measure the successful execution of the plan.
G. Utilize a Customer Success Management platform to track customers in each market segment.
H. Baseline the metrics for at least two quarters to determine where your current position is within the market segment for delivering repeatable customer success that creates engagement and indispensability within the company's operations.
I. Complete a Customer base analysis of these key metrics with a cohort of successful customers that have renewed 2, 3, 4+ years (or use what you have that defines a successful customer). These will be your set of Gold Standards.
J. Using Gold Standards as your definition of a successful, repeat customer; Set your Customer Success goals for each market segment based on where the baseline metrics are currently at. I recommend starting with a goal of improving the most impactful metrics by 10% and then plan improvements quarter over quarter to drive customer results towards achieving the Gold Standard for all customers.
When you take the time to develop a mature set of Customer Success goals with a well defined CLM model and process for each target market, it will be much easier to develop a quarter over quarter plan on how to evolve and improve on each set of metrics and goals. Maintaining your analysis of these goals to continue to evaluate which metrics are driving the highest retention and expansion rates, will ensure you set your priorities correctly from quarter to quarter and year to year.
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Jackie Golden