“Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success” - Henry Ford
It seems apt. In 5 years we’ve grown our global client success team 10x, to 93. Based in 36 countries. Speaking collectively 45 languages. Serving Fortune 100 companies in over 94 countries.
These numbers are just a reflection of the commitment to Extreme Client Support.
And they bear out in the key metric that SaaS product companies can never fake: churn rate. Or put simply, how many clients didn’t continue with you on the digitalization journey. At TSC, it has been a source of pride (but never complacency) that our churn rate is virtually nil.
Many factors play into this, but, for the sake of brevity, we’ll note two of them: Partner vs. simply Product, Success Manager vs. Project Manager.
Let’s start with being a partner vs. simply a vendor of AI digitalization products
It’s 100% personal. What we do can get complex. Our recent research shows that up to 40% of what our users were previously doing can be automated. Rapid advancements in machine learning, AI and automation are driving disruption. A combination of data, machine learning, and natural language processing technologies are changing the way our client users need to work, and automating the reception of high quality scaled insights from big data.
However, change can be hard. Technology opens up a wave of opportunity to do our day jobs faster, better, and more efficiently. First, it must be explained, users must be coached and adjustments, course corrections, and calibrations must constantly be made. Only a fellow human being can guide you through that jungle. We are the mind in the machine—sharing our client’s problems, stepping into their shoes, and delivering proactive solutions. We help turn data into information and information into actionable insights. Transforming client teams from reactive issue responders to agile agenda shapers, arming them with the competitive advantage to navigate complex business environments.
Next up; Not just project management, but success management
Clients don’t buy a product; they buy a solution to a clear, pressing and important business need or problem.
Essentially when clients commission TSC, they are working through three questions in their heads;
- How can we get maximum value?
- How can we maximise impact, tailored to my desired outcomes?
- How will the solution evolve with my evolving needs?
The kryptonite for any client is the perception that the solution will be transactional. They absolutely require us to not only understand their pain points, but to be committed to crafting an elegant solution that will evolve with their priorities over time. With the velocity of issues, speed of technology and constant change in data, this requires and (we believe) will always require smart humans to become the Ghost in the Machine, providing relentless focus and care for the client’s business.
The capabilities of our product—together with the way we have engaged our clients—has led us to re-think our traditional project management role. A project has a start and an end, while digitalization and change management are ongoing. We are not just technical project delivery specialists, instead, we invest deeply in our clients to understand what value and success are for them and ultimately build a plan to achieve it with the product. We also deeply care about synchronizing their learning curves with their capabilities. This customization facilitates an optimal experience and unlocks maximum value from the product.
We believe that success is the core of our solution strategy and we aim to realize it with every client that we engage.
Synergies & Collaborative working across ProServices teams
We’re now Client Success Managers. It’s more than just a name change. At its heart, it’s about three things: knowing that we are sailing towards a common goal (client success); our CSMs being part of our client’s crew (they are the captain); and, raw passion.
So on behalf of a global force of CSMs, welcome to the name change :)
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