Embedded Files
From $100M to $200M ARR in 18 months
From $100M to $200M ARR in 18 months
When I joined Druva, the company was just crossing the $100M ARR mark and they just celebrated achieving $200M ARR. Investing in customer success was a game-changing competitive differentiator for Druva. By prioritizing proactive communication, CSM-led onboarding, strong executive alignment, and proactive issue resolution, Druva not only retained and expanded existing customers but also attracted new ones, fueling their exponential growth. While I'm not solely responsible for Druva's excellent rise, my work contributed!
My team's portfolio of customers consistently delivered expansion. Quarter over quarter, we delivered NRR (net retention rate) of 114-117%.
My team of CSMs often led the company in CSQAs (Customer Success Qualified Advocates). CSQAs are recorded when CSMs identify customer advocates who want to celebrate their successes with Druva in the form of case studies, customer or prospect references, Gartner Peer Reviews, or sharing their stories at events. A great example of a CSQA from my team is in the article I highlighted above!
Demonstrating value: $2M ROI
Demonstrating value: $2M ROI
During my time as a CSM at Gainsight, one of my strategic customers asked me to quantify the value they were getting from their investment in the platform. It was a tense time because a new senior executive had taken the helm and was scrutinizing every investment the company was making. This executive took aim at Gainsight, suggesting that the reduced customer attrition enjoyed over the past 2 years wasn't attributable to the platform, but instead to the human capital investment.
My team and I went to work and focused on demonstrating from a couple of angles:
Enhanced Visibility and Data-Driven Decision Making: By consolidating data from various sources, the platform provided valuable insights into customer behavior, product adoption, and engagement. Armed with this information, the team was better able to identify at-risk accounts, prioritize their efforts, and take proactive measures to mitigate churn.
Personalized Engagement at Scale: Gainsight facilitated automated communication, enabling the team to deliver personalized messages, timely product updates, and tailored resources to specific customer segments. This not only reduced manual effort but also improved the customer experience, leading to increased satisfaction and loyalty. It also meant that the customer could scale their CS operation without further investment in additional human capital.
Predictive Analytics and Reducing Churn: By leveraging predictive analytics, the customer success team could accurately forecast customer health and predict churn. Armed with this information, they were able to take proactive measures, such as targeted outreach campaigns and tailored interventions, to prevent customer attrition.
By comparing churn rates among customers who were and were not supported by the Gainsight platform, we were able to demonstrate a staggering $2M ROI.
That analysis ultimately saved the customer and led to substantial expansion. The customer was later acquired by a private equity firm. When the firm and its other portfolio companies heard that ROI story, it got their attention and resulted in more portfolio companies also investing in Gainsight.
100% Customer Success roi
100% Customer Success roi
This is an exciting story and it's one of my favorite ways to highlight the power of investing in customer success (CS). Let's take a look at how a $5 million investment resulted in a remarkable return on investment (ROI) of $10 million at my former employer - in just the first 6 months of the nascent program. For context, this is a large, public company with multiple segments of customers. Customers are supported according to different CS models depending on several factors such as annual spending, complexity of use case, logo strength, and breadth/depth of adoption. This story is about spinning up the CS practice for the mid-market segment. The initiative included hiring a dedicated customer success team, implementing a robust customer onboarding process, and enhancing post-sale support. My role was Director of CS Strategy & Operations. I oversaw and enabled the team on our processes, managed the implementation of the CS platform, and ensured delivery was consistent across the globe.
Improved Customer Experience: With the new investment, the company was able to provide its customers with a top-notch experience throughout their entire journey. Our CS team helped users navigate challenges, ensuring they received maximum value from their purchase. This personalized approach not only enhanced the customer experience but also increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Reduced Churn: One key benefit was the significant reduction in customer churn. By proactively identifying and addressing issues early on, the company was able to minimize customer dissatisfaction. As a result, the churn rate dropped substantially.
Upselling and Cross-Selling Opportunities: Happy customers are more likely to become repeat customers and recommend a product or service to others. The company capitalized on this by using the CS team to identify upselling and cross-selling opportunities. Acting as trusted advisors, CSMs would recommend new features and then bring in their sales partners to demo and sell. That process called CSQLs (Customer Success Qualified Leads) creates a strong partnership between CS and sales. That partnership resulted in a significant net retention rate (NRR) increase in the control group of customer success-managed customers.
The Impressive ROI: After only 6 months of implementing its customer success initiatives, the company saw a remarkable return on its $5 million investment. Between the reduced customer churn and increased cross-selling and up-selling, the effective ROI was a staggering $10 million.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse