How do we align the emerging Customer Success function with sales and marketing? Here are insights especially for SAAS startups and scaleups. Experts shared their experiences about growing small commercial frontline teams who deliver a great customer journey. Key to aligning commercial frontline are: Shared metrics, systems, and talent. How are you aligning your commercial frontline to the customer journey?

1. Customer
Success Meetup hosted by
The Scale-Up Group
and WeWork

2. 92% Of companies whose growth strategy is
effective say aligned or integrated teams
are the reasons
2

3. TSUG Research
3

4. One of My First Alignment Challenges
ProductMemberSuccess
MA/SDR
250
companies
4

5. Customized by
function
Personal
Must take modern
scaleup pace into
consideration
Built for Speed
Tools that seem to fit
the need each
person and team
Special Tools
Complements your
schedule 10.20.70
Right Time
The work can be playful
and use gamification
techniques
Gamified
Training Commercial Teams Today
5

6. CEOs
Finance/CIO/CTO
HR/Sales
Consultants
6
Aligning Self

7. Aligning Team
*Reference Bungay 7

8. Why
What
How
Impact the world
Expand world
impact with
Super-SAAS
Market to new
Super-SAAS
customers
Engage
Super
Segment
over others
Track effort and
NPS of Super
Eliminate effort
for Super
customers Super EMEA over
Great EMEA over
Good EMEA
30 MQL-SW
Leads in Oct
Backbrief
Super over
Great over
Good
Executive
Commercial
Focus
Marketing
WHY
WHY
Backbrief
Commercial Example
8
Sales CS

9. 9
The Movement Toward Self-Organization

10. the ultimate
tension
sensing
function
10

11. To learn more, visit:
thescaleupgroup.com
See the Tableau data vis @
https://tinyurl.com/y6vljhf2
#scalefromthestart
#platformized

12. EMEA Customer
Success Expert Panel

15. Handoffs

16. Account Based Marketing
Can we align with company “right fit”?

17. Personas
What about user “right fit”?
Economic
Buyer
BackofficeHidden
Skeptic

18. Talent?
Millennial
I work here
I’m 70% of the team
Gen-X
I work here
I’m 30% of the team
Boomer
I work here
I’m only 10% of the team
Sourcing
Finding
Scale-ing
Aligning

19. Training & Skills Development?
Customer Success Team
Commercial & Product Peers
Customers
Personal Development

20. LAUNCH KICKOFF SEPTEMBER 2017 20
In Focus: Customer Success Management
Product AdoptionSuccess Partner Change Management
Customer Success

21. LAUNCH KICKOFF SEPTEMBER 2017 21
Customer Success Manager:
Change Management
Innovation through Optimization
Help evangelize optimization within your
organisation
Enable Cross-Functional Collaboration
Ensure that cross-functional teams work
together and understand how to
collaborate on optimization projects
Executive Visibility
Enable transparency to your executive team
through business reviews and Optimizely
executives
Customer Success
Product Adoption
Platform Updates
Communication and training on new
features and platform improvements
relating to your business
Workshops
Involved in workshops with your teams
about ideation, prioritization and general
optimization
Best Practices
Advice on standard implementation and
technical aspects of the platform. Anecdotal
strategic best practices

22. Company “right fit”
Client “Un-learning”?
Sales
CSM?
Marketing

23. Metrics
Net Promoter Score
(NPS)
User
Adoption
Renewal
Upsell
Churn
SHARED METRIC?
Conv Rate
Optimization
Cross-Sell
Total ROI
Time to
First Value

24. Compensation?
Commercial
Specialist
Cust
Success
Sales/
Account Exec
SDRMarketing
50/50 or
60/40.
75/25
or Flat
70/3065/35
Flat or
MQL
bonus
Chief Something
Officer (CCO, COO,
MD)
70/30

25. Integrating Systems

26. Undefined: Sales, Marketing and CS work independently until
conflict arises. No group meetings. Focus on own tasks and
agenda.
Defined: We have shared definitions of things like "qualified leads"
and meetings to coordinate handoffs)
Aligned: We engage in joint strategy and training. Sales
participates in marketing activities, Customer Success in Sales
activities and we agree on “right fit” customers.
Integrated: We have shared metrics, shared revenue and one
pipeline. “we rise and fall together”. When things go wrong, no
fingers are pointed)
Source: Philip Kotler, Neil Rackham, and Suj Krishnaswamy
How Deeply Are We Aligned or Integrated?

27. Best Power Structure for Alignment and Scale?

28. Workplace for Alignment?