Sales is part of Customer Success. Like it or not.
No, I don’t mean the Sales organization should report to the Customer Success Management org.
I mean that Customer Success as an Operating Philosophy, as a way of doing business, includes sales. It includes marketing, product, support, etc, too.
It’s critical to understand that Customer Success is not just about “post-sale.”
Customer Success is when your customers achieve their Desired Outcome through their interactions with your company.
Those interactions start early – from the first marketing touchpoint, at the start of the sales cycle, on the first cold outreach email by your SDR – and they continue throughout the entire lifecycle of the customer.
Which means we need to be thinking about Customer Success when creating marketing campaigns, determining Ideal Customers, optimizing the sales cycle, etc.
In fact, let’s talk about Sales.
Sales is important. Sales is critical.
But…
Customer Success is when your customers achieve their Desired Outcome through their interactions with your company.