Growing your business via strategic account management framework

Growing your Drupal Business via Strategic Account Management Framework

Piyush Poddar

Hello!

Piyush Poddar

● Director, Professional Services at Axelerant Technologies, Inc.

● Developer, Architect, Manager, Biz Dev & Account exec, Account Manager etc.. - Since 1997.

● Drupaler since 8 yrs

● Live in Jaipur, India

● Twitter.com/piyushpoddar

Why Account Management

● Proactively identify account risk● Reduce customer churn● Increase Customer Lifetime Value.● Generate leads for expansion.

Research shows that 70 percent of buying experiences are based on how the customer feels they are being treated

A Strategic Account Management Framework for Customer Success

Case Study

● Started as a “Small Tier” customer in Dec 2014● Shared Drupal Support of their existing platform

● Dedicated Account Manager, Customer Success Manager & Product Owner.

● From shared support to dedicated.● From minor enhancements to Epics & multiple projects.● Multiple development value streams.● “Strategic Tier’ Customer.● ARR growth 890% compared to first year.● High CHI (8.3) & NPS score.

World Organization of the Scout Movement

Strategic Account Management

Know your customerMore than just projects.

● Customer Facts● Customer Policies● Customer markets & our business● Customer financial performance● Customer Buying Process

Segment your Customer AccountsSelection criteria categories

Customer Outcome based Customer Need based Customer Attribute based

● Hard or quantitative factors

● Outcomes based on business you can do with customers like Purchase, Margin, Contribution, Profit etc.

● Factors that reflect the customer, like Turnover, Growth in their market etc.

● Qualitative but specific & measurable

● Likelihood of your company’s retaining their business

● Factors that reflect your strategy like Global Presence, Dedication to compatible platforms, etc.

● Indicates future relationship with your company

● Softer than other two categories, but assessable

● Factors that dictate how customer might behave in future like decision-making structure, attitude towards relationship, keenness to pay for value etc.

Segment your Customer AccountsSome Popular Criterias

● Contract value● ARR/Revenue potential● Strategic Fit● Brand value● Industry/Vertical

Segment your Customer AccountsScoring based on criteria & strategic weightage

Tier 1 ( Strategic )

Score : 850 - 1000

Tier 2 ( Standard )

Score : 600 - 849

Tier 3 (Small )

Score : 200 - 599

Strategic Account Management Organisational Structure

Strategic Account Management Organisational Structure

Account Management Organisation

● Director of Account Management● Account Manager● Customer Success Manager● Director of Customer Success● Executive Sponsor

○ Typically C-suite or VP

Customer Organisation

● Executive Decision Maker● Adoption Champion : Mid-level Manager ● Others

Account Management Artefacts

Account Risk Register

Strategic Account Plan

Strategic Account Plan enable Account Management & Customer Success Teams to collaboratively develop, track & realize the strategic plan for their customers.

Plan may include joint or internal goals, to help ensure your customers keep growing with your services.

Account Score Card

Scorecards help quantify & easily track the health of customer

● Summarized Health view of engagement● A combination of metrics - both quantitative & qualitative● Signals whether the customer is likely to stay, expand their use, or if they're going to

churn● Includes indicators for

○ Updated risk status across 8 categories○ Customer survey scores ( NPS & CHI )○ Other data points

Customer Lifecycle Stages

New Customer Onboarding Adoption Advocacy


Customer Lifec ycle Stages

Customer Lifecycle

ACTIVITY : Sales Handoff


● CRM Updation● Opportunity Evaluation & other contract documents

handed over● Account Manager & Customer Success Manager’s

assigned

ParticipantsSales & Account Management Group

FrequencyOnce

Customer Lifecycle

ACTIVITY : Kickoff Meeting


● Company Introduction & Partnership overview● Engagement & Communications process● High Level Engagement Schedule● Synopsis of tools & operational dynamics● Engagement Scope & Deliverables● Assumptions & Risks● Account Management & Customer Success Team.● Invoicing & collection schedules / expectations● Seek Business Challenges Index● Success Plan creation initiated with Customer Inputs● Next Steps

Participants ( Company ) Account Manager ( Lead ) , Customer Success Manager, Exec Sponsor, Account Manager/ Customer Success Leader(s)Participants ( Customer ) Product Owner, Executive Sponsor, …

MediumVideo Conferencing

Customer LifecycleSubtitle here


Customer Lifecycle

ACTIVITY : Technical Onboarding


Participants ( Company ) Customer Success Manager

● Systems Onboarding● Preparation of Strategic Account Plan ( Account

Engagement or Action Plan ) ○ Goals & Objectives of the customer○ Action plan for achieving each of customer goals.○ To stop reacting, & proactively manage the

customer to keep & grow the relationships & revenues

● CSM sends update to all parties ( Customer product owner, Executive Sponsor & any other involved) involved at the end along with a Welcome Kit

Customer Lifecycle

ACTIVITY : Regular Account Review ( Internal )


● Account Scorecard & Customer Adoption Trend● Business Challenges & Risks tracked. ● Strategic Account Plan review● Customer Happiness Index report & NPS report review● Upcoming Renewals/ Upsell opportunities

Participants ( Company ) Account Manager , Customer Success Manager

Medium In Person, Video Conferencing.

FrequencyTier 1 / Strategic : WeeklyTier 2 / Standard : Fortnightly Tier 3 / Small : Monthly

Customer Lifecycle

ACTIVITY : Check In with Customer


● Strategic Account Plan review● Review Account Scorecard & other Updates● Business Challenges & Risks tracked. ● Customer Happiness Index report & NPS report

reviews● Upcoming Renewals/ Upsell opportunities

Participants ( Company ) Account Manager, Customer Success Manager

Participants ( Customer ) Adoption Champion

FrequencyTier 1 / Strategic : WeeklyTier 2 / Standard : Fortnightly Tier 3 / Small : Monthly

Customer Lifecycle

ACTIVITY : Executive Business Review


● Introductions & Company Updates ( Recap since last EBR, Company Growth, Thought Leadership, Events evangelised, Featured Posts, Community Contributions, )

● Executive Summary ○ Strategic Account Plan Highlights○ Health & Adaption Highlights○ Score Card○ Looking Forward

● Strategic Account Plan Details○ Plan Objectives○ Timelines & Status of each objective & tasks

● Continued ...

Customer Lifecycle

ACTIVITY : Executive Business Review


...continued● Health & Adoption

○ Account Scorecard & Customer Adoption Trend● Next Steps

Process● T - 30 : Schedule Review Meeting● T - 0 : Conduct 30-45 minutes EBR meeting● T + 2: Send Thank You Email & Action Plan (post disc.

with task owners) ● T + 2 : Assign actionable tasks or activities to internal

team members, & monitor via Account Review weekly & Customer Success Review monthly

Participants ( Company ) Account Manager (Lead), Customer Success Manager, Exec Sponsor, Account Manager or Customer Success Leader(s)Participants ( Customer ) Adoption Champion, Executive Sponsor

FrequencyTier 1 / Strategic : Quarterly Tier 2 / Standard : Semi Annually Tier 3 / Small : Annually

Customer Lifecycle

ACTIVITY : Executive Check-in


● Our President/Directors/VP’s & other senior leaders from across departments are assigned as Executive Sponsors to strategic accounts.

● Objectives○ To uncover latent challenges in our strategic

accounts○ To maintain Exec level Repo with Customer

Executive Decision-Maker via frequent check ins○ To allow cross departmental visibility & oversight

on core customer success health

Participants ( Company ) President/ Directors / VPsParticipants ( Customer ) Executive Decision Maker

Medium In person, phone call

FrequencyTier 1 / Strategic : MonthlyTier 2 / Standard : QuarterlyOn Demand by A/M or CSM.

Customer Lifecycle

ACTIVITY : Customer Exec Sponsor Tracking & New Sponsor Buy-in


Participants ( Company ) Exec Sponsor, Director of Account Management, Account Manager & Customer Success Manager

Participants ( Customer ) Customer Exec, Adoption Champion

● To uncover latent challenges in our strategic accounts● To maintain Exec level Repo with Customer Executive

Decision-Maker via frequent check ins● To allow cross departmental visibility & oversight on

core customer success health.

● Track Sponsors via check-in calls, monitor social (LinkedIn, Twitter, & other channels) for signals.

● Invite new sponsor for Introduction & Overview Call○ Introduction & Partnership overview○ Strategy Alignment Overview

Customer Lifecycle

ACTIVITY : Skip level meetings with team ( Internal)


Participants ( Company ) Company Director of Account Management, each account or group team members other than their managers

FrequencyMonthly

Focus on opening & sustaining lines of communication

● How are things?● Any challenges?● Scope of improvements?● What do we want to change?

Customer Lifecycle

ACTIVITY : Internal Risk Meetings


Participants ( Company ) Director of Account Management , Account Managers, All 8 Risk owner Execs

FrequencyWeekly

Review of 8 Risk Categories across the company with focus on High Risk Items

Account Managers ensure that the Risk Owners understand the use cases behind relevant risks & have an action or timeline plan to resolve these

Action points are inputs to the Strategic Account Plan

Customer Lifecycle

ACTIVITY : Customer Surveys - NET PROMOTER SCORE


Customer Lifecycle

ACTIVITY : Customer Surveys - NET PROMOTER SCORE


0 - 6 are Promoters : loyal customers & a great source of referrals7 - 8 are Passive : satisfied with the service but are susceptible to competitors9 - 10 are Detractors : unhappy customers & can damage your brand

A score of greater than 50 is excellent, although it’s possible to have a negative score as well

Customer Lifecycle

ACTIVITY : Customer Happiness Surveys


Surveying customers for their happiness at critical points during the customer lifecycle is a great way to collect & quantify customer loyalty metrics

CHI = Satisfaction Score (1-10) + [Loyalty (Percentile within Organization)/10] + Propensity to Recommend/NPS

Customer Lifecycle New Customer Onboarding Adoption Advocacy

All Adoption Activities plus● Renewal / Negotiation meetings● Referal programs ( incentivized)● Invite Customer to Key events

Account Management Metrics

”If you can’t MEASURE it, you can’t manage it”

- Peter Drucker

Account Management Metrices

● Leading Indicators of Renewals○ Renewals Eligible This Quarter○ Net # of clients moved into Green or Lime○ Net Promoter Score○ CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Survey)○ Renewals Eligible this Quarter

● Leading Indicators of Expansion○ Customer Lifetime Value○ CSM qualified Upsell Opportunities by

Customer Tier○ Account Management qualified upsell

Opportunities by Customer Tier○ Upsells Eligible This Quarter

● Leading indicators of New Business○ # of Sales References○ # of Case Studies○ # of Prospect Meetings that the CSM

joined & after which the prospect signed a deal with us

○ # of Opportunities generated through Referrals

● Retention○ Customer Churn Rate ○ Gross Renewal Rate

● Cost Metric: ○ Cost per $ of renewal; cost per $ of upsell

Account Management Metrices

● Life Time Value (LTV) = “(Average Value of a Sale) X (Number of Repeat Transactions) X (Average Retention Time in Months or Years)”

● Customer Acquisition Cost ( CAC )

● Customer Churn

● Customer Service Satisfaction Rating ( CSAT )

● Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Most Important Metrices

Account Management MetricesVisual Representation

Account Management MetricesVisual Representation

NPS vs. Revenue ( ARR )

$950k $895k $102k

$1,700k $1,410k $149k

$1,240k $1,800k $267k

Detractors

Passives

Promoters

Met

ric

Service A

Service B

Service C

Recommended Readings & Credits

● Customer Success: By Nick Mehta, Dan Steinman & Lincoln Murphy● Key Account Management: The Definitive Guide by Malcolm McDonald & Diana

Woodburn● The Challenger Sale: How to Take Control of the Customer Conversation by

Matthew Dixon & Brent Adamson● Gainsight.com● helpscout.net/blog● Zendesk.com

Questions?

JOIN US FORCONTRIBUTION SPRINTS

First Time Sprinter Workshop - 9:00-12:00 - Room Wicklow 2AMentored Core Sprint - 9:00-18:00 - Wicklow Hall 2BGeneral Sprints - 9:00 - 18:00 - Wicklow Hall 2A

Evaluate This Session

THANK YOU!

events.drupal.org/dublin2016/schedule

WHAT DID YOU THINK?

Growing your business via strategic account management framework

Leadership & Management

Transcript of Growing your business via strategic account management framework