Top 10 trends shaping the future of Customer Success in 2021

The pandemic has taught us to expect the unexpected and adapt to survive.

In fact, we were not given any warning or time to adapt. Million of companies around the world were forced to go into perpetual ”expect the unexpected” but have adapted to the unprecedented change and how beautifully they’ve done. COVID coerced many of us into a myopic mindset- questioning ourselves and feeling depressed about setbacks. But it also bought a sea of opportunity for people who could see beyond the present turbulent times.

Companies that believed in innovation are the ones that could grasp the opportunity and march ahead. And in all these -the common thread- Customer Success. Customer Success as a stream has played an important role.

So, without further ado, let’s see the Customer Success Trends as predicted by the CS experts

#1 Renewed focus on new customer onboarding
Like it is said, Retention starts at onboarding. CS teams are trying to make their onboarding simple yet perfect for their customers. CS teams now need to revisit their onboarding process to support the newer customers who have new needs.

The first 90 days of a customer’s life cycle are very crucial to establish value. With Customer Success teams who work on onboarding automation and efficiency to set their customers up for a strong initial footing, this will result in long-term success.

#2 CSMs will become even more data-driven
Data plays a vital role in customer retention and growth and hence in customer success. Plans and actions based on data can help solve problems quicker. Future strategies are focused on aggregating customer data and incorporating AI to provide valuable and accurate insights on usage trends, potential churn, and growth opportunities.

#3 Need for the Human Element Will Skyrocket
With the changing world, customer needs also change. Customers love services when they are personalized. Thus the need for human touch will keep on increasing with automation in customer success.

Though personalization is an important factor, automation wherever possible makes it easy for the Customer Success Managers and the CS team.

Customer success interactions can be made more human by adding small questions showing you care throughout the process like: “how have you been?”, “how’s everyone there?”, “are you handling things?”

#4 Adaptation and innovation will be the key factors for successful Customer Success teams
The entire company relies on the customer success teams to retain their customers and expand the current customer base to ensure stability. Thus Customer Success teams have been given the stage at an accelerated rate. Customer Success teams need to adapt to new technologies and innovations.

#5 Flexibility
Customer may sometimes change their needs and goals, still, they’d expect the best from you. In such scenarios, you might have to make certain adjustments in your service. This shows how flexible customer success can be. Customers are realizing that the vendors who worked with them, made exceptions for them, and adapted to their changing needs, are their true partners. The Customer Success teams and companies who showed great flexibility in 2020 are the ones who had tremendous growth in 2021.

#6 Customer success is becoming a promising career discipline
Customer success is gaining attraction and is becoming a promising career option among postgraduates and experienced professionals. Also, many companies are investing in customer success, and this will increase the demand for CS experts.

We also noticed that LinkedIn listed Customer Success Manager as the third most promising job for 2018.

Customers today have high expectations and want to achieve their goals in the quickest way possible. This is why customer success has evolved as a growth engine for software companies. CSMs are now in a more critical game. They need to understand their customers in-depth and have an intimate knowledge of their customer’s business objectives.

Check out the complete blog here- https://customersuccessbox.com/blog/what-are-the-top-customer-success-trends-in-2021/