Why we adopted a Customer Success approach to SaaS
Lindsey Hanson, Practifi’s Head of Customer Success believes that good customer service is the thing that sets Practifi ahead of the crowd.
“It’s the core value that defines the strategy of the product, who we partner with, and the way that we proactively engage our customers,” he says. “We’re constantly thinking about how to make their experience better, anticipate changes, understand the industry more deeply, and how we continue to deliver value at a very high level.”
In contrast to many of the products in this space, Practifi puts their customers’ success at the core of what they do, and Lindsey is quick to point out a number of ways the company is achieving this.
“Customers at Practifi have a dedicated Customer Success Manager to partner in their business, a dedicated Solution Engineer to provide strategy around technology and product best practices, and are backed by an incredible technology team.”
In doing this, users are able to make the technology work for them and set them up for success.
Customer success at our core
People – and their relationships – are at the centre of it all. There’s much less chance of having a frustrating interaction with technology if you have a dedicated team of professionals working alongside you!
Lindsey continues, “Every level of the business is invested in the idea that in order for us to be successful, we need to build a base of Practifi advocates.
“Our customers are our best referrers, our best generators of product ideas, and our best promoters.
“Most of them have talked to current Practifi users before engaging us. But even when they haven’t, we pair them up with a customer of a similar size in a similar industry so they can hear directly from a current user around what to expect.”
Practifi’s customers are, according to Lindsey, investing in Practifi to streamline and minimise the time and effort spent on ‘low-value’ tasks and processes in their business, which detracts from the time they are able to commit to higher value engagement activities with their clients.
“We need to lead the way and advise our customers how they can achieve exactly what they want to. It’s not just about technology or the product, it’s about achieving real business results.”
“When I was hired,” Lindsey explains, “I asked our founder Adrian Johnstone if he considered customer success a cost of doing business or a revenue generating operation.
“He said ‘Neither!’, which was the right answer, by the way.”
Customer success – the ongoing experience and not simply the capacity to provide technical support, which is a given – is something the company takes very seriously.
“We see (it) as a differentiator, the right thing to do, an absolute necessity for the long term success of ourselves and our customers. We must take a customer-centric approach and exponentially add value. We provide customers a dedicated resource whose remit is to ensure they are delighted with not only their service, but also their overall experience.”
Our plans for the future
Looking ahead to the future, Practifi is already imagining a larger, evolving, global team to meet their increasing business demands.
“We have introduced a structure in our Customer Success Team which is working really well. We have industry experience and technology expertise working together to make sure our customers have the right mix of support and guidance.”
The entire management and leadership team are looking to continue to increase engagement and participation through industry roundtables with clients, targeted best practice training, and more of Practifi’s Customer Success Managers partnering with clients at their internal strategy days and sessions.
Have any feedback or ways that you think we can improve our approach to customer success?
Let your Customer Success Manager know or contact us to find out more.
