We step outside the traditional Customer Success comfort zone by discussing growth and revenue preservation, as opposed to focusing solely on managing churn.

As we delve deeper into the nuances of customer relationship dynamics, let's turn our focus to critical aspect that every B2B company grapples with: Retention Management.

Retaining and Protecting or Safeguarding revenue sounds like a defensive approach to maintaining revenue. Preserving includes maintaining or retaining revenue but also proactively improving and expanding revenue.

Let's start by describing preserve, safeguard, and retain in the context of customer relationships and revenue.

Retain

Retaining refers to keeping current customers engaged and continuing to do business with your company. It's about maintaining the status quo.

• Managing "Retain" involves addressing different types of churn: account churn and revenue churn due to a contraction in seats/licenses, usage, features, or products

It's akin to basic health maintenance, dealing with immediate concerns to prevent further decline

Safeguard and Protect Revenue

Safeguarding involves actively defending the existing customer base and revenue against competitors, market changes, and other external threats.

• "Safeguard" focuses on defensive and reactive strategies.
• It includes mechanisms to quickly respond to market changes, competitive threats, and customer dissatisfaction.

This mirrors emergency health measures, such as responding to unexpected illnesses or injuries.

Preserve

Preserving implies not only maintaining the current state of customer relationships but also improving and enriching them. It's about adding value and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the relationship.

• Beyond maintaining current relationships, "Preserve" involves strategic planning and proactive engagement.
• Utilize offensive playbooks and prescriptive suggestions, akin to a doctor's health plan, offering tailored, proactive advice to customers.

This strategic element aligns with holistic health, where lifestyle changes and preventive care ensure long-term well-being.

Is Preserve > Safeguard > Retain?

"Preserve" is more comprehensive and future-oriented than merely safeguarding or retaining.

Preserving involves proactive strategies that enhance customer relationships and grow value, thus encompassing and going beyond the mere maintenance of the status quo (retain) or defense against external threats (protect).

While safeguarding is crucial and often reactive, focusing primarily on external threats, preserving is more proactive and holistic.

Retaining is essential but is the minimum; it's about keeping what you have without necessarily improving or securing it further.

Growing and Preserving Revenue

Retain Revenue

Onboarding and Education

• Efficiently onboard customer accounts and users
• Streamline the entire onboarding process, including pre-boarding, reboarding, and offboarding
• Educate customers including users and executives continuously to maximize product benefits
  

Customer Engagement and Support

• Connect with and support champions through transitions
• Promptly help customers and respond to issues
• Gather and act on feedback to perfect the user experience
• Personalize communication to craft customer journeys and grow accounts
  

Monitoring and Improvement

• Monitor retention and account health
• Check on progress and fix issues quickly
• Update products and gather feedback regularly
• Evaluate product fit and adapt solutions as needed
  

Strategic Management

• Share strategic updates and involve company leaders
• Be adaptable to unforeseen events and major disruptions
• Reward loyalty and celebrate milestones
  

Community and Relationship Building

• Prevent customer neglect and spot unsuitable customers early
• Maintain relationships and foster community
• Empower customers and encourage customer advocates
  

Product and Service Optimization

• Show product value and maximize feature use
• Customize services and offer flexible pricing options
• Oversee the entire customer life cycle to avoid losses
  

Market Positioning

• Stay aware of competitors and counteract competitor moves
• Strengthen against disruptions and embrace customer changes
  

Preserve Revenue

Financial Management and Innovation

• Adjust to financial changes
• Simplify payment options
• Reduce costs and boost efficiency
• Innovate products and broaden revenue sources
  

Data Analysis and Quality Control

• Analyze customer data to inform decisions and tailor product features.
• Ensure quality across services and control risks
  

Strategic Planning and Partnerships

• Study market trends to inform strategic directions
• Form strategic partnerships for enhanced growth potential
  

Team Collaboration and Support

• Work together across teams to enhance service quality
• Support through crises with proactive measures and resilience building

Growing Revenue

Tactical

• Upsell Features
• Cross-sell products
• Add Seats or Licenses
• Increase Usage Billing

Pricing Strategies

• Offer tiered pricing models for upgrade incentives
• Promote discounted annual plans for longer commitment
  

Bundling and Product Expansion

• Create attractive bundle pricing for combined products/services
• Enable add-ons or customizations for products/services
  

Loyalty and Referral Programs

• Implement loyalty programs for repeat business
• Initiate programs rewarding customer referrals
  

Customer Relationship and Value Enhancement

• Provide extra services that complement primary offerings
• Give existing customers access to exclusive content
• Organize events exclusive to current customers
  

Strategic Marketing and Growth Initiatives

• Run campaigns tailored to customer usage data
• Market special offers to prompt quick upgrades
• Conduct strategic planning for account growth opportunities
• Collaborate with customers for early product feature access
• Introduce options for enhanced support services
• Showcase the long-term benefits of service expansion

Viewing through the lens of an AI tool

AI-driven Digital Customer Success and Account Managers, like those in cast.app, are uniquely positioned to help in preserving, safeguarding, and retaining revenue.

Modern Customer Success is a blend of proactive and reactive approaches. The reactive side of Customer Success is vital; it informs and shapes our proactive strategies, allowing us to develop new, innovative playbooks based on real-world interactions and feedback.

AI tools can analyze customer data to identify opportunities for enhancing relationships (preserve), detect early signs of customer dissatisfaction or competitive threats (safeguard), and automate engagement to keep customers involved with the brand (retain).

The AI's predictive analytics can foresee and address issues before they become problems, aligning with the idea of preservation.

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To explore replicating Pure Storage's success and ROI, consider setting up a demo at https://cast.app/demo