Using Regression Analysis to Define Customer Health Scores

Customer Success leaders don’t have to rely on gut feel or buy expensive predictive analytics software to develop customer health indicators. As an interim step, statistical regression analysis can identify a short list of predictors, increasing accuracy while avoiding significant … Continued

Time to Rethink NPS for Support Transactions

Net Promoter Score® (NPS®) surveys are often used after customer support transactions. But the question is contextually confusing and the practice yields biased results. NPS® may work fine as a relationship-tracking metric, but when it comes to how the brain … Continued

Why Your Churn Numbers Are Wrong

Chances are you’re drawing the wrong conclusions from your churn metrics. Why? Conventional calculations don’t compensate for natural process variation. As a result, you’re probably making bad decisions. You must use different mathematical tools. Common senselessness       The vast majority … Continued

Setting Expectations: Does Sales Get a Bum Rap?

Don’t play the blame game It’s easy to point the finger at salespeople, but when it comes to improperly set expectations, customers themselves are sometimes to blame. CSMs should resist jumping to conclusions and leaders should implement safeguards. Criticizing salespeople … Continued

CSM Tiers: Bad Juju?

High touch, low touch, tech touch: the most popular tiered account structure for Customer Success. These levels might make sense in the short term, but blind adherence can lead to a company’s decline in the long term. Revenue maldistribution A … Continued

Can Jedi Mind Tricks Work on Customers?

It’s possible to nudge your customer to behave in the ways both of you want.   Psychologists have long known the power of priming, exposing test subjects to stimuli that influence behaviors, often without conscious guidance or intention. In just … Continued

What is Value?

It’s a term we use frequently in new or expansion sales: product value, business value, Time-to-Value. But what is it, exactly? A broader definition Marketers say it’s a simple equation: Value = Benefits – Cost. When the benefits outweigh the … Continued

The Loyal Brain

Scientists have discovered a distinct neural signature in the minds of loyal customers. Scans show particular a brain region activates when buyers choose their preferred vendors. Given the importance of customer loyalty and the recurring revenue that comes with it, … Continued

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Besides lamenting life’s romantic complexities, The Clash sums up a customer’s decision whether to renew their software subscription remarkably well. And just like in the song, science shows relationship history matters when making the choice. It’s all in the β … Continued

Customer Benchmarking Motivates Action

Electric utility companies promoting power conservation programs discovered that simply informing consumers of their electricity usage relative to their neighbors lowered overall consumption. This type of normative social comparison has produced the same effects in other domains. Why does this … Continued