Sales and Customer Success: The Power Couple of ISV Partnerships

During the June 2019 edition of the AppExchange Power Hour — a monthly thought leadership webinar series for partners of all types — we were joined by our friends at Taskray to discuss the level of power and influence that comes from a symbiotic relationship between sales and customer success teams for the customer.

With years of experience in the SaaS industry and focal points on customer success and marketing, Mike Davis, VP of Sales and Customer Success, and Kristen Brehemer, Product Marketing Specialist, lent their expertise to educate the audience on driving adoption, reducing churn, and improving overall customer advocacy.

Mike poses the question:

“What comes after your company closes a deal?”

Most companies have a well-thought-out strategy in place for landing new business, but it’s rare to see the journey continued on the other side into nurturing and cultivating that customer once onboarded. That’s where we begin to recognize the power behind sales and customer success as a unit.

“How do you deliver on the promises made during the sales cycle during the customer success cycle?”

Mike and Kristen suggest these three best practices to keep that relationship strong:

1. Build Trust at Every Step. You learn about your customer during the courtship phase of your new relationship. Setting clear expectations and creating materials for the post-sales journey will establish trust for long-term success.
2. Communication. Quantifying and sharing all the amazing data that’s collected during the on-boarding journey is crucial for sales and customer success to work together. Establish a communication flow between both teams as soon as a lead first engages and from what source. Keep that conversation alive during the sales cycle AND after.
3. Growth + Expansion. There are two reasons why you’re missing the boat. One could be your bridge is not being built between pre- and post-sale communication. This, in turn, can negatively affect the concept of Second Order Revenue. This revenue generated by customer advocacy makes customer success 5x more valuable than sales.

With this new mindset and some best practices guiding the way, ISV partners will be able to land new business and keep the momentum going for upended longevity and continued customer satisfaction.

For a full replay of this Power Hour session and a more detailed look into these 3 best practices, check out the recording (Salesforce Partner Community login required).