#RealJob: Customer Success, Bringing Human Touch to Technology
Using technology to increase business growth is important. But, it can only do so much. You still need a human element to use the technology optimally. That is why the importance of a Customer Success role is rising in many industries, especially in technology. But, what does it mean to be a Customer Success? Jodi Kawi, Mekari’s Head of Customer Success, answered this question.
Defining what “success” means for customers
Every customer, especially those who aren’t familiar with technology, must have various problems and goals they want to achieve. Jodi explained the Customer Success role in handling this situation, “A Customer Success professional does not only understand the customer’s problems but also define what “success” is for the customers. This translates to helping customers achieve their goals and get more value from using your product.” According to Jodi, this is important to do especially in a business with a subscription system because the more satisfied and happier the customers are, the more likely they keep using your product.
“In a subscription-based business, 70–95% of our revenue comes from renewal and upsell, while the initial sale only contributes 5–30%. This means keeping existing customers happy and satisfied is more important, in order to make them want to repurchase the product. Customer Success plays an important role to handle this.”
The growth of every subscription-based business, including Mekari, is tied to its ability to retain customers and create recurring revenue. Around 70–95% of our revenue comes from renewal and upsell rather than the initial sale that only contributes 5–30%. That is why more businesses start paying more attention to keeping existing customers happy compared to acquiring new customers, which is far more difficult and expensive.
Jodi explained, “The important task of Customer Success starts from the onboarding stage, where we build good relationships with them and always be ready to help them to use the product and achieve their goals. A Customer Success professional has to make sure the customers are happy and satisfied that they renew their subscription and become loyal to the product. Once they are loyal to one product, they are more likely to promote the product to others. Sales will increase and new customers will come from the recommendations of existing clients.”
How to be a successful Customer Success
Jodi started his first career with Sleekr as Customer Success. After Sleekr merging with Talenta and Jurnal and becoming Mekari, he got promoted as the Head of Customer Success. “I got promoted as the Head of Customer Success after working for about 2 years. This happened because Mekari has a great culture in appreciating their employee’s hard work, especially if they have innovative ideas and great achievements in doing their work.”
He also explained what it takes to be a Customer Success, “Being a Customer Success professional requires both technical and soft skills. A Customer Success professional must have a deep understanding of the product and its functionality, and be resourceful in helping customers’ problems.”
“They also have great communication skills to build relationships with customers. Empathy is an important trait to have as Customer Success since we are the human touch to technology that connects customers to the technology. Becoming a Customer Success professional also means you want to go beyond 100%. If you encounter problems, you dig deeper and deeper to fully understand the problems and find the right solutions,” Jodi said.
