The real way to make Customer Success work.

As more companies move to a SaaS model you must make it easy to set up, and use.  In many cases this initial set up should require little to no cost to the customer.

Why this is important to you?  If your customers purchase your solution and cannot get it work the way they want they will not stay your customer.  Customer churn with SaaS companies is a significant challenge.  The reasons vary, but one of the top reasons is they never figured out how to use the solution.

Making customer success work means you must be 100% all about the customer.

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Is Your Organization Engaging?

Everyone is talking about engagement.  Customer engagement member engagement, student engagement.

But what does all of this really mean?

I think Stephen Covey has the best description of what engagement really is.

 “You must first seek to understand before seeking to be understood.”

Engagement is about listening first then providing exactly what the other person wants or needs.

This is not easy.  Too many organizations think they can handle this on their own. Many think if they just invest in enough systems they can be more engaging.  Others see it as a marketing problem. Then there are those who are just ignoring it.

Truly engaging your audience requires a new way of seeing.  The truth is, if you think you are engaging, you may find you are wrong. The people you are supposed to be engaged with may tell you a very different story.  The worse thing is most of those you think are engaged just go with the flow, so you never get the real deal.  The only time you get real engagement is when you do something wrong.

  Engagement requires communication.  Communicating in an engaging manner takes time, and effort. The good news is if you work with someone whose only job is to help you, you’ll find new ways of communication you never thought were possible.

Then you truly will be engaging.

Efficiency is the key to Profitability

  Buy it today, and get it tomorrow. That seems to be the mantra of many businesses in 2019. I call it the Amazon effect.  How can you compete in a world where everyone wants the solution to their problems tomorrow? Be more efficient.

  In order to build, and operate an efficient business you must have well defined, and fully developed processes, and systems.  In addition, your employees must be fully trained on how to effectively implement, and execute on those processes, and use those systems. Most business owners however don’t understand that they really don’t have any processes, or systems in place.  What they have are a set of ideas that their employees loosely follow.

  Because your employees are following these ideas every day the illusion of real processes, and systems takes root.  You may have found that in the beginning you were generating revenue consistently, and delivering to your customers’ expectations.  Then things started to change.  Sales slowed down, and you started losing customers.  At first you blamed the economy. Then you blamed the competition. Most business owners never look in the mirror, and think maybe the problem is me.

  In order to incorporate efficiency in your business you have to take a good hard look at where you are today, and why you are in this place.  Did you have something in place that was working well, but for some reason you decided to change what you were doing?  Maybe you were just lucky, and now you realize that you never implemented any true processes, and systems. 

  If you are not sure if you really have processes, and systems in place the best thing to do is ask for impartial help.  It can be hard to see what needs to be updated, or adjusted when you are so close to things.  As a business owner you may feel that you don’t need any help. You may feel you have everything under control. You may feel that you can find a way to resolve your current challenges on your own.

  What if doing it on your own does not work? Or worse what if doing it on your own causes you to lose precious time doing the things you do best?  What if you miss out on extremely profitable opportunities because you didn’t seek the right kind of help? What if the help you needed was a simple phone call away?

  Increasing sales is the key to profitability.  The key to increasing sales is efficiency. The key to efficiency is fully developed, and documented processes, and systems.  You want to be sure that you have the right tools to consistently win new business, keep your current customers happy, and grow your company. The only way to be sure you have what you need is to get an honest assessment of your current situation.

When you are ready to increase your productivity, efficiency and profitability you should schedule a no obligation initial business assessment.

Taking the short business owner survey right now is a great place to start.

What can an independent business adviser do for you?

As we come in to the final stretch of 2018 have you thought about your business plans for 2019?

How is your strategy looking?  Are you meeting your sales targets? If not why?

Are you considering new marketing programs or campaigns?  Is account based marketing something that will be part of your plans?  How about content marketing? Do you need to revise you CRM?  If you don’t have a CRM is now the time to implement one?

All of these questions can weigh heavily on a business owner. You might feel overwhelmed with all of the decisions you need to make. The good news is you are not alone.

If you had someone who has not only been a business owner, but a sales professional, marketing professional, training professional, and much more. You can be confident that you can get sound advise that can help you with your growth plans for the up coming year.

The only way to find out if an adviser is right for you is to ask. Why not ask today.  You may find it’s one of the best things you did all year.

7 General Orders of Sales Leadership Free for a Limited Time.

Right now you can get a Free copy of the 7 General Orders of Sales Leadership. With only 3 months left in the year make sure you have the right tools to finish 2018 strong.  Just complete the short questionnaire below.  The offer ends October 15th so don’t delay.  The free book is only available to the first 15 responses.

P.S.

If you miss the deadline you can still get a Free copy. Just schedule a no obligation initial business assessment. Complete the business owner survey here or call 703-226-6200 to schedule.

Your customers are experiencing more than you might think

In 2018 there are many reports about customer experience.  Many businesses are setting up entire departments or teams focused on it.  Many however are struggling to understand just what customer experience is and what it means for their business.

Your customers experience encompasses every interaction they have with your company,  direct and indirect. Your website must provide a great experience no matter what device your customer is using. When they meet with your employees face to face, or speak to them on the phone.  Even the documents such as invoices and letter influence how your customers experience your company.

If you are not sure that your customers experience is what is should be working with an independent professional business consultant can help you provide more delightful and profitable experiences.

Why Work with OSY Services LLC?

Business owners want to focus on doing what they do best. Building products and delivering services. Business process management (BPM) is normally not their main priority.  BPM affects every aspect of their business.  From operations, customer service, customer engagement, sales, even billing, and collections.

As a business owner you want the best returns for your investments in as short a time frame as possible. How can you increase productivity, efficiency and profitability while growing your business?

One way is working with OSY Services LLC.

Lowering operations cost, improving sales cycles, streamlining delivery, and helping you provide a delightful customer experience are just a few of the results you can expect.

With a customized plan specific to your business, you can get better financial results, and your staff will be more effective in every way.

The only way to know if you can quickly gain higher revenue through improved processes is to request your business process assessment today.

How to prove your solution is the right solution.

Ensure you have properly defined what problems your solution solves.

Ensure you understand the problems your prospects have.

Ensure your solutions align with your prospects problems.

Present evidence that eliminates any doubt about your solution.

If you are not sure how do develop a process that will allow you to provide the proof needed to win 99% of the time then a process improvement professional can help.

Customer Success Management

Customer Success Management seems to be the new buzz word in just about every industry. Businesses are trying to figure out how they can maximize revenue from their existing customers.  One of the challenges they are having is trying to force old ways of thinking on to their customers while using new words to make it appear fresh and new.

This can have the direct opposite effect.  The truth is entirely new processes need to be implemented.  Implementing new processes is a full-time job and requires someone who is not invested in the status quo.  Working with an independent consultant may be the best way to effectively enact meaningful change.  In order for customer success management to be profitable your business must think outside the box. The best way to do that is to work with someone who is not already inside the box you currently have.

Customer Success Management is the future of account growth.  Companies who work with professionals with the vision to see what those within an organization can’t, will be the ones who prosper the most.   Many of the methodologies developed for customer success management can also be used effectively with your customer acquisitions team as well.

Businesses who are seeking greater profitability, and enhanced efficiency in their business operations would benefit greatly from working with a professional. Someone who could help them see the greater possibilities.  With customer success management consulting they can greatly increase their profits.

What do your employees do, and why do they do it?

You may be surprised, but too often executives and business owners cannot answer this question. They often have vague ideas, but not a definitive answer. 

The reason I ask this question is if you as the executive do not know the answer to this question how are your employees going to know?

One reason this question is so hard to answer is as the business has grown employees just do what has to be done. But sometimes it is not the most effective, or efficient thing to do. The business processes grew organically, but without taking the bigger growth plan into account.

Often there is no defined business process, or any formal training provided. This creates an environment where things can get missed.  When things get missed mistakes happen. Mistakes can cost your business a lot of money.   You can minimize, or even completely avoid mistakes when you have well defined business processes, and a properly trained staff.

Building efficient and effective business processes takes time. When you invest the time to ensure your employees fully understand the what, why, and how of their contributions, the business is more profitable.  The next time someone asks you what do your employees do you’ll be able to clearly explaining what each one does, how they do it, and why they do it.

Your business will be better, and more profitable because of your well made investment in efficent business processes.