Using a CRM or Customer Success SaaS Tool

There are so many tools on the market for everything having to do with managing a business. This is a blessing and a curse. It’s amazing that someone with very little knowledge about running a business can use a ton of tools (many times free for an extended period of time) to get up and running.

When I joined one startup, I noticed they literally had a tool for everything. They had a list of all the tools they used, many I had never heard of before, and many that were open source. This allowed them to scale their operations quickly and efficiently without having to hire someone to build out a function at the business.

While useful, as the company grew it became incredibly annoying, cumbersome, and many of the tools fell flat as the business grew.

I’ll stop preaching now and discuss how using a CRM or Customer Success Tool will benefit your company.

At the minimum its incredibly important to store all your customer data in one place. Most of the time this will start as a spreadsheet, an excel doc or a google doc (which is ideal for real-time collaboration). I’ve found companies that can run their entire multi-million dollar business off google docs. This is incredible because it speaks to the power of how far you can go with a well-formatted spreadsheet, but its also amazing that a product, service or company could be that good that you could maintain momentum or grow without using something more robust.

Great. Where should I start?

If you’re early stage, just stick with the spreadsheet, preferably the google sheet, and just go from there. Start to gather the information you need and the important info on your customers and then start to develop the bits of information you need in order to keep those accounts successful.

Then start mapping out what attributes you need to consistently collect in order to be successful. Tie these to your financial metrics so you have more-accurate reporting.

Once you’ve gotten to a point like this, you should consider a CRM. There are a ton of CRM tools. I have worked with numerous home grown solutions that are great, ok and terrible, and I have worked with some of the bigger tools as well, like Hubspot and Salesforce.

Consider where you are in your evolution of your business and then pick a tool from there. Also realize that unless your operations are setup so you can be consistent with how you manage and maintain your CRM, its going to get really messy really quickly and then your team isn’t going to use it. I always suggest starting with a really simply data taxonomy and get the team comfortable using those attributes before you go big and fast and complicated.

Do not pick a CS tool out until you have gotten your data in check, you know what metrics move the needle or you have someone to help support the roll-out/maintenance of the tool.

I’ve said this three times because it’s incredibly important. There are a ton of CS tools to roll out for your team that could move the needle and be helpful and supportive. But if you are not ready, you will not get adoption internally, no one in your leadership team will be happy with it, and you won’t see the ROI.

It’s important you get to a tipping point where you feel you need it to move to the next level, and THEN make the effort to sign up with one of these tools and implement it.

Again, start small. Evaluate the type of business you are, how much revenue you have, how many customers you have, and what your goals are for using the software. Then make a decision.

There are tools there that scale really well for small medium and large businesses. But it’s important to know what your end goals are and what you need out of the tool before you move forward.

Most of the CS software tools have a way to manage tasks, assign customer touchpoints for accounts so you can track client interactions, categorize your interactions and assign a customer health score. That said, there is not always a direct correlation between the customer health score and why accounts churn, contract or stop paying.

So understand what your data is telling you and then use the tool to make that tracking easier.

Don’t get the tool just so you can understand your customer base.

I think there is a misconception right now that the tools are going to help with your understanding. While they will streamline your processes, the tools are only as powerful as the data you plug into them. They will make your jobs easier, but they won’t answer all the questions for you.

You need to understand why your accounts are churning, and what causes them to churn or contract or stop paying. You need to analyze your customers and know what makes a good account or an ICP or an account that is paying too much for not a lot of value.

Once you have figured that out, THEN you can develop the health scores and start to augment the work you’re already doing.

To summarize, understand where you are as a business, understand your immediate, short term and longer term needs. Then pick a software that will help streamline and organize the processes and data you already know you need to report on. Then undertake the process of figuring out how to roll out the software.

As always let’s see what Chat GPT has to say:

Selecting the right CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and Customer Success Management tools is crucial for effectively managing your customer base in a B2B SaaS company. Here’s a structured approach to evaluating and selecting these tools:

Define Requirements: Start by clearly defining your requirements and objectives. Consider factors like scalability, integrations with existing systems, ease of use, customization options, reporting capabilities, and cost.
Research and Shortlisting: Research different CRM and Customer Success Management tools available in the market. Look for industry leaders and niche players that specialize in B2B SaaS customer success. Create a shortlist of tools that seem to align with your requirements.
Demo and Evaluation: Schedule demos with the shortlisted vendors. During the demos, pay attention to how well the tools address your specific needs. Evaluate the user interface, workflow automation capabilities, analytics and reporting features, and integrations with other systems such as your product usage analytics platform or helpdesk software.
Integration Capability: Ensure that the CRM and Customer Success Management tools you’re considering can integrate seamlessly with each other and with any existing systems you use, such as marketing automation tools, billing systems, or product analytics platforms. Integration is key to maintaining a unified view of your customers across different departments.
Scalability and Flexibility: Assess whether the tools can scale with your business as it grows. Consider whether they offer flexibility to accommodate changes in your processes and workflows over time.
User Feedback and Reviews: Seek feedback from teams that will be using the tools, including sales, marketing, customer success, and support. Additionally, read reviews from other companies in your industry to understand their experiences with the tools.
Vendor Reputation and Support: Consider the reputation and reliability of the vendors behind the CRM and Customer Success Management tools. Look into their track record for innovation, customer support responsiveness, and commitment to security and compliance.
Cost and ROI: Evaluate the total cost of ownership for each tool, including subscription fees, implementation costs, training expenses, and ongoing maintenance. Consider the potential return on investment (ROI) in terms of improved customer retention, increased upsell opportunities, and efficiency gains.
Pilot and Trial: If possible, conduct a pilot or trial period with the top contenders to get hands-on experience with the tools in a real-world setting. This will allow you to validate their suitability before making a final decision.
Decision and Implementation: Based on your evaluation and feedback, make an informed decision on which CRM and Customer Success Management tools to adopt. Develop a detailed implementation plan, including data migration, training for users, and ongoing support.

By following these steps, you can systematically evaluate and select CRM and Customer Success Management tools that best fit your B2B SaaS company’s needs and objectives.

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