When we think about the duties of the client success team, three main responsibilities come to mind: customer training, support, and retention. So how does the implementation of a marketing automation platform help this division as they are tasked with assisting, maintaining, and developing the relationship of the customer? It doesn’t. Not unless communication between marketing and client success is in flow. However, when and if a line of communication exists, marketing automation creates a ripple effect of benefits that starts with the marketing team, migrates to sales, and even reaches client success.
Time Saver
First and foremost, marketing automation can save the client success team a lot of time. Identifying frequently asked questions and communicating that to the marketing team can prevent inbox clogging questions or lessen frequent phone calls surrounding the topic. For instance, perhaps the customer service department of a cable company is receiving countless phone calls from new customers requesting guidance during initial cable setup. Client Success can communicate this to marketing who can then setup an email campaign that automatically sends to new customers. That email would provide brief step-by-step directions that concludes with a link to their knowledge base for access to more in-depth instruction. In return, that keeps new customers happy while eliminating excessive phone calls and emails, giving client success more time to focus and support customers with bigger issues.
Tailored Support Using Customer Profiles
Marketing automation helps businesses build more useful and detailed customer profiles. High level customer views enables marketing to see what specific products customers are using. According to the 2014 State of Multichannel Customer Service Survey, 41% of surveyors said that getting their issues resolved quickly is the most important aspect of good customer service. With those customer profiles, client success can then provide more tailored feedback and support, faster and more efficiently. Further, an automated solution is continuously gathering information based on customer activities such as email opens, link clicks, and form submissions. This activity related data is stored for future use, which can assist client success in providing better recommendations or solutions based on customer activity, history, and interests indicated.
Better Understanding of the Customer Using Web Insights
Marketing automation platforms allow you to track how a potential buyer or existing customer interacts with your brand (e.g., email link clicks, website visits, downloads and more). These digital clues provide insight into your prospect’s readiness to buy or desire for more information. Regardless of how much product research/information a customer has acquired, E-consultancy found that 83% of online shoppers still needed support to complete a purchase. Therefore, when contacted by the customer, insights into what the customer has viewed or downloaded can help client success guide and provide the customer with the right information depending on where they fall within their buying process. Ultimately, the targeted feedback and assistance will lead to more satisfied customers, increasing the chance of purchase.
Despite the fact that marketing automation is primarily utilized by the marketer, it’s a solution that has various benefits for client success as well. What happens when the two departments work together to better support their current and prospective customers? They gain and retain; it’s a win-win situation for all. So approach the pond of marketing automation solutions – it only takes the toss of a coin to create the ripple effect of innumerable benefits.
