iStock-521228316

*This post was updated on 5/14/18

Where does your customer onboarding program stand, and how does it compare to others at companies of a similar size? How are different SaaS companies thinking about measuring customer value?

In our latest webinar, we discussed early findings from the Coastal Cloud Customer Success Industry Report, featuring insights gathered from in-depth conversations with more than 40 Customer Success leaders.

Continue reading for a few key takeaways:

1. What surprised you the most? Were there any trends that stood out in particular?

According to Jamey Jeff, Managing Director at Coastal Cloud, 37% of respondents cite adoption as their #1 customer journey challenge.

If you’re also struggling with adoption, Jamey’s recommendation is to start by making sure you understand your customers. Consider their desired outcomes, which may vary based on their level of sophistication. Also, don’t just try to push customers to use your product more; think about what first value truly is, and drive them toward that goal.

2. Tell us about your findings. What recommendations do you have for teams moving from one onboarding stage to the next?

72% of respondents said their customer onboarding was manually standardized. Another 20% stated that they have an automated process in place.

Jamey pointed out that in the early stages of onboarding, there is often a emphasis on executing tasks, but not actually educating customers, securing adoption, and delivering value. In other words, their onboarding is not sufficiently outcome oriented. His advice: don’t forget to create a success plan when building your onboarding program.

3. At Skilljar, we talk a lot about the importance of data. So I’m curious, how are Customer Success teams measuring their success?

26% of respondents said gaining actionable insights from data was their #1 operational challenge. This was followed by data integrity at 21%, and lack of reporting at 17%.

A lot of customer success leaders Jamey spoke with use traditional metrics like renewal and retention rates, and Net Promoter Scores to measure their success. However, one company explained they focus entirely on delivering performance results. Another company said they measure the percent of clients that have a documented return on investment (ROI) story signed off by an executive sponsor. These are great examples of truly data-driven programs.

Want to learn more? Click here to access the full recording!

{{cta(‘4ffe5e9b-0233-49ca-9bd6-cf2591e5679e’,’justifycenter’)}}