Customer Success Managers, your pain doesn’t go unnoticed.

Between customers spread around the globe, each using your company’s offering differently, it can be hard to stay on top of everything. 

But as the saying goes, you need to work smarter (we already know you work hard). That’s where automation comes in. Don’t worry—automation isn’t about AI and losing the human touch your customers need. Instead, it means setting up the right information ahead of time, so it’s always available when you need it. In the end, you get to focus your time on real things with customers, rather than putting out fires.

In this post, we’ll share three improvements you can make that will make your life easier as a CSM. Our goal with these improvements is simple: save time while continuing to WOW your customers.

Automation #1: Create a birds-eye view of all critical customer data

It’s hard to be effective when you’ve got irritated customer emails, “voice of the customer” meetings, and a couple dozen reactive tasks on your plate. All of this leads to a simple (bad) outcome: less quality time with customers and more breathless time trying not to drown under the weight of your to-do list.

The best way to solve this problem is to start your day by pulling up a unified view of all of your to-dos at a glance.

The power of a single-page view on mental clarity

Half of all workers now report that context switching is sabotaging their productivity. Research shows that switching between digital apps results in taking nearly 10 minutes to get back into a workflow. With so many apps, platforms, and tools, CSMs need one window they can open and immediately see their most critical customer information.

An organized, single-pane view keeps your tasks in view and top of mind, finally giving you a feeling of control over your work. The right CS platform will offer a central dashboard to be the first thing you see when you start your day.

Customize dashboards so you can see what’s important to you

A centralized view of data is great, but the metrics important to each company will vary. In other words, a one-size-fits-all dashboard just won’t cut it—you need customizability! 

Use a CS platform that allows you to quickly build dashboards for CSMs, executives, and managers so each role can better understand their high-priority tasks, accounts at risk, and upcoming renewals. Make sure you choose a CS platform that connects to your tech stack and brings in data from tools like Segment, Zendesk, JIRA, and more.

Automation #2: Templatize customer communications without losing the personal touch

Skeptical about creating templates for customer communication? Worried about sounding like a bot? We can explain. With a CS platform, you can easily create email templates for those emails you find yourself sending again and again. Then, you’ll schedule email touchpoints in advance by automating reminders of when to reach out with more personal touches. 

Automate regular emails to make customer outreach a breeze

Delivering incredible customer experiences at scale all starts with email. However, we can all think of those emails we can write in our sleep by now because we’ve sent them so many times. Stop the time waste (and energy suck) by automating standard milestone emails like renewal or business review reminders—that way, you can focus your time and effort on customer strategy and relationship building.

‍Pro tip: Use segmented emails: Once you’re receiving the indicators that tell you to contact the right customers at the right time, use your CS platform’s segmenting feature to communicate to specific groups of customers. The best part is that you won’t need external marketing software to accomplish this, so the CS team stays focused on delivering consistent customer experiences at scale.

‍Pro tip: Repurpose template emails into different kinds of content for maximum impact

When building an email template, think about the key problems you’re helping solve or questions you keep answering. Then turn those insights into reusable resources like templates, checklists, video explainers, and product walkthroughs that you can quickly add to your automated emails. 

Use automated reminders to make customers feel valued

Just like we rely on calendar notifications to remind us of important birthdays and appointments, your CS platform should remind you when to follow up with customers. This might sound simple, but periodic reminders set in advance can create fantastic customer experiences that surprise and delight your customers. To master this, you need an intelligent CS platform that spots the trends automatically, so you know what to reach out with. 

Pro tip: Use analytics to spot trends 

The right CS platform will have a product usage analytics feature that gives you complete visibility into which features your customers are (or aren’t) using so you can identify trends. It will also provide alerts so that you’re notified of changes in your customer’s usage patterns so you can reach out with additional reminders or training.

Pro tip: Renewal reminders to hit your revenue goals

A CS platform should be able to automate renewal tasks so you can send the right email, make the right calls, or follow up to retain your customer. Best of all, you’ll be able to consistently provide personalized service without the time-consuming manual effort.

Automation #3: Pre-set health metrics so you can see customer health at a glance

Do you know if your customer is reaching their goals using your solution? Unfortunately, it can be difficult to know a customer’s progress, making it impossible to gauge how happy they are with you. That’s why the right health metrics are so critical to success.

Customer health profiles: your account happiness scale

According to SaaSWORKS, customer health is defined as “a quick summary of how a customer is doing in regards to their engagement with your company. It’s typically presented as a score, and when done effectively, you can use it to predict a customer’s likelihood to renew and upgrade.”

A CS platform automatically gathers the data points needed to build health scores for each customer. These data points come from every point of the customer journey, from onboarding to renewal—without you having to lift a finger to gather it! To make this all work, though, you need data from multiple different sources. If you’re hoping to automate this in a CS platform, make sure it can connect with your existing tech stack tools such as Salesforce, Zendesk, and Mixpanel. 

Risk indicators tell you when it’s time to save the day

When you see the warning signs, you can take the right steps and fix issues before they spiral out of control and result in churn. Whether scheduling a call to let the customer vent, handing the account off to sales for upselling, or sending some swag to show appreciation, you’ll have the best chance of retaining the account and retaining revenue.

Let technology be the firefighter so you can be the CSM

While your customers need to hear from you and receive personal touches, all CSMs need a little automation to stay on top of their ever-growing list of to-do’s while still providing high levels of customer experience. 

The first thing the CS team sees when starting their days should bring peace amidst the chaos, so take advantage of a unified dashboard that automatically shows you all your mission-critical tasks for the day.

By taking advantage of automated email reminders and scheduling segmented emails that keep customers in the loop, you’ll finally strike a balance between personal touch and auto-pilot communication. Most importantly,  customers will feel valued and taken care of. Finally, by automating health and risk detection on your accounts, you’ll never drop the ball on saving accounts and salvaging relationships by automating health and risk detection on your accounts. 

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To find out more about how a CS platform can save you time and free up mental space, click here to learn more.