Customer Success Managers have a lot on their plates. 

Every customer–even if you already have a well-laid-out customer journey–has unique challenges. And keeping track of everything can be a hassle. 

This intensity is also causing a talent problem: Nearly half (48.8%) of CS professionals are either actively looking for new work or open to conversations (and a big driver is burning out or feeling like they can’t get ahead with work).

Yet the pressure isn’t going to stop. 

Why? Because buyers today are informed and tech-savvy. They expect the organizations building the top-notch software they use to use their own internal tools to deliver value.

Instead, it’s on CS to streamline inefficiencies to keep customer data documented and easily accessible. Or, in short, it’s on CS to use a Customer Success Platform (CSP). 

There are multiple platforms out there to help you skillfully manage your CS team’s workload. Whether your needs include well-timed emails and training videos or regular meetings with your customers, there is a tool for you. The hard part is choosing the right one.

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The following are some simple steps you and your team can take to pick the right customer success software for your business. It starts with deeper insight into your business. Your due diligence in learning and planning now will serve you well (and save you some major headaches) in the near future when it comes time to incorporate it.

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How to choose a customer success platform

You might start with some googling about what a CSP or what CSPs are on the market. But to actually get a purchase approved and implemented, you need to follow these three steps.

Step 1: Assemble your team

You’ll need team members to help you select a tool, get budget approval to buy the tool, and then implement it within your existing IT and security infrastructure.

Selecting a tool: CSMs (and other members of your customer success team) can help you determine achievable use cases and critical touchpoints.

Budget approval: Your CFO or VP Finance can help you with a budget.

Implementation: Tech support or the IT team can help you uncover common pain points in implementation and preempt them in conversations with CSP providers

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Step 2: Understand what a CSP will do for you

Here are the three key elements you should know:

1. Your goals and plans: CSPs can’t help you if you don’t already have processes, plans, customer knowledge, and end goals in place.

2. Your customer’s journey: Determine at what points reaching out to your customers with reminders or educational material could prevent them from churning. Will you need high-, mid-, or low-level touch with your customers? Are their needs simple, complicated, somewhere in the middle, or a mix?

3. The data you have and the data you need: Start with good, clean data in your current system. Understand the different reporting requirements and data you hope to collect from such a system.

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Step 3: Research to find the right platform for you

After you’ve discovered yourself (so to speak) and assembled your team, you’re ready for the best part of the scientific method—reviewing the options and picking a winner.

During the research and discovery phase, keep the following five factors in mind (and make sure you ask about them in a demo).

• Usability: during demos, ask the vendors to show you how you’d solve simple problems that you face on a regular basis (e.g. creating a client-facing dashboard or setting up an automation). This will help you identify platforms that are both powerful for your needs and easy to use.
• Integration: consider what applications you already use for jobs such as customer service, online training, communication, and marketing. Choose a CSP that can integrate as many applications as possible to avoid switching screens.
• Automation: look for a tool to help automate as many recurring tasks as possible, like assigning duties, logging calls/meetings, sending targeted outreach emails, looping in the sales team with notes, etc.
• Reporting: does the software give you all the reporting you require?
• Branding: can the software be personalized to maintain cohesive branding? If you have a robust brand style, you want that to carry over into your training and marketing materials for a professional look.

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Get more from your CSP

The great news is that there are many customer success tools to choose from, each with its unique mix of services. Selecting the right one for your business will take research and planning. You’ll want to know your budget, processes, and goals, at the very least. With your goal(s) in mind, work backward to find the customer success software that helps you achieve your objectives.