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The 7 Deadly Sins of Customer Success




① PRIDE

Our product is amazing and creates phenomenal results for customers.


TRUTH: Technology doesn't produce results, customer behavior change produces results and technology makes it possible and scalable.


② GREED

The purpose of Customer Success is to get customers to renew their subscriptions.


TRUTH: Customer Success exists to ensure customers get good results with your product. You have to earn their renewal by delivering value.


③ LUST

The key is to satisfy customers by making them feel good about the experience.


TRUTH: Transactional experiences don't lead to long-term relationships. Customer Bonding is the outcome of real results, not temporary feelings.


④ ENVY

Our competitors are way better than us and we need to imitate what they are doing.


TRUTH: Focus on your customers, not your competitors. Things always look good from the outside but are often not as they appear. Imitation leads to mediocrity.


⑤ GLUTTONY

It's all about the dollars (NRR), so we don't need to worry about logo retention.


TRUTH: SaaS growth is entirely about account expansion (small accounts getting bigger). The problem is, you can't expand accounts you no longer have.


⑥ WRATH

The problem is my customers. It's their own fault that they're not getting results.


TRUTH: Customers fail because they don't change their behavior. But blaming them is pointless because it's ultimately our responsibility to teach them how to win.


⑦ SLOTH

My job is to be responsive. I don't need to do anything for "healthy" customers.


TRUTH: By the time you're aware a customer is in trouble it's already too late. The winning approach is hard work: proactively drive customer behavior change for results.

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