I'm not here for doom and gloom, but we should recognise the fact the global economy has just lurched into a bad place. Global economies are flashing red with ongoing geo-political problems and the recent application of trade tariffs. And whilst global politics might seem a long away from our day-to-day roles, this situation will start to tickle down to customers, which, in turn, will impact your business. I've been through a couple of recessions, not least the global pandemic, and it's not fun, but you do start to see a trend regarding how customers will behave. Increased scrutiny of costs is one of the main things you'll see. ROI becomes everything.
When revenue drops and costs increase, all businesses will look to become very financially efficient. They will start to cut costs, and one of those costs is your platform. Unless you are "mission critical" to their operations, you will be at risk of churn.
If you weren't thinking strategically about your QBRs, now is the time. In this economic backdrop, it's absolutely imperative that you can demonstrate that your platform is providing a positive ROI. As we know, QBRs are an excellent time to do this.
What are the New Priorities?
Right now, I'd want to get ahead of this situation and get an understanding of what a recession might mean for my customers priorities:
- If you don't have a Success Plan, create one now.
- Collect all data points that demonstrate value and success. This can be quantitative and qualitative.
- If you have goals and objectives already captured, ask if they might change. Don't wait for your next QBR to do this. Speak with your contacts ASAP to understand this now.
- Update your Success Plan with any new information from the previous point.
- Identify the parts of your solution that solve the new priorities.
On that last point, any part of your platform that saves time, delivers insights at greater speed or allows the reduction of other costs should be highlighted and included in your value map. "Doing more with less" is often the mantra in these times, so think about how your solution can assist with tasks that might have taken three people one day to accomplish but now take one person 2 hours.
Don't Wait
You don't have to wait three months to schedule your next QBR. In situations like this, getting ahead and getting something booked sooner rather than later can be prudent. After all, Customer Success is a proactive function, so don't wait for problems to arise when you could already be addressing upcoming challenges.
Have you already been thinking about this? I'd love to hear what you're doing to prove the value of your product in your QBRs.
Until next month.
Simon.
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When you're ready, explore the ways I can help you further.
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