Jim Steele
Having been at Salesforce to witness the birth of Customer Success, I'm excited to see a book focused on this subject around which I have so much personal passion. One of the foundations of our success at Salesforce was Customer Success so it's particularly great to see the history of the discipline, along with a glimpse at the future, documented in this book. I recommend it to every CEO or leader out there who is truly seeking to build a customer success-centric company.
—Jim Steele, President & Chief Customer Officer, Insidesales and former President & Chief Customer Officer, Salesforce (12 1/2 years)
Roger Lee
As one of the early investors in the technology of Customer Success, I'm particularly pleased to see the rapidly accelerating growth of the entire industry. The “subscription tsunami” as outlined in the book has profoundly disrupted the software world, and forced a focus on customers that did not exist previously. This book will help those who need to understand how this brave new world works, and also people looking for some practical guidance on how to execute successfully in the subscription economy. The team at Gainsight helped pioneer the Customer Success movement and definitely has the chops put together this hitchhiker's guide for those traveling the same road.
—Roger Lee, General Partner, Battery Ventures
Tien Tzuo (CEO, Zuora)
The world is moving to a Subscription Economy, and this book directly addresses that shift. Smart companies aren't trying to pitch products to strangers anymore. They're figuring out how to grow, monetize and build an ongoing, mutually beneficial relationship with a dedicated base of subscribers. Customer Success is fundamental to this process, and this book documents three core aspects—philosophy, discipline, and organization—in a sharp, practical way.
—Tien Tzuo, CEO and Founder, Zuora
Byron Deeter
At Bessemer Venture Partners, we've invested in over 100 cloud companies and have been fortunate to work with industry leaders including LinkedIn, Twilio, Pinterest, Yelp, Shopify, and Box. One recurring theme for every successful subscription-based company I've seen is a relentless focus on Customer Success. Not lip service, but true focus and passion. That's one reason I'm thrilled to finally see a book on the subject which explains not only why this is important but includes practical guidance on how to do it. I'm also really excited that it goes beyond the cloud to explore why Customer Success is critical to traditional companies and B2C companies, too. The folks at Gainsight really nailed it, and I strongly recommend this book for any executive running a high-performance organization. Understanding Customer Success leads to company success.
—Byron Deeter, Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners
Mary Trick
At Infor, the majority of our business is enterprise software so I was particularly pleased to find that this book does not align Customer Success only with cloud companies or only with edge applications, but explains why it's so critical to all software businesses. The customer economy that we're living in demands a new focus on customers no matter what kind of business you are in, and the team at Gainsight understands this well. Dan's book pulls together significant insights that will benefit all of us.
—Mary Trick, Chief Customer Officer, Infor
Mary Poppen
Customer Success is now a common business term, but this wasn't so just a few years ago. The evolution has been dramatic over the past 10 years. I've experienced this exciting evolution firsthand from what was initially a smaller SaaS company (SuccessFactors) to what it has grown to become within a large, enterprise software company (SAP). Customer Success grows in importance every day as companies recognize that the foundation of continued success and growth is built upon a satisfied and renewing customer base. While the evolution continues, the core themes that make it important have remained the same and Dan, Nick, and Lincoln captured those elements perfectly in this book. I was especially pleased to see that it went beyond a philosophical conversation about Customer Success to delve into the nitty-gritty of the practical, day-to-day driving principles every CEO and leader needs to understand. Those of us driving the importance and evolution of Customer Success will benefit personally if all of our executives and board members understand and support it, too.
—Mary Poppen, Chief Customer Officer, SAP SuccessFactors
Clara Shih
Every business in the world needs to be thinking about Customer Success. No surprise it has help set companies like Salesforce apart, as I saw it play out firsthand. At Hearsay, our first hire was in Customer Success. It is the investment that keeps on giving. Congratulations to Nick and team for putting their stamp on the industry and creating this extremely valuable guide that will transform your organization.
—Clara Shih, Founder and CEO, Hearsay Social
This book is printed on acid-free paper. 
Copyright © 2016 by Gainsight. All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Names: Mehta, Nick, 1977- author. | Steinman, Dan, 1958- author.
Title: Customer success : how innovative companies are reducing churn and growing recurring revenue / Nick Mehta, Dan Steinman.
Description: Hoboken : Wiley, 2016. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015040939 (print) | LCCN 2015051466 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119167969 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781119168294 (pdf) | ISBN 9781119168300 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Customer relations. | Customer services. | Success in business. | BISAC: BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Customer Relations.
Classification: LCC HF5415.5 .M4344 2016 (print) | LCC HF5415.5 (ebook) | DDC 658.8/12—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015040939
Cover image: Tom Merton/Getty Images, Inc.
Cover design: Wiley
The term Customer Success has become a buzzword in today's business world. Customers all expect it, and vendors all aim to deliver it. But who decides when it's been achieved? If you are truly a customer-centric company, the answer to that—and all other questions—should come easily: The customer ultimately decides.
As this book illustrates, the cloud era has necessitated a shift to a true customer-first model, and it has also proven that customer satisfaction and customer success are not always synonymous. In a subscription model, you never stop working to win your customers. When done well, every single day is spent with a relentless focus on their success, not yours. Each and every customer deserves an amazing experience and an unwavering commitment to success from their vendors. But success cannot be standardized, and the companies who understand this are the ones poised to reap the greatest rewards.
Adopting a customer-first philosophy ultimately means listening to your customers and operating in ways that help them get closer to their customers—particularly through the embrace of cloud, mobile, social, and analytics technologies. And, of course, being truly customer-centric means having a deep understanding of your customers' unmet needs. Once you know this, you will have a great foundation on which to build the strategy, team, and mechanics that drive Customer Success in your organization.
In my role as the president of Sales and Customer Success at Salesforce, I have a unique vantage point to watch the Customer Success movement unfold. Sixteen years ago, Salesforce pioneered the concept of Customer Success. It was at the very heart of Marc Benioff's vision and, all these years and customers later, we are as committed to it as when we had just a few customers. This commitment stems from the fact that Customer Success drives everything we do. It's not just an idea or a department; it's a core value, and it's everyone's job.
In the six years since I have been at Salesforce, we have brought even more rigor to Customer Success by transforming the organization into a proactive, data-driven group that drives customer utilization, adoption, and success. My team of nearly 4,000 experts is dedicated to the mission of helping our customers get full value from our products—and ultimately transform their businesses. In my time here, I have seen firsthand the transformative power of a customer-centric culture. I have witnessed our customers soar to incredible heights by using our platform to connect with their customers in innovative ways, and I've seen our own success follow suit.
In my 30 years in technology, I have never seen the kind of mutual loyalty that exists between vendor and customer, as it does with Salesforce. I truly believe that it is because we are willing to invest in Customer Success, and customers are willing to invest in ours. That's “attitudinal loyalty,” to steal a phrase from the book
Customer Success is not a one-size-fits-all proposition and it is evolving at the same accelerated pace as the technology that underpins it. Delivering success requires constantly checking in with customers and adapting products and services based on their needs. At Salesforce, we are continually reimagining our success offerings by adding expertise, innovation, and intelligence that make our customers' unique visions come to life. In fact, today we use data science technologies—including big-data analysis and sophisticated business intelligence—to accelerate time-to-value and, ultimately, success.
Like every other organization, Customer Success has to also adapt to the changing business landscape. In our case, CRM has evolved over the years from simple sales force automation into something more akin to a customer platform, covering sales, service, marketing, analytics, apps, and IoT (internet of things). As the definition and scope of CRM have grown, Salesforce has evolved from being deployed in just one instance to running a customer's entire enterprise. This has required a change in strategy for our Customer Success team as well—from a group focused primarily on the success of individual deployments to an organization with a seat at the boardroom table, assisting with business transformation.
I'm often asked how to justify the financial investment one must make in Customer Success. It is my belief that, when done right, Customer Success needs little justification at all. It preserves the company's book of business, opens up doors for additional opportunities, and creates lifelong advocates in our customers. When optimized, Customer Success is the best sales and marketing engine possible. As described in the following pages, Customer Success is more than just the right thing to do; it is a business imperative. For this reason, my team is held accountable for customer usage, adoption, and ultimately revenue. Our success is directly tied to that of our customers.
I am extremely happy to see our partners at Gainsight documenting the history of Customer Success in this book and sharing their insights into this growing discipline. This book is a wonderful guide to help companies embark on—and thrive in—their application of Customer Success to their day-to-day businesses. This is an incredible time to be a customer-centric company, and the opportunity is limitless for those who can look into the future through the lens of the customer. The future, in fact, is already here.
In Success,
Maria Martinez
President, Sales and Customer Success, Salesforce