Customer Success Managers (CSMs) play a critical role in ensuring that clients have a positive experience with a company’s products or services. They are often the bridge between the client and the company, responsible for maintaining and strengthening the client relationship. However, there are times when a CSM may find themselves at odds with a client, and the question arises: Is it time to request client changes? In this article, we’ll explore when and how to navigate this delicate situation.

The Role of a Customer Success Manager

Before we dive into the specifics of requesting client changes, let’s briefly recap the role of a Customer Success Manager. CSMs are responsible for ensuring that clients achieve their desired outcomes while using a company’s product or service. They build strong relationships with clients, provide guidance and support, and monitor client progress. It’s a role that demands a deep understanding of both the client’s needs and the company’s offerings.

Signs That It Might Be Time for a Change

While CSMs are well-equipped to handle a variety of client personalities and needs, there are situations where the relationship becomes strained or counterproductive. Here are some signs that it might be time to consider requesting client changes:

1. Constant Negativity: If a client consistently provides negative feedback, shows dissatisfaction, or is uncooperative without any clear reason, it can be challenging to maintain a productive relationship.
2. Lack of Engagement: Some clients may disengage from the onboarding process or ongoing communication. They may not respond to emails or attend scheduled meetings, making it difficult to provide the necessary support.
3. Unrealistic Expectations: Clients with unrealistic expectations that cannot be met by the product or service may become frustrated. Managing such expectations can be draining for a CSM.
4. Abusive Behavior: In extreme cases, clients may exhibit abusive behavior, such as verbal harassment or personal attacks. No one should tolerate such treatment.

Steps to Request Client Changes

If you find yourself in a situation where requesting client changes seems appropriate, it’s essential to handle it professionally and ethically. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Assess the Situation: Before making any decisions, take a step back and objectively assess the situation. Are the issues with the client a result of miscommunication, a misunderstanding, or a mismatch in expectations? Make sure you’ve exhausted all other options to salvage the relationship.
2. Document Everything: Keep detailed records of all interactions with the client, including emails, meeting notes, and feedback. Document any instances of inappropriate behavior or uncooperativeness. Having a clear paper trail is essential.
3. Discuss with Your Manager: Consult with your manager or supervisor about your concerns. They can provide valuable guidance and may have insights into the client’s history or specific needs that can help inform your decision.
4. Prepare a Request: If, after careful consideration, you believe that requesting client changes is the best course of action, prepare a formal request. Be specific about your reasons and provide evidence from your documented interactions.
5. Maintain Professionalism: When discussing the request with your manager, colleagues, or the client themselves, maintain professionalism. Focus on the facts and avoid making it personal. Emphasize that your goal is to ensure the client’s success.
6. Propose Alternatives: If possible, propose alternative solutions that could address the issues without severing the client relationship completely. This could involve assigning a different CSM or adjusting the client’s support plan.
7. Seek Approval: If your manager agrees that requesting client changes is the right move, seek approval from the appropriate channels within your organization.

The Potential Impact on Your Role

Requesting client changes can be a difficult decision, and you may wonder how it will impact your role as a CSM. Here are some potential outcomes:

• Improved Mental Well-Being: If the client relationship was causing you undue stress or anxiety, requesting changes can lead to improved mental well-being. You’ll be better equipped to focus on other clients and responsibilities.
• Professional Growth: Handling challenging situations like these can contribute to your professional growth. It demonstrates your ability to make tough decisions in the best interest of the client and your organization.
• Client Satisfaction: In some cases, the client may benefit from a new CSM who can better meet their needs, resulting in improved client satisfaction.
• Team Dynamics: Requesting client changes may have an impact on your team dynamics. It’s essential to communicate openly with your colleagues and maintain a supportive work environment.

In Conclusion

Customer Success Managers are integral to maintaining positive client relationships, but there are times when requesting client changes becomes a necessary step. By recognizing the signs, documenting interactions, and following a structured process, CSMs can make this transition as smooth as possible while ensuring the best outcomes for both the client and the organization.

Remember that your well-being and ability to perform your role effectively are paramount. Requesting client changes, when warranted, can lead to a healthier work environment and more successful client relationships in the long run.

Author: Hakan Ozturk

Driving Customer Success – www.DrivingCustomerSuccess.com

The post Mastering Customer Success: When and How to Request A Client Change appeared first on Customer Success Insights: Driving Success Worldwide.

Empathy has always been a critical skill for leaders, but it is taking on a new level of meaning and priority. Far from a soft approach, it can drive significant business results.

You always knew demonstrating empathy is positive for people, but new research demonstrates its importance for everything from innovation to retention. Great leadership requires a fine mix of all kinds of skills to create the conditions for engagement, happiness, and performance, and empathy tops the list of what leaders must get right.

The Effects of Stress

The reason empathy is so necessary is that people are experiencing multiple kinds of stress, and data suggests it is affected by the pandemic—and the ways our lives and our work have been turned upside down.

• Mental Health. A global study by Qualtrics found 42% of people have experienced a decline in mental health. Specifically, 67% of people are experiencing increases in stress while 57% have increased anxiety, and 54% are emotionally exhausted. 53% of people are sad, 50% are irritable, 28% are having trouble concentrating, 20% are taking longer to finish tasks, 15% are having trouble thinking and 12% are challenged to juggle their responsibilities.
• Personal Lives. A study in Occupational Health Science found our sleep is compromised when we feel stressed at work. Research at the University of Illinois found when employees receive rude emails at work, they tend to experience negativity and spillover into their personal lives and particularly with their partners. In addition, a study at Carleton University found when people experience incivility at work, they tend to feel less capable in their parenting.
• Performance, Turnover and Customer Experience. A study published in the Academy of Management Journal found when people are on the receiving end of rudeness at work, their performance suffers and they are less likely to help others. And a new study at Georgetown University found workplace incivility is rising and the effects are extensive, including reduced performance and collaboration, deteriorating customer experiences and increased turnover.

Empathy Contributes to Positive Outcomes

But as we go through tough times, struggle with burnout or find it challenging to find happiness at work, empathy can be a powerful antidote and contribute to positive experiences for individuals and teams. A new study of 889 employees by Catalyst found empathy has some significant constructive effects:

• Innovation. When people reported their leaders were empathetic, they were more likely to report they were able to be innovative—61% of employees compared to only 13% of employees with less empathetic leaders.
• Engagement. 76% of people who experienced empathy from their leaders reported they were engaged compared with only 32% who experienced less empathy.
• Retention. 57% of white women and 62% of women of color said they were unlikely to think of leaving their companies when they felt their life circumstances were respected and valued by their companies. However, when they didn’t feel that level of value or respect for their life circumstances, only 14% and 30% of white women and women of color respectively said they were unlikely to consider leaving.
• Inclusivity. 50% of people with empathetic leaders reported their workplace was inclusive, compared with only 17% of those with less empathetic leadership.
• Work-Life. When people felt their leaders were more empathetic, 86% reported they are able to navigate the demands of their work and life—successfully juggling their personal, family and work obligations. This is compared with 60% of those who perceived less empathy.
• Cooperation is also a factor. According to a study published in Evolutionary Biology, when empathy was introduced into decision making, it increased cooperation and even caused people to be more empathetic. Empathy fostered more empathy.

Mental health. The study by Qualtrics found when leaders were perceived as more empathetic, people reported greater levels of mental health.

Wired for Empathy

In addition, empathy seems to be inborn. In a study by Lund University, children as young as two demonstrated an appreciation that others hold different perspectives than their own. And research at the University of Virginia found when people saw their friends experiencing threats, they experienced activity in the same part of their brain which was affected when they were personally threatened. People felt for their friends and teammates as deeply as they felt for themselves. All of this makes empathy an important part of our human condition—at work and in our personal lives.

Leading with Empathy

Leaders can demonstrate empathy in two ways. First, they can consider someone else’s thoughts through cognitive empathy (“If I were in his/her position, what would I be thinking right now?”). Leaders can also focus on a person’s feelings using emotional empathy (“Being in his/her position would make me feel ___”). But leaders will be most successful not just when they personally consider others, but when they express their concerns and inquire about challenges directly, and then listen to employees’ responses.

Leaders don’t have to be experts in mental health in order to demonstrate they care and are paying attention. It’s enough to check-in, ask questions and take cues from the employee about how much they want to share. Leaders can also be educated about the company’s supports for mental health so they can provide information about resources for additional help.

Great leadership also requires action. One leader likes to say, “You’re behaving so loudly, I can hardly hear what you’re saying.” People will trust leaders and feel a greater sense of engagement and commitment when there is alignment between what the leader says and does. All that understanding of someone else’s situation should turn into compassion and action. Empathy in action is understanding an employee’s struggles and offering to help. It is appreciating a person’s point of view and engaging in a healthy debate that builds to a better solution. It is considering a team member’s perspectives and making a new recommendation that helps achieve greater success. As the popular saying goes, people may not remember what you say, but they will remember how you made them feel.

In Sum

Empathy contributes to positive relationships and organizational cultures and it also drives results. Empathy may not be a brand new skill, but it has a new level of importance and the fresh research makes it especially clear how empathy is the leadership competency to develop and demonstrate now and in the future of work.

-Tracy Brower

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Some people have it naturally. But good news : it can also be learned !

Here are my 4 key recommendations you can also practice to nail it :

1 ) Focus on your counterpart’s interests
Get to know their likes and dislikes.
=> this will help you drive more personal conversations.

2 ) Practice mirroring
The goal is to keep your counterpart talking.
=> simply repeat what she/he says to build trust and confidence.
Bonus: it will give you the ability to disagree when needed, without being disagreeable.

3 ) Then ask calibrated questions
Preparation is key: have 3-5 questions to reveal value to you and your counterpart.
Figure out what the other party is worried about.
Use “what” and “how” questions :
=> How an I help to make this better for us ?
=> How would you like me to proceed ?
=> What are we trying to accomplish here ?
=> How can we solve this issue ?

4 ) Finally, follow-up with labelling
Important to translate the emotions into words.
=> It seems like you are worried that …
=> It seems like XYZ is important to you.
=> It seems like you are reluctant to …

In summary, empathy is created through genuine human connections.
And it just takes a few steps to practice and succeed in all of your endeavors.

If you want to learn more about these principles,
I can’t recommend enough Chris Voss’s book for a deep-dive into these topics.

Chris Voss : Never Split the Difference

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1) Empathy : listen and execute, NOT the way around.

2) Shift in Mindset : develop long-term genuine relationships, NOT just one-shot interactions.

3) Outcome : always deliver on promise, do NOT EVER NEVER over-promise.

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