Best Practices for Customer Collaboration

Your customers do not care about your org chart. They experience your company as one brand, not a collection of departments. I often hear, “Doesn’t CX belong to the customer service team?” It's time to debunk that myth. Customer service may answer the call or chat. But they are not the only team accountable for WHY the customer had to reach out in the first place. That contact may have started because the: ✔️product was confusing. ✔️invoice was wrong. ✔️delivery was late. ✔️app did not work. ✔️policy made no sense. ✔️onboarding missed a key step. ✔️marketing created expectations that the actual experience did not meet. ✔️website made the answer too hard to find. By the time the customer reaches the support team, their opinion of your company has already been determined. Here are 3 tactics leaders need to do now: ① Create one unified CX goal. Every team needs to know the outcome that the business is creating for customers. Not one goal for sales. Another for service. Another for operations. Another for product. I'm talking about shared objectives, so everyone prioritized the customer experience above everything else. When departments have separate priorities, customers feel the disconnect. ② Break Internal Barriers Map the customer journey with cross-teams. Bring product, marketing, sales, service, HR, operations, billing, and IT together. Look at where people get confused, delayed, or frustrated. Then ask: What is our role in creating this issue? What can we fix within our area? Where do we need better coordination with another team? What information does the customer need sooner? This is not about blame. It is about understanding the full journey rather than just one department’s piece of the puzzle. ③ Set Clear Accountability and Communication Rules When a customer problem crosses departments, your teams need to know three things: Who communicates internally? Who updates the customer? Who owns follow-through until the issue is resolved? Without that clarity, problems rarely get resolved, and customers lose confidence. What would you add to my list? 👇Comment below. Remember: Companies improve CX when people stop hiding behind job titles and start owning the impact they create. That is Doing CX Right®‬ Got questions? Message me.

𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬—𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐨-𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬. Building lasting marketing partnerships isn’t about one-off projects; it’s about transforming every engagement into a collaborative journey toward growth. Here's how to turn clients into true partners: 1️⃣ Overdeliver on Value: • Surprise them with insights and extra resources that go beyond the brief. • Offer actionable ideas they didn't even know they needed. 2️⃣ Communicate with Radical Transparency: • Keep clients updated at every stage—no surprises, just honest progress. • Open, clear communication builds trust and solidifies long-term relationships. 3️⃣ Listen First, Act Later: • Understand their unique challenges before pitching solutions. • Tailor your strategies to what they truly need, not just what sounds good. 4️⃣ Show, Don’t Just Tell: • Use real data, case studies, and tangible examples to demonstrate success. • Let the results speak for themselves, turning promises into proven outcomes. 5️⃣ Embrace Their Perspective: • Involve clients in the creative process and welcome their feedback. • When they feel heard and valued, they become invested in your shared success. When you shift from viewing clients as transactions to seeing them as partners, every campaign becomes a joint venture toward innovation and growth. Your insights fuel the conversation. #MarketingStrategy #ClientEngagement #BrandPartnerships

"Center the customer in everything you do." This kind of advice is tossed around a lot in customer success. At the surface, it's great! *Of course* we should center the customer!! Buuuutttt.... How, exactly? I like to use the ACT Framework to make this general concept more actionable. "ACT" - Advocate, Connect, Translate. This framework helps anyone in a customer-facing role (but especially CSMs) earn customer trust, drive value, and influence internal priorities, by keeping the customer at the core. 🙋♀️ ADVOCATE: Be the voice of the customer – internally and externally. Build credibility and trust by relentlessly championing the customer’s success – internally with teams, and externally with the customer. - Build trust by showing customers you understand their goals, frustrations, and business context - Internally, consistently represent customers’ needs in product discussions, roadmap planning, and enablement - Example scenarios: ▶️ External: Your customer is struggling with onboarding delays. Instead of saying “that’s handled by another team,” you say, “let’s walk through the blockers together – I’ll escalate and stay with this until it’s resolved.” ▶️ Internal: During a roadmap or release review, you say, “This request has come up from 3 of my strategic accounts – it’s tied to their quarterly KPIs. Can we scope it for Q4?” 🤝 CONNECT: Tie everything back to your customer’s business outcomes. Drive value by aligning product usage to what matters most to them – revenue growth, patient care, efficiency, etc. - Go beyond product usage – understand how your solution fits into customers' broader goals and challenges - Use this context to personalize recommendations and measure success - Example scenarios: ▶️ “You mentioned one of your focus areas is reducing time spent on administrative tasks like charting after patient appointments – let’s look at how your team’s adoption of [Feature X] is trending and what we can do to increase ROI.” ▶️ “This workflow would reduce manual reporting by 20+ hours/month – that's a win you can share with leadership.” 📣 TRANSLATE: Turn insights into action for both sides. Bridge the gap between customer language and product/engineering language – and vice versa.  - Translate customer feedback into clear, actionable insights for your internal teams - Translate product updates and capabilities into value-based messaging for your customer - Example scenarios: ▶️ External: “This new release includes [Feature Y] – which should save your team at least 3 hours/week based on the process we mapped out last month.” ▶️ Internal: “Here’s what customers actually mean when they say the platform doesn’t work for their workflow – it’s not the functionality, it’s the lack of integration templates.” How do you "center the customer" in a practical way??

Throughout my decade-long journey in the tech industry, if there's one lesson that’s stuck with me, it’s this: your connection with your customers is everything. At Supersourcing, we’ve woven this belief into the fabric of our business. And trust me, it’s made all the difference. Here’s how we keep our customer focus sharp and true: - Listen First, Act Fast: Early on, I learned that listening isn’t just about hearing words; it’s about understanding your customers' underlying needs and emotions. We prioritize active listening—through regular feedback loops and candid conversations—so that when we act, it’s both swift and deeply aligned with what our clients actually want. - Tailored Solutions, Not One-Size-Fits-All: One of the most transformative shifts we made was moving from a transactional mindset to a partnership approach. It helps us understand our clients’ bigger picture—what are their goals? What keeps them up at night? We tailor our solutions to align with these insights, making our support feel less like a service and more like a collaboration. - Transparent Communication Builds Trust: I can’t stress enough how much transparency has contributed to our success. It’s about being upfront, even when the news isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Our clients appreciate honesty, and this straightforward approach has helped us build strong, lasting relationships based on trust and mutual respect. - Proactivity Is Key: Waiting for a problem to arise means you’re already too late. We’ve built a culture of proactivity—whether it’s checking in on developers regularly or anticipating potential roadblocks, we aim to address challenges before they turn into problems. These strategies have been pivotal in driving not just customer satisfaction but loyalty and advocacy. It’s about being more than a vendor; it’s about being a partner who genuinely cares about the success of those we serve. How do you keep your client relationships strong and authentic? I’m eager to hear your thoughts!

One of the best ways to create authentic relationships with your customers, get honest feedback on your product and surface game changing ideas is to create a Customer Advisory Board (CAB). Here are the lessons I’ve learned about how to create and run a successful CAB. Your personal involvement as CEO is critical. If you lead it yourself, customers will engage at a deeper level. They’ll be more honest, more vulnerable, and more likely to become evangelists for your company. No one else can unlock this dynamic the way a CEO can. Be clear on the persona. Is your CAB for buyers, users, or budget holders? At BetterCloud, our sweet spot was Directors of IT. Not the CIO, not the IT admin. Know exactly whose voice you want in the room and tailor everything to them. Skip the compensation, give them “status”. Don’t pay CAB members—it gets messy. Instead, make them feel like insiders. Give them a title, early access to roadmaps, VIP treatment at events, and public recognition. People want to feel valued and influential, not bought. Set a cadence you can maintain. I tried monthly meetings once. That was a mistake. Quarterly is the sweet spot. One in-person gathering per year—ideally tied to an industry event—goes a long way in deepening relationships. Structure matters. CABs aren’t just roundtables. They’re curated experiences. Keep meetings tight (90-120 minutes), show real products that are still in the development process (even rough wireframes or high level ideas), and create space for interaction. Done right, they become the ultimate feedback engine. Build real relationships. Your CAB shouldn’t just exist in meetings. Build one-on-one connections. Text, email, check in at events. Keep it small enough that people feel seen and valued. When they have a direct line to the CEO, they stay engaged—and they speak the truth. Done right, your CAB becomes more than just a feedback mechanism. It becomes a strategic asset. It can shape your roadmap, sharpen your positioning, and strengthen your customer relationships in ways no survey ever could. For a deeper dive and detailed tactics behind each of these, check out the full writeup on the Not Another CEO Substack.

Your Product Managers are talking to customers. So why isn’t your product getting better? A few years ago, I was on a team where our boss had a rule: 🗣️ “Everyone must talk to at least one customer each week.” So we did. Calls were scheduled. Conversations happened. Boxes were checked. But nothing changed. No real insights. No real impact. Because talking to customers isn’t the goal. Learning the right things is. When discovery lacks purpose, it leads to wasted effort, misaligned strategy, and poor business decisions: ❌ Features get built that no one actually needs. ❌ Roadmaps get shaped by the loudest voices, not the right customers. ❌ Teams collect insights… but fail to act on them. How Do You Fix It? ✅ Talk to the Right People Not every customer insight is useful. Prioritize: -> Decision-makers AND end-users – You need both perspectives. -> Customers who represent your core market – Not just the loudest complainers. -> Direct conversations – Avoid proxy insights that create blind spots. 👉 Actionable Step: Before each interview, ask: “Is this customer representative of the next 100 we want to win?” If not, rethink who you’re talking to. ✅ Ask the Right Questions A great question challenges assumptions. A bad one reinforces them. -> Stop asking: “Would you use this?” -> Start asking: “How do you solve this today?” -> Show AI prototypes and iterate in real-time – Faster than long discovery cycles. -> If shipping something is faster than researching it—just build it. 👉 Actionable Step: Replace one of your upcoming interview questions with: “What workarounds have you created to solve this problem?” This reveals real pain points. ✅ Don’t Let Insights Die in a Doc Discovery isn’t about collecting insights. It’s about acting on them. -> Validate across multiple customers before making decisions. -> Share findings with your team—don’t keep them locked in Notion. -> Close the loop—show customers how their feedback shaped the product. 👉 Actionable Step: Every two weeks, review customer insights with your team to decipher key patterns and identify what changes should be applied. If there’s no clear action, you’re just collecting data—not driving change. Final Thought Great discovery doesn’t just inform product decisions—it shapes business strategy. Done right, it helps teams build what matters, align with real customer needs, and drive meaningful outcomes. 👉 Be honest—are your customer conversations actually making a difference? If not, what’s missing? -- 👋 I'm Ron Yang, a product leader and advisor. Follow me for insights on product leadership + strategy.

Your biggest customer risk? Betting everything on one relationship. What happens when that one person leaves? ❌ Projects stall. ❌ Your partnership unravels. ❌ The renewal becomes risky. And the worst part? You never saw it coming. Top-performing CSMs don’t take that risk. They don’t rely on one strong relationship—they build a network of champions. Why multi-threading matters: ✅ Mitigate Risk: If one stakeholder exits, others keep things moving. ✅ Increase Influence: Connect the dots across teams and drive execution. ✅ Drive Results: More relationships = better insights, faster problem-solving, and stronger success. How to multi-thread before you need it: 1️⃣ Leverage Your Existing POC Your primary contact is your bridge—use them to expand your network. 🔹 “Who else on your team is involved in this initiative?” 🔹 “I’d love to connect with someone in [department X] to better understand their goals.” 🔹 “Can you bring someone from IT/Operations to the next meeting so we’re fully aligned?” 💡 Pro tip: Position these as opportunities for collaboration, not an end-run around your contact. 2️⃣ Navigate Office Politics Like a Pro Every company has internal dynamics. The key? Stay neutral, and focus on value. ✅ Align on shared goals – “We’re all working toward [specific metric]. How can I best support your team?” ✅ Ask for cross-team feedback – “Are there challenges I can help with? I want to ensure we’re delivering max value.” ✅ Share positive results and the value your product delivers - "Sharing our last quarter's shared results to celebrate 3 big wins!" ✅ Be a connector – Bridge gaps between teams. Your influence will skyrocket. 3️⃣ Use Data & Insights to Open Doors Customers trust numbers—use them to justify new relationships. 📊 “Our data shows [team X] could optimize [Y process] in order for us to see even better results. Can I connect with someone there?” 📊 “We’ve helped similar teams achieve [result]. Would it help to set up a quick call with your [relevant team]?” 4️⃣ Build Relationships Across Departments Don’t limit yourself to one function. Get to know: ✔ Customer Support – They hear pain points firsthand. ✔ IT/Dev Teams – They control key tech decisions. ✔ Finance & Procurement – They hold the budget. ✔ Marketing/Sales – They shape customer messaging. 👀 Ask: “What are your top priorities this quarter?” or “How do you measure success?” Their answers will reveal hidden opportunities for you to add value. 🔥 Take Action: Build Your Safety Net The best CSMs don’t leave relationships to chance. They expand their influence and build networks of trust—before they need them. 👇 Want to sharpen your Swiss Army knife and build the skills to succeed in CS? Join 15K CS professionals in Unconventional Growth [link in comments]. #CustomerSuccess #CSM #CustomerRetention #RevOps #CX

Most customers don’t actually know their goals and that’s not their fault. We spend so much time trying to “uncover” customer goals, but what if there’s actually nothing to uncover? Not because customers aren’t strategic. Not because they don’t care. But because, just like many of our onboarding conversations reveal, they’ve never been asked to think about outcomes the way we think about outcomes. Most customers are thinking: “I bought this product because it solves a problem.” Not: “I defined the outcome I want, determined the process changes required, and then selected the tool that supports that path.” And remember: This initiative is new for them. They haven't implemented a product like yours every day for years. You have. You’ve seen hundreds of customers. You know what success looks like. You know where customers fail. You know the exact actions that create momentum. And that means you are responsible for guiding goal-setting, not just documenting whatever the customer says. Here’s how to shift the conversation into outcome thinking: 1. Categorize the only goals that actually matter These buckets exist in every business: • Save time • Save money • Increase revenue / leads • Improve productivity or efficiency Your job is to help the customer choose which one truly aligns to their desired outcome. 2. Translate those categories into measurable metrics Customers rarely do this part on their own. Examples: • Open rate • Cost per lead • Leads per month • Resolution time This step alone changes the entire tone of the relationship, from vague expectations to measurable progress. 3. Layer in benchmarks so the customer knows what ‘good’ looks like Define: Poor → Good → Best One simple example: Leads per month (E-comm) Poor: <5 Good: 6–15 Best: 16+ The ranges aren’t abstract, they come from your best customers and your failed customers. That’s where the truth always is. 4. Recommend the first goal they should go after Customers default to unrealistic outcomes because they don’t know the pattern of success. If they produce 1 lead a month, they shouldn’t aim for 25. You can say: “Given your current performance, I recommend we focus on a goal of 10 leads/month by end of Q1. Once we hit that, we’ll shift into Phase 2 and push toward 20/month.” This is expertise. This is leadership. This is how you break the customer-centric doom loop where customers expect you to tell them what to do, yet CS teams keep responding, “It depends.” The goal isn’t to ask for goals. The goal is to shape them. Your customers don’t need a note-taker. They need a strategic partner who knows the outcomes that actually matter, and the steps required to get there. Most customers don’t know their goals. But you do. Because you’ve seen the path to success hundreds of times. Your job is to guide them onto it. How do you help customers define the right goals? #customersuccess

Over the last several weeks, Tipalti has hosted several customer advisory boards across the globe. One in NYC for US clients (by Far our best attended ever!), one EU CAB in Amsterdam, and our first-ever internal CAB with key customer-facing subject matter experts. CABs are an excellent way to engage with and deepen client relationships, but the real objective is to get deeper, more contextualized customer feedback to better inform your product and other business-related decisions. Here are a few insights I have garnered from our recent experiences: 1. The Impact of Listening: The power of Active Listening (aka #reflecting) can never be understated. Hearing first hand feedback from a customer while you look them in the eye, asking questions to clarify understanding, and then expressing that you are genuinely considering that feedback into your decision-making helps to improve your business while making customers more loyal. These conversations also help ensure your team is putting the customer at the center of their decision-making. 2. The Power of Human Connection: There is a distinct difference to capturing feedback in-person vs digital methods of capturing need. Businesses often prefer to use spreadsheets to make decisions and that is very important. But relying too heavily and solely on this, without getting the deeper understanding of Why clients care about certain things and without fully appreciating the Emotion and excitement or frustration levels tied to the feedback can lead you off track. There is an important place for human-to-human interaction in business and those who get that will ultimately run a more successful business imo. 3. The Value of Collaboration: These CABs are, by nature, cross-functional efforts to pull off. Customer marketing may pull the event all together, customer success and account management helps to recruit attendees, product guides much of the content and conversation, and customers may also help to inform the topics and agenda too. At the event, everyone is engaging with one another. After the event, these different groups need to synthesize the input, prioritize it, share the learnings with business leaders, and action the learnings. These are big undertakings but they pull the entire company together to focus on the customer as their north star and that alone is transformative. Thank you to Leslie Barrett, Paola Johnson, Veronica Wynkoop, Irina Musteata, Reut Golan, Gil Vind Picciotto and everyone involved in making these 3 CABs a great success!

"No Handoff" sounds catchy, but here's what works Everyone's talking about eliminating the sales-to-CS handoff. This is a provocative idea, but it misses a crucial distinction. You can't "hand off" a relationship, but you absolutely must hand off a plan. We've all seen the scenario play out: A customer spends months with AEs and SEs. They build trust. They create a shared vision. Then they sign...and suddenly face an entirely new team. They explain their needs repeatedly while questioning why the company they just paid seems to have organizational amnesia. Despite implementing: --> Detailed CRM notes --> AI call summaries --> Knowledge transfer sessions --> Formal handoff checklists The gap persists. Why? Because information transfer isn't the same as relationship continuity. The most effective B2B SaaS companies aren't eliminating handoffs entirely—they're transforming how responsibility transitions while maintaining relationship consistency. Here's what works: 1️⃣ Create relationship overlap, not abrupt transitions The customer's journey shouldn't feel like switching trains. Post-sale teams should join key conversations before the deal closes, while AEs should remain involved for the first critical milestones after. This isn't about eliminating handoffs—it's about creating a gradual transition that maintains trust. 2️⃣ Develop implementation plans collaboratively across teams The mistake isn't having a handoff—it's when the post-sale team inherits commitments they didn't help create. When implementation experts join pre-sale conversations, they're not eliminating the eventual handoff—they're ensuring what gets handed off is actually deliverable. 3️⃣ Document commitments, not just information Most handoffs focus on transferring information (what the customer said) rather than commitments (what we promised). The best transitions document exactly what was committed, by whom, and by when—creating clear accountability that spans the sales-to-delivery boundary. The goal isn't "no handoff"—it's "no surprise" for the customer or your delivery team. In today's complex B2B purchases, customers don't expect the same people throughout their journey. They expect continuity of understanding and commitment. That doesn't require eliminating handoffs. It requires designing them with the customer experience at the center. What's been your most effective approach to maintaining relationship continuity during customer transitions?