Building Your SMEs Customer Function

3 actionable steps to transform your SME's customer success.

Author

Tomas
January 14th, 2025

Editor Notes

The Scoop

New year, new strategies! We're kicking off 2025 with a bang (and maybe a few leftover holiday cookies).

What's in store this week?

  • We're diving deep into crafting your CS strategy, setting up health scores, and nailing your onboarding process.

  • Ready to roll up your sleeves? This week's Quick Tips outlines actionable steps to define your CS strategy, choose key health metrics, and map your ideal onboarding journey. Let's get to work!

Cheers,

Tomas - Chief CS Enthusiast, The Customer Champion

P.S. CS Ops roles are down 11%...but is that the whole story? Head over to my LinkedIn post to learn why smart companies are doubling down on CS Operations.

Featured Article

3 Steps to Better Customer Success for Your SME

It's time to shift your Customer Success function into high gear! We're not just talking about incremental improvements - we're talking about transformative actions that will propel your SME to the forefront of customer-centricity.

Let's dive into three game-changing strategies that will supercharge your CS efforts and drive real results.

Craft Your Customer Success Strategy: Your Roadmap to Victory

In the world of SMEs, having a clear direction is your secret weapon. Many SMEs operate without a formal customer success strategy - putting them at a significant disadvantage in today's competitive landscape. Let's change that today!

Action Step: Create a one-page CS strategy document outlining your goals, key performance indicators (KPIs), and main initiatives. 

Real-World Impact: Companies with documented customer success strategies consistently outperform those without formal frameworks in place. 

Key Takeaway: Your CS strategy is your compass. Keep it clear, keep it concise, and let it guide every decision towards customer success.

Implement a Basic Customer Health Score: Your Early Warning System

Imagine having a crystal ball that tells you which customers need attention before they even know it themselves. That's the power of a customer's health score!

Action Step: Define 3-5 key metrics (e.g., product usage, support tickets, NPS) to create a simple health score for each customer. 

Real-World Impact: A traffic light system (red, yellow, green) for customer health has become an industry standard approach, allowing teams to quickly identify at-risk accounts and take proactive action. 

Key Takeaway: Your health score is your CS superpower. Start simple, but start now. It's your ticket to proactive, rather than reactive, customer success.

Establish a Structured Onboarding Process: Your Customer's Launchpad

Great customer relationships start with a bang, not a whimper. A structured onboarding process is your customer's launchpad to success!

Action Step: Create a standardised onboarding checklist and welcome email series to guide new customers through their first days and weeks with your product. 

Real-World Impact: A well-structured onboarding process has been consistently shown to improve customer retention and product adoption rates. 

Key Takeaway: Your onboarding process sets the tone for the entire customer journey. Make it engaging, make it clear, and watch your customers soar to new heights.

These three actions aren't just improvements - they're game-changers. They represent a fundamental shift in how SMEs approach customer success, moving from hope to strategy, from reactive to proactive, from good intentions to great results.

Trust me when I say if you focus on these 3 things in your early stages and grow them - they will make ALL the difference to your business & your clients. It will pay dividends in the years to come.

This is also around about the time you should be hiring your first CSM ( Customer Success Manager) or a similar hybrid role to start focusing on this for your business) 

Remember, in the world of customer success, it's not the size of your team that matters, but the impact of your actions. So, let's put these strategies into action and watch your customer success soar! 

Let's make it happen people!

Quick Tips

Your Customer Success Action Plan

Here are a few more quick, actionable tips to get you started:

Craft Your CS Strategy:

  • Do this first: Schedule a 2-hour strategy session with your team.

  • Create a simple template with sections for Vision, Goals, KPIs, and Key Initiatives.

  • Limit yourself to one page - brevity is key!

Pro tip: Review and update your strategy quarterly to keep it fresh and relevant.

Implement a Customer Health Score:

  • Start with just 3 metrics: Product Usage, Support Tickets, and Recent Communications.

  • Assign a simple score: 1 (poor), 2 (average), 3 (good) for each metric.

  • Add the scores together for an overall health score out of 9.

Pro tip: Use colour coding (Red, Yellow, Green) for quick visual reference.

Establish a Structured Onboarding Process:

  •  Map out your ideal customer's first 30 days with your product.

  •  Create a welcome email series (3-5 emails) highlighting key features and resources.

  •  Develop a simple onboarding checklist for customers to track their progress.

Pro tip: Include a personal touch - schedule a quick call or send a personalised video message to new customers.

Bonus Tip - Start Collecting Regular Feedback:

  • Set up a simple NPS survey using a free tool like SurveyMonkey or a free option is good to start with.

  • Send it to customers quarterly, aiming for at least 20% response rate.

  • Follow up personally with detractors (scores 0-6) to address their concerns.

Pro tip: Share positive feedback with your team to boost morale and reinforce customer-centric behaviour.

Remember, you don't need to implement everything at once. Start with one action this week, then add another next week. Small, consistent steps lead to big Customer Success wins!

Events

Save The Date

CX Summit APAC 2025
📅 Date: August 18, 2025
📍 Location: Sydney, Australia and Digital
🌐 Website: https://www.forrester.com/event/cx-apac/

Customer Contact Week Australia and New Zealand 2025
📅 Date: March 4-6, 2025
📍 Location: Gold Coast, Australia
🌐 Website: https://www.customercontactweekdigital.com/events-customercontactweek-au

Customer Experience Asia Week 2025
📅 Date: June 17-20, 2025
📍 Location: Singapore
🌐 Website: https://www.cxnetwork.com/events-customerexperienceasia

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