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In B2B, customer success and growth strategies are critical elements for driving business expansion and achieving sustainable success. The emergence of innovative SaaS products originated a specific interest in product-led growth (PLG), in which the product by itself guides the potential customer and converts him, without the involvement of a sales team. However, the most innovative B2B companies have realized that the next required innovation that they need, in order to grow faster and more efficiently, is to transform their high-touch onboarding and customer success into a low-touch one.
There is a clear analogy between high and low touch customer success and sales-led and product-led growth, and there are clear benefits of adopting a low-touch approach for both. But before delving into the details, let’s start with some definitions:
Sales-Led Growth: Sales-led growth strategies prioritize sales teams driving customer acquisition through proactive outreach, negotiations, and relationship-building. The focus is on direct selling and closing deals, often with a heavy emphasis on personal interactions. While effective in generating revenue, this model may limit scalability and hinder long-term customer success.
Product-Led Growth: Product-led growth strategies prioritize the product itself as the primary driver of customer acquisition and expansion. Through free trials, freemium offerings, and self-serve experiences, businesses encourage users to experience the value of the product firsthand. By focusing on the product's usability, ease of adoption, and customer-centric features, PLG fosters viral adoption, scalability, and long-term success.
High-Touch Customer Success: High-touch customer success relies on dedicated customer success managers, extensive one-on-one interactions, and a focus on building strong relationships. This approach excels in delivering a high level of customer satisfaction but can become resource-intensive and challenging to scale.
Low-Touch Customer Success: Low-touch customer success aims to streamline and automate processes, providing self-service options and scalable solutions. It leverages technology, such as SaaS platforms, to deliver a standardized and efficient customer experience. By focusing on product value, education, and automation, businesses can empower customers to onboard, adopt, and succeed independently.
a. Scalability: Low-touch customer success and product-led growth models allow businesses to scale their operations and reach a wider customer base without the need for a large number of dedicated resources or extensive manual efforts.
b. Efficiency and Automation: By leveraging technology, automating processes, and providing self-service options, businesses can deliver a consistent and efficient customer experience while minimizing manual interventions.
c. Customer Empowerment: Low-touch approaches empower customers to take control of their own onboarding, adoption, and success journey. This sense of ownership leads to increased satisfaction and a deeper understanding of the product's value.
d. Data-Driven Insights: Low-touch customer success and product-led growth models generate valuable data on customer behavior, product usage, and conversion metrics. These insights can inform product improvements, feature enhancements, and targeted marketing strategies.
While low-touch customer success and product-led growth bring numerous benefits, it is essential to strike the right balance. In particular, the main advantage of the high-touch approach is the high personalization and level of service. But what if you can combine elements of personalization, education, and customer support with scalable, self-service options? By aligning these strategies, businesses can create a seamless customer journey that nurtures relationships, encourages adoption, and drives long-term success.
For instance, Bonder is a tool dedicated to help B2B businesses to improve their onboarding processes by creating an onboarding playbook and automating the process. Of course, the Customer Success team will need to keep an eye on every new client onboarding. But instead of repeating the same manual process every time and sending manual reminders, they can leverage the power of a tool that was created to help them along the process.
In conclusion, in the dynamic landscape of B2B companies, transitioning from high-touch customer success and sales-led growth to low-touch customer success and product-led growth can unlock significant advantages. By leveraging technology, automation, and self-serve experiences, businesses can scale their operations, drive customer success, and achieve sustainable growth. If you want to learn more on how Bonder can help you improve your onboarding and customer success experience, please reach out!