At what point should Customer Success get involved?
Solving the common problems between Sales and Customer Success starts with defining when each team is supposed to take charge.
For the CS team. It is tricky, and there are two options:
Option 1: CS starts working after Sales has closed the deal and hit the 100% mark
Option 2: CS should start before the deal gets closed. Somewhere around the 70-90 % mark.
Which option is correct? Both are right! However, it depends on the specific deal.
Option 1 is recommended if your product/service has:
Small average deal sizes (below $15k)
Fast sales cycles (about 30-60 days)
Quick implementations (less than a week)
The above is for small businesses that might get slowed down by the involvement of a CS team in closing the deal.
Option 2 is recommended if your product/service has:
Avg. Deal size exceeds $15k
90+ days of sales cycles
Average implementation of 2 weeks or more
Option 2 describes a business that usually requires consultations before closing the deal. Inviting the CS in-between the deal would further build trust and relationship with the prospect, especially after the handoff.
How do you smoothen your handoff process?
1. Draft a checklist
Very important! Write out a list of every essential information you think the CS needs about the new prospect. Share with the CS if possible and continuously refine it as the negotiations continue. Here’s a template guide if you are unsure of how to start.
2. Choose the right tools & Use them correctly
Make the checklist in your CRM a requirement before closing the deal. It ensures that all necessary info is documented during the sales process. Another alternative is organizing training sessions for the Sales team.
3. Schedule bi-weekly Sales + Customer Success Meetings
The purpose of these meetings is cross-examining common challenges in your sales handoff process. The best practice is to prepare a plan before the meeting, which should include every member's top concerns. You can use a shared google doc to create that. It gives the meeting a direction and one that’s geared toward solutions rather than passing faults around. Moreover, the bi-weekly arrangement suits the purpose – it allows enough time to implement previous agreements.
Who should lead the handoff?
Does the CSM simply step in and introduce themselves? Or does the AE send prepare a handoff email that does the CSM introduction? We have seen such situations arise and believe that a smooth transition is the goal of every business. Therefore, a more collective solution is for the CS to handle the handoff with the Sales team present. It assures the customer they are valued and still in capable hands. That assumes that the customer has signed the deal and is not interested in the process, including company emails. But what happens to newly acquired customers that struggle to open emails Personalized customer handoffs work perfectly well for products with few sign-ups per day. However, it becomes a challenge for large businesses with thousands of sign-ups daily.
For such businesses, how do you connect with new customers?
Final words
Getting a frictionless handoff between sales and customer success is possible, but you don’t have to panic if a sale doesn’t close properly. It might be a one-time thing, and that’s where documentation of sales processes becomes important. Frequently check through the different challenges encountered for different handoffs. When you notice a reoccurring situation, that’s the time to remodel the process. We hope this guide will help in revamping your Sales to Customer success handoffs.
