Customer retention should be your key focus. Statistics prove that the success rate of selling to existing customers is about 60-70% and only 5-20% for new clients. That sums it up…
Your sales-to-success process should center on quickly getting your new customers acquainted with your products or services. Prioritize their satisfaction through proper onboarding, smooth sales-to-service handoff, and consistency in quality. Below are helpful tips for building a long-lasting relationship between your sales team, customer success team, and customers.
What is a handoff?
The sales-to-success handoff process is where the prospect becomes a buying customer and is handed over to the customer success team by the sales team. Not clear? Let's break it down.
Think of the whole process as a relay race. The lead athlete runs and hands over the baton to the next person. That goes on until the last athlete completes the race. It's the same thing here! The sales team focuses on selling your product's unique selling proposition and guiding the customer to see the benefits before closing the deal. They make the promise while the customer success team builds a relationship with the customer and consistently ensures they enjoy the promised solutions. That way, the prospect is now a buying customer and ultimately becomes a returning buyer. Of course, pipeline velocity matters, but ensuring smooth sales-to-service handoff processes is vital. It improves customer retention and boosts sales revenue.
A good first impression is essential but not enough. Therefore, be ready to take that extra step of building a relationship with your prospect-turned-customers. Only satisfied customers return for more or pay for your product/service when the previous one expires. That means you lose prospective sales when you ignore the simple things. Besides, buyer's remorse is a thing – many people often have doubts after paying for a product or service. You need to ensure such customers have enough resources and help to understand they made the right choice with you. Build their trust with realistic promises and consistent quality deliveries, and watch them become long-term customers. What we're saying is that: The sales-to-service handoff process is important since it determines the outcome of the customer-business relationship. It's particularly crucial for subscription-based services or products. Renewals or returning purchases maximize profits. Poor sales handoff can extend the time for a customer to ROI. A long handoff process can reduce the customer's excitement to try out the product or service. Furthermore, issues during the handoff process ruin the sales experience since the customer might get dissatisfied or even lose interest. Customers always tend to switch to competitors after a bad sales experience. Nobody wants that, so we outlined the following tips to ensure seamless sales-to-service transitions.
A smooth handoff process starts while the sale hasn't even been closed. Achieving a smooth sales handoff involves starting preparation before the deal gets closed. Early preparations immediately after confirming the likelihood of a sale provide the customer success team ample time to get relevant customer information from the sales team. That enables the service teams (customer success & support) to tidy every little detail and secure an excellent first impression. It also speeds up onboarding because the different teams understand exactly what is required when closing the deal. Assigning and routing of CSMs varies from business to business. Some are automatic depending on the deal size, availability, location, and industry structure. However, introducing the CSM to the prospect even before closing the deal saves time and builds trust. It also minimizes the chances of unpleasant challenges down the line. Important info when introducing a CSM includes letting the customer know the appropriate support platforms and exact details about their assigned CSM or account executive. Passing vital information between the sales team and the customer success team is important. One way to effectively transfer relevant information between the sales and customer success teams is by having an internal team handoff. Some companies ignore this step which affects their handoff process. Setting up a physical or zoom meeting allows the sales rep to share every valuable detail about the prospect. Your sales team has to note important points discussed in the meeting. Most company do this all manually but Handoffs.com automates all of this with AI. Read more about How It Works.
The customer success manager (CSM) must be provided access to all the contract documentation, like the deal's value, proposal versions, email correspondence, case studies and meeting notes, and previous details shared with the customer. The CSM must also know who the stakeholders are and their contributions to closing the deal. That includes details like who rooted for the contract, countered it, agreed to the final decisions, and is committed to its continuation. Another important tip is confirming that the team understands the customer's main goals. That would serve as a guide in meeting the customer's expectations and avoiding customer dissatisfaction or frustration. Therefore, the internal meetings and transfer of information from the sales team to the customer success team must address the customer's biggest challenges and proffer possible solutions. That's what gives the edge over competitors. The CS team might also care to know if the customer has previously tried a competitor and details of what affected the deal. It helps to evade similar mistakes and overcome competition.
The client handoff process is where the customer success team meets with the client and offers the assurance of why your company is the solution they need. Of course, that is only after they have all the necessary information about the client. By establishing a personalized customer relationship, they build the customer's trust and dispel the possibility of buyer's remorse. Remember, it is the perfect chance to land a good first impression, and we advise preparations even before the deal is closed. The client handoff should also be quick – anytime within 24 hours of signing the contract is great. However, extending it to 3-5 working days is understandable when more customers are involved. Not all customers need the same approach to implementation and onboarding. The method of onboarding and implementation of sales ideas varies depending on the customer. We have the first set of customers that prefer self-service options. Having a knowledge base with some FAQs is enough for them. An email sequence that explains your product's or service's main features serves them well. Another set of customers requires you to establish periodic check-ins and supportive resources and information, preferably step-by-step.
Tips for Improving Customer Handoffs
Here are some useful tips to improve your chances of a successful sales-to-service handoff process.
1. Align sales and service teams. You already understand how crucial marketing and sales alignment are to the effectiveness of your closing efforts. It is the same with this. It's critical to have open lines of communication and promote collaboration between your sales and service teams to speed up the procedure. Every step of the customer's journey should include information sharing, and companies should monitor consumer feedback and introduce it regularly.
2. Introduce shared goals. The two teams should decide on a set of targets they can collaborate to accomplish. Positive customer feedback or getting a renewal could be examples of such. Utilize metrics to monitor their effectiveness.
3. Be customer-centric. Customer success teams usually have the potential to become too product-focused, neglecting that it is their goal to win the customer over again. Customer service is a secondary product they are selling. Instead of concentrating on the features and specifications of the product, they should take care of the client by guiding them through the implementation and setup process while paying close attention to the customer experience. From the commencement of the sales cycle through implementation and onboarding, both teams are in charge of improving the customer experience. The sales and customer success teams will work closely together to ensure that there are no misunderstandings or errors and that all of the needs of recently acquired clients are satisfied.
