{"id":2374,"date":"2024-08-14T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/138.197.200.24\/resources\/blog\/best-customer-experience-role-of-customer-success\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T10:29:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T10:29:35","slug":"best-customer-experience-role-of-customer-success","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.smartkarrot.com\/resources\/blog\/best-customer-experience-role-of-customer-success\/","title":{"rendered":"The Roles of Success in the Customer Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As a customer success leader, you likely feel strong ownership of the \u201ccustomer experience\u201d and its outcomes. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so painful when you do everything in your power to help customers thrive only to see disappointing results in sentiment or retention. You can go back to the drawing board\u2013improve analytics, update playbooks<\/a>, adjust team member incentives\u2013but there\u2019s also an inconvenient truth to address.<\/p>\n

The vast majority of the \u201cX\u201d in CX (Customer Experience) is beyond your direct control.<\/em><\/p>\n

Success is a big piece of CX, but not the only piece. This article argues that our intentional and outbound success efforts are only a fraction of what the customer interprets as their experience with our product, company, brand, and team members. Success may be one team\u2019s mission, but it\u2019s the entire company\u2019s responsibility. Success leaders have an opportunity\u2013a responsibility\u2013to help the entire organization create impactful customer experiences.<\/p>\n

First, we look at categorizing company\u2194customer interactions independent of channels or functions. Then we explore three potential roles for Customer Success with each interaction. We wrap up with recommended actions to help Success leaders master each role and drive company-wide CX improvements.<\/p>\n

Customer Experience Categories<\/h2>\n

The Customer Success function is uniquely situated to understand the diversity of customer experiences. High functioning success teams orchestrate outcome-based CX. They create customer experiences designed to achieve a stated outcome; typically the desired customer sentiment or behavior like a high NPS or target level of spend or retention. But this extensive customer access also makes it easy for Customer Success to mistake their tip of the iceberg for the entire customer experience.<\/p>\n

Adopting a holistic definition of customer experience<\/a> helps us peer beneath the surface. As a starting point, I suggest: Customer Experience is the sum total of all interactions a customer has with your product, company, brand, and team members. <\/em>Modify this definition as needed to create what works best for your situation. The goal is to identify and categorize all possible intersections between your enterprise and your customers.<\/p>\n

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Define Your Role in Delivering Winning CX<\/h2>\n

Role definition doesn\u2019t need to be overly complex. I suggest three simple tiers to define CX-related roles. The goal is clarity. Well-defined roles help individuals and teams take the right action at the right time to deliver winning CX.<\/p>\n

Review each company\u2194customer intersection and identify if you Own <\/strong>that experience, Influence<\/strong> it, or Handle<\/strong> it after the fact.<\/p>\n

Owning the experience<\/strong> \u2013 these intersections are easy to identify and comprise the core work of the customer-facing team members. For example, Success likely owns the onboarding, product usage<\/a>, and retention interactions. Sales likely own the prospecting and initial sales processes. Marketing likely owns win-back campaigns and user events. Product likely owns UX testing and feedback, etc. If you initiate the contact with the customer or they inbound directly to your team\u2013you probably own that experience.<\/p>\n

If no clear owner exists for any of your company\u2194customer intersections then consider it a red flag. Most of the stories we hear from customers about lousy experience originate from a lack of ownership. Make sure every possible intersection has an owner.<\/p>\n

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