{"id":2530,"date":"2023-06-07T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/138.197.200.24\/resources\/blog\/sales-customer-success-alignment\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T10:22:41","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T10:22:41","slug":"sales-customer-success-alignment","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.smartkarrot.com\/resources\/blog\/sales-customer-success-alignment\/","title":{"rendered":"Why and How to Align Sales and Customer Success"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"col-lg-8 ps-lg-4\" id=\"blogcatcontent\">\n<p>When we talk about what part of the company is technically the inner voice of the customers, the answer usually turns out to be customer success management. In fact, the best companies recognize the use of good communication and how that can add value to the sales process. Delving into other aspects of customer culture positions the clients for success once they become brand advocates. This blog is going to walk you through the easy alignment of sales and customer success.<\/p>\n<p>The initial catalyst, or the very reason the customer decided they need your solution \u2013 doesn\u2019t go away once they buy. In fact, it actually gets stronger once they\u2019ve made that commitment. And sales communicating that catalyst to Customer Success not only sets the customer up for success but also the company.<\/p>\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height:20px\"><\/div>\n<p>So you must remember both Sales and the Customer Success Management organizations hold a treasure trove of useful knowledge on your customers. You can then tap into grow new business sales and drive\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gartner.com\/en\/sales\/insights\/trending-topics\/account-management-and-growth\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">in-account\u00a0<\/a>expansion. And to know about why do we need to align both the terms and how do we do that, read on.<\/p>\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height:20px\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why aligning sales and customer success is important?<\/h2>\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height:20px\"><\/div>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Gathers insights into various customers\u2019 needs \u2013 When you team up your sales and customer success departments, you tend to see how good ideas brew. Also, you can now envisage how easy it is to acquire each type of customer.\n<p>While customer success\u00a0managers\u00a0can easily know if a client is a good fit or not, sales can provide color into how tough it is to acquire customers from each\u00a0<a href=\"\/customer-segmentation\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">segment<\/a>. Hence, club both and get cognizant of the customer segment\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>Sets a\u00a0<a href=\"\/resources\/blog\/customer-feedback\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">feedback<\/a>\u00a0loop \u2013 It\u2019s a given that setting up a feedback loop between the customer success and sales departments allows you to adjust to the newer insights. Not just that, it constantly refines your segments.\n<p>One way to boost up the sales and customer success relationship is by putting up collaborative workshops. Some of the common questions you can throw a laser-beam focus at are: which sectors are better to work with? Are service packages a good tool to render quality?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>Collaborates with a united team \u2013 Both the teams can gel up to imbue quality and value. Early in the sales cycle, customer success teams can help frame opportunities and vice versa.\n<p>Not just that, they can help the sales team scope the implementation and ensure that the right framework is being established. Further, you can carve out a\u00a0<a href=\"\/resources\/blog\/30-60-90-day-plan-playbook-for-customer-success-managers\/\">30-60-90\u00a0day plan<\/a> that checks that you are executing on the deliverability right.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height:20px\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to align sales and customer success?<\/h2>\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height:20px\"><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">References come to rescue<\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s a given that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/uplandsoftware.com\/roinnovation\/resources\/blog\/define-customer-reference\/#:~:text=In%20simple%20terms%3A,create%20demand%20and%20sell%20impact.\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">references<\/a>\u00a0are a critical part of the sales process. Also, refrain from asking the same client for a referral. Note that asking customers to reference when they are on a positive success vector or the ones who have hit a logical success milestone, can easily drive a surplus supply of valuable references.<\/p>\n<p>This is when the sales team can receive leverage. This is will eventually drive the customer success team with\u00a0<a href=\"\/up-sell-cross-sell\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">upsells and cross-sells<\/a>\u00a0too.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Create a success plan<\/h3>\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height:20px\"><\/div>\n<p>A Success Plan to capture target\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.klipfolio.com\/resources\/articles\/what-is-a-key-performance-indicator#:~:text=A%20Key%20Performance%20Indicator%20is,their%20success%20at%20reaching%20targets.\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">KPIs<\/a>, expected\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/corporatefinanceinstitute.com\/resources\/knowledge\/finance\/return-on-investment-roi-formula\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ROIs<\/a>, and desired timelines for each customer. This plan should become the main working document for CSMs past the\u00a0<a href=\"\/customer-onboarding\/\">onboarding\u00a0phase<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Depending on the roles and responsibilities you set as per the previous steps, expansion may be a joint effort between Sales and CS. It is possible to identify opportunities for upselling, by maintaining regular plans between the two teams.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Yes to a great onboarding<\/h3>\n<p>By maintaining sales insight into the onboarding process, you can improve the scope of future sales by seeing new prospects as they see the value for the first time. Further, sales can see first-hand any gaps between <a href=\"\/resources\/blog\/customer-expectations\/\">customer expectations<\/a> and reality.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Develop the sales-customer success handover<\/h3>\n<p>Every Sales and Customer Success team should define and follow a pre to\u00a0post-sales\u00a0handoff process. This gives substantial time for discovery, which can include success metrics, stakeholder identification value drivers, and more.<\/p>\n<p>Being aware of this information right from the start speeds up the return for the customer, which can lead to faster growth, a reduction in churn risk, or both. As key information transfers from one organization to the other, this creates confidence in the client.<\/p>\n<p>Many of them live with the fear that their purchase decision is going to hurt their careers and poor handoffs will bring those fears to the surface more rapidly than any other event.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Delve into reasons for churn<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"\/customer-churn-reduction\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Churn<\/a>, though a critical sign, is a lagging indicator. For that, ascertain what stages exist for your customers in the implementation journey? Share this information with the Sales team and solicit feedback on how to uncover potential issues during sales discovery.<\/p>\n<p>A fair number of clients who would be less than successful can be righted with proper expectations set and resources accessed before signing a contract.<\/p>\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\" style=\"height:20px\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Final Take<\/h2>\n<p>A great relationship between Sales and Customer Success is the foundation for successful <a href=\"\/customer-experience\/\">customer\u00a0experience<\/a>. By establishing customer segments, a process for sharing knowledge from the sales process with the Post-Sales team.<\/p>\n<p>And by feeding back positive and negative observations to Sales, the Customer Success team will ensure that they have the best platform to drive clients to renew and expand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When we talk about what part of the company is technically the inner voice of the customers, the answer usually turns out to be customer success management. In fact, the best companies recognize the use of good communication and how that can add value to the sales process. Delving into other aspe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"Why and How to Align Sales and Customer Success\u202f\u202f - SmartKarrot Blog","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Sales and Customer Success makes a beautiful pair if aligned in an appropriate manner. Here in the blog, we get you the answers to why and how that is done.","footnotes":""},"blog-category":[19],"class_list":["post-2530","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","blog-category-customer-success"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why and How to Align Sales and Customer Success\u202f\u202f - SmartKarrot Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sales and Customer Success makes a beautiful pair if aligned in an appropriate manner. 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