Sixteen Ways To Drive More Revenue Post-sale
We shared eight pre-sale tactics to drive account growth before a customer is even signed. Now, let’s turn our attention to the post-sale journey. Account growth is strongly correlated to critical customer KPIs like renewal rate (or the negatively correlated churn rate), customer satisfaction and Net Promoter Scores, and product or service utilization. When a happy customer likes us, or when we’re not sure, it’s our mission – as revenue growers – to seek out more opportunities to deliver value.
Here’s how to approach account growth post-sale:
1
Tweak the account manager talent profile (and the customer success manager to a lesser extent) from farmer to hunter. It doesn’t have to be abrupt. Even taking a traditional account manager from 60% farmer to 60% hunter can impact account growth. Find those hunter characteristics of your top sellers and plant them into job descriptions when you hire and add to the team.
2
Consider a formal sales process that mirrors new customer acquisition, deal stages, and all. Introduce deal reviews to prioritize accounts ripe for growth.
3
Pay account managers commission for growth beyond 100% of the original deal – reward sellers who generate more revenue from increases in fees and closing upsell and cross-sell opportunities. Consider commission tiers equivalent to what you pay account executives for new business revenue.
4
Create a community. Lattice has built one with over 10,000 people. Community leads to potential customers. Check out this exchange on the RevOps Co-op Slack, a community of over 2,000 built by startup Funnel IQ:
5
Start a customer advisory board (CAB). First, find and recruit ten of your most ideal, not happiest, customers. Then, create an open environment where you can hear what’s working and what needs improvement. You can read other best practices here.
6
Build a customer referral program. Consider a charitable gift in their name, a team outing your company sponsors, or opportunities to be part of the CAB when a current customer delivers hot leads for your sales team. Win rates skyrocket with customer referrals, but only when the program is structured and actively managed.
7
Consider annual price increases if anything less than a multi-year deal is signed. Salesforce bakes in a 7% yearly hike. If you're not Salesforce, 3% seems fair.
8
Chase the boomerang. Hire a seller dedicated to every lost customer that doesn’t renew or trials that don’t convert. They do boomerang if someone gives them attention. As long as the rep is leading with insight, it’s ok to reach out immediately to rebuild value.
9
Accelerate customer onboarding, so they get to “time-to-value” quicker. The sooner customers start using your product and see the value, the faster you’ll spot cross-sell and upsell opportunities. Value begets value.
10
Monitor usage and utility; qualify sales opportunities based on a rank-order of your customers using your product or service the most. Those “high maintenance” customers are often the most likely to buy more stuff.
11
Interview customers for product feedback. It’s a win-win; your customer will appreciate the chance to shape the product, and your team will value the roadmap validation. Offer a free trial of beta features for thirty days in exchange for the customer’s time.
12
Measure Net Promoter Score and do so with both admin and end-users. If customers are likely to recommend you to others, then ask them to do so.
13
Start “Quarterly Business Reviews” (QBRs) or the more frequent “health check-in” to ensure your team is meeting expectations, staying on top of the customer’s business challenges, and mapping out a plan to deliver value. Consider #7 above if QBRs for every customer aren’t possible.
14
Coach proactive outreach; answering support tickets, putting out fires, and responding to ad hoc customer requests are inescapable but encourage account reps to talk with customers to get to know them and their business.
15
Shift the focus of customer success teams from retention to improvement. Make your customer’s most important “success” outcomes your own. Connect the dots from your product or service, impacting their key results and business objectives. Are you helping customers lower employee turnover, drive product innovation, or accelerate their digital transformation efforts?
16
Segment accounts; option A: Prioritize accounts by size to maximize growth.
- SMB accounts: automate outreach and communication (lean on the marketing team for help).
- Enterprise accounts: customize your approach and use account-based marketing tactics to find other buyers inside your biggest customers.
- Mid-market / Commercial accounts: find an efficient hybrid approach
Segment accounts; option B: Prioritize accounts by verticals to maximize growth.
- Group like-minded industries together where account managers can sink their teeth into market disruptions and common operational challenges with customer executives.
Did we miss anything? Which tactics are your favorite? We’d love to hear from you. Happy account growing!
