Customer success management through alignment of marketing, sales and IT

"I just have the Java programmers free; the data scientists are not free; why are you selling this subject, moron!”

“I don’t have to check whether the solution is technically feasible, whether it can be implemented technically, whether I can sell it at prices in line with the market, whether I am able to deliver—none of that matters to me for the time being.”

"We need to make flyers or do anything else, or mailings, or do something on our website, or rank our web-site better on Google, but I don’t think that has any relevance at all".

If you have ever worked as a Customer Success Manager (CSM) for a software product, you have likely encountered situations like this. (If not, I suspect you may not have worked in that business.) Being a Customer Success Manager requires working with internal stakeholders who have different targets and KPIs. Naturally, their focus is on achieving their own results rather than aligning with other stakeholders. This often leads to situations where clients are not served optimally.

In their article, "Customer Success Management Through Alignment of Marketing, Sales and IT," Graesch, Hensel-Börner, and Henseler propose solutions through the COMPLY framework (Communication and Information, Objectives, Mindset and Orientation, Power, Linkages and Resources, Yielded Knowledge & Skills). Their findings offer CSMs a way to create an environment that aligns customers' needs with the efforts of internal stakeholders: Marketing, Sales, and IT.

Some propositions are worth implementing, such as: "Establish marketing automation as a common goal for Marketing, Sales and IT", "Choose tools jointly", "Represent the organisation together", "Jointly prioritize projects", "Share KPIs with all actors" or "Implement a consensus metric". While these ideas may be challenging to organize, they provide valuable strategies for aligning internal stakeholders with the Success team, and ultimately, with the clients.

Graesch, Jan Philipp, Susanne Hensel-Börner, and Jörg Henseler. "Customer Success Management Through Alignment of Marketing, Sales and IT." Industrial Marketing Management 120 (2024): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2024.05.004.