Customer Success

Chapter 10

Law 6: Product Is Your Only Scalable Differentiator

Author: Kirsten Maas Helvey, Senior Vice President of Client Success, Cornerstone

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Executive Summary

The key to customer retention, client satisfaction, and scaling the support and service organizations is a well-designed product that's combined with a best-in-class customer experience. Consumer technology has changed the way we work, as well as our customers' expectations. To ensure you have created a product that meets the needs and expectations of your customers, create a client experience team that focuses on building out programs in a client engagement framework—one that drives community among clients, encourages engagement at all levels and roles of the customer base, and provides clear feedback loops that inform product improvements.

Product advisory councils (PACs) and communities of practice (COPs) for functional business process areas are useful programs a client experience team can utilize to drive continuous improvement in all functions, improve the customer experience, and influence product design directly. Both PACs and COPs provide input into the software life cycle development process by communicating business value for product features, which is critical for building a best-in-class offering. A product that is easy to use and that becomes essential to the way people do business will create ...