Startup CXO

Chapter 85Scaling the Service Organization

As you scale, the customer service organization can be very complex. I think a lot of people have the misperception that the customer success organization runs the support team and the account management team and nothing more. That's part of it, but in a mature company, especially a SaaS company, customer success is extremely complex. Here's a listing of some of the kinds of animals you'll find in the zoo.

• Professional Services. Professional Services are most common in enterprise organizations. In an enterprise organization, there's a fair amount of integration required with the client's other systems. Systems need to be configured to work with the complex workflows of larger organizations. Professional Services organizations tend to be mostly technical and consultative in nature, gluing together different sources of data to make sure that the systems work together properly. Frequently that work is offered for a fee. Like many consulting organizations, Professional Services is measured by utilization. How much of their time is billable? Another way to organize Professional Services is to have the team focused on best practices and strategic advice. This was the focus of our Professional Services organization at Return Path.
• Onboarding team. A second role within Customer Success, and the first person the client will probably see after they've signed a contract, is someone from the onboarding team. This team is focused on helping the ...