Leading a customer success team means you’re always focused on ensuring clients have the support they need. Your team is proactive with onboarding, responsive to questions, and ready to solve problems.
However, lately, you’re noticing a troubling trend: customer satisfaction isn’t climbing, and churn is on the rise. Why? Your customers are branching out, interacting across diverse platforms, yet relying on a single primary sales channel makes it hard to keep up.
Using only one channel often results in missed opportunities for growth, lower customer engagement, and ultimately, a higher risk of churn. Potential customers want flexibility—they might prefer social media outreach, affiliate links, or direct contact. If you’re not available where they are, chances are good they’ll turn to your competitors who are.
The solution is simple: diversify your sales channels. In this post, we’ll explore why a multi-channel strategy is vital for customer success and how your team can leverage it to build more resilient, long-term customer relationships.
The Risks of Relying on a Single Sales Channel
Relying on just one sales channel can make any business vulnerable. From sudden policy shifts on a platform to unexpected market downturns, sticking to a single path limits a business’s adaptability. Let’s take an example:
Think of an e-commerce business that depends solely on one online marketplace. If that marketplace faces downtime or policy changes, the company’s sales could plunge, affecting both revenue and customer satisfaction.
By expanding to multiple channels, companies can:
- spread out and mitigate their risks
- keep up a steady stream of interactions with sales prospects
- quickly adjust to market changes
This strategy enhances revenue stability and reassures prospects, who appreciate having multiple ways to engage. Customer success teams are perfectly placed to lead this change by working alongside sales to build a strong, customer-focused approach.
Read more: SaaS Customer journey challenges and how to overcome them
Understanding Multi-threading Sales and Its Impact on Customer Success
A smart way to diversify channels is through multi-threading sales. This approach builds relationships across different customer segments and touchpoints within the same organization, extending reach and aligning the goals of customer success with sales.
Multi-threading means having several touchpoints, so one relationship doesn’t define a customer’s journey. For customer success teams, this translates to more data and more ways to offer support.
Additionally, success teams can work closely with sales to understand the needs of each segment and adapt to meet customers wherever they prefer to interact.
Why Diversification Supports Customer Success Goals
Diversifying sales channels doesn’t just benefit sales teams – it’s equally crucial for customer success. Here’s how:
Enhancing customer engagement
Today’s customers expect brands to be available across various platforms. By expanding channel presence, companies become more visible, making it easier for customers to connect. Customer success teams can use this broader reach to build stronger, consistent relationships with customers, regardless of their preferred way to communicate.
For instance, a software company that diversifies through social media, email, and affiliate channels can reach customers across different platforms. Customer success teams can monitor customer interactions on each channel, offering timely support and resources that improve satisfaction. They can even integrate all the channels into their CSP and monitor customer interactions through custom product alerts.
Reducing dependency and strengthening resilience
Diversifying further provides a buffer for the unexpected. If one channel experiences issues, companies with multiple options can still maintain customer support, reducing the impact on customer experience.
Imagine a support line going down on a major channel. If the customer success team has additional ways for customers to reach out—such as live chat, email, or social media—they can quickly adapt, offering consistent support. This reassurance goes a long way, showing customers that they can rely on your company even when unexpected issues arise.
Personalizing customer experience across channels
When sales channels are diverse, customer success teams can craft a more tailored experience. Each touchpoint brings insights that help CS teams understand what customers need, allowing for more precise support.
Take a SaaS company operating through direct sales, email, and social media. By tracking customer interactions across these channels, the CS team can analyze customer sentiment and identify preferences, offering personalized recommendations that fit each customer’s behavior and needs.
How Custify Supports Customer Success through Diversified Channels
Implementing a multi-channel strategy can be complex, especially when it comes to ensuring that every channel contributes to customer success. Custify helps simplify this process by equipping CS teams with tools that enhance visibility and proactive engagement across all customer touchpoints.
By consolidating customer data from various channels, Custify enables CS teams to track interactions, recognize trends, and tailor their outreach to each customer’s unique preferences.
For example, Custify’s features help CS teams identify high-performing channels, enabling them to focus on what drives the best outcomes. Additionally, Custify’s automation tools allow CS teams to send personalized messages across email, in-app, and chat channels, keeping customers informed without overloading the team. These features are invaluable for building long-lasting customer relationships in a multi-channel strategy.
Practical Steps for Implementing a Multi-channel Sales Strategy
Creating a multi-channel strategy requires coordination and planning between sales and customer success teams. Here’s a practical guide to get started:
1. Evaluate your current sales and CS channels
Start by analyzing your existing channels to see which are most effective for sales and customer success goals. Look for gaps in reach, engagement, and customer satisfaction. Customer success teams should engage actively in this assessment to understand each channel’s strengths and identify where improvement is needed.
2. Start with customer-centric channels
When adding new channels, choose the ones that best align with your customers’ preferences. Consider their favored communication styles and buying habits. If many customers are active on LinkedIn, for example, it’s worth building a presence there.
Pro tip: Use feedback from CS teams, who are often directly in touch with customers, to prioritize channels that will best serve the audience. And don’t rely on more channels than you can actually manage.
3. Integrate and monitor performance across channels
As channels multiply, tracking each one’s performance is essential. Real-time data lets CS teams spot trends, detect potential issues, and adjust support strategies as needed. Analytics tools that track cross-channel interactions can be invaluable, helping customer success teams provide consistent, quality support.
For example, with a fully integrated CRM and CSP, CS teams can map a customer’s journey across all touchpoints, gathering insights that lead to more proactive, personalized support.
Read more: What Is Customer Value Maximization and How to Achieve It
Building a Resilient, Customer-centric Strategy with Diverse Sales Channels
Channel diversification isn’t only about expanding sales; it’s also a powerful strategy for customer success. By reducing dependency on a single channel, increasing engagement, and allowing CS teams to gather valuable insights, companies can build stronger, more resilient relationships.
Next, consider how diversifying channels could improve customer engagement in your business. Collaborate with sales and CS teams to identify the channels that matter most to your customers.
Building a multi-channel strategy isn’t just about growth; it’s about making your business adaptable and your customers successful. Embrace this approach to set your company on a path to lasting customer loyalty and growth.
