Customer success should be the backbone of any company. Why? Because customers are the center of the business and their success depends on CS. However, the role of customer success has been constantly changing in the last few years. While some still think that customer success is customer support, the market has changed and the need for a dedicated CS team has risen.
On the other hand, customer success professionals now have a lot of responsibilities, including onboarding, retention, and expansion. How can they handle all of these responsibilities, help customers, build a relationship with them, and take care of repetitive tasks such as reports or emails? Here’s when AI steps in.
Artificial intelligence is the most popular technology at the moment. Data shows that the AI market size is estimated to reach a whopping $305.9 billion by the end of 2024. Artificial intelligence. Actually, 2/3 of jobs could be partially automated by AI. But many of these jobs will be complemented by AI, not substituted by it.
To see how AI is going to impact the role of customer success in the future, we’ve asked CS professionals for their opinion during our local event CS Bites&Bonds. Let’s see what they thought.
The CSMs’ role in the organization
“In some organizations, CSMs are still seen as a kind of “handyman” when it comes to managing a customer portfolio. In reality, the role of a CSM should be strategic, based on creating authentic, trustworthy, and long-term partnerships that generate value for both parties.
I see the CSM as an “orchestrator.” Why? Because, on the one hand, they interact with many departments that contribute to the overall experience a customer has with a brand. When necessary, the CSM can suggest improvements to certain processes or internal approaches, ultimately leading to a better customer experience. On the other hand, the CSM provides valuable feedback from their interactions with customers, which can lead to product/service improvements, the addition of new topics to the roadmap, or even updates to internal procedures.
Regardless of the business verticals they operate in, CSMs generally track indicators such as profit/sales volume, product/service adoption rate, renewal, upsell, cross-sell, NPS, churn rate, testimonials, and customer training. For a CSM to work efficiently towards these objectives, they must be given the necessary time and tools, and this is where AI plays a crucial role. We live in an era where, with the help of AI, valuable training materials and videos can be created to promote a product. Many of the operational tasks of CSMs can be automated with AI, such as generating reports or surveys to track customer behaviors or the indicators mentioned earlier. AI can be a reliable partner, and I hope to see more organizations creating ecosystems that allow CSMs to use their superpowers to their fullest potential.” – Daniela Roman, Key Account Manager at PayU
How can AI help CS professionals?
Yes, everybody is talking about how artificial intelligence is removing repetitive tasks and automating processes. But how does this technology impact customer success? Here are a few ways in which AI can be used in CS.
Automated Onboarding
First impression matters and that’s why onboarding is a crucial step in the relationship with a new customer. This is their first connection with your product. A great onboarding experience can lead to lower churn and higher customer satisfaction. However, when there’s no separate team to handle onboarding, the CS department has to step in and provide training for new customers.
With the help of AI they can automate this process. For instance, they can send personalized welcome messages and tutorials to new customers, ensuring they get started with the product effectively.
“AI tools assist in automating various aspects of customer success, from onboarding to ongoing support, making these processes more efficient and effective.” – Daniela Roman, Key Account Manager at PayU
Enhancing Customer Success with AI-Driven Playbooks
Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the way customer success teams work, especially through AI-driven playbooks. These playbooks provide customer success managers with the tools to create and automate action plans tailored to specific customer needs.
For instance, if a customer has reported an issue, the playbook can prompt the CSM to initiate a troubleshooting sequence, send relevant help articles, and escalate the issue to technical support if necessary.
Also, AI can analyze customer data to predict potential problems before they arise. For example, if the system detects that a customer has a declining usage pattern, it can trigger a proactive outreach plan where the CSM contacts the customer to understand their concerns and offer solutions.
“At Custify, we’re leveraging AI to help CSMs manage routine tasks and automate outreach, allowing them to focus on building strong customer relationships. For example, our AI-driven playbooks enable CSMs to create customized automations for various customer scenarios or even improve existing ones.
Additionally, CustifyAI can give you detailed account summaries as well as advanced health scores with preset tracking, ensuring CSMs can proactively address potential issues. This not only boosts efficiency but also enhances the overall customer experience by ensuring timely and personalized interactions.” – Philipp Wolf, CEO of Custify
Proactive Customer Support
Thanks to predictive analytics, AI can understand customer behavior and usage patterns to predict potential issues and address them before they escalate.
Also, AI comes with the great power of being available 24/7 which means it can be used to interact with customers after office hours, instead of letting users fend for themselves and get frustrated when they have an issue when CS professionals are away.
“AI contributes to elevated support levels, offering both reactive and proactive customer service. It helps anticipate customer needs and address issues before they escalate.” – Cristina Moise, Customer Success Lead at SmartDreamers
Personalized Customer Interactions
AI can tailor messages and responses based on customer data, ensuring more relevant and personalized interactions. Customer success managers won’t have to dig through data to know how to best approach one of their customers.
Also, AI can segment customers based on their behavior, preferences, and needs. CS professionals can use these customer base segments to create targeted communication strategies.
Enhanced Reporting and Dashboards
We live in the digital age and it’s time to move from traditional methods to digital processes. AI can help customer success managers handle those processes and implement them in the company. For instance, creating reports manually can become a thing of the past.
Artificial intelligence tools can help CS managers prepare for QBR and EBRs. AI can generate real-time reports and dashboards that provide insights into customer success metrics, helping teams make informed decisions.
“AI supports digital customer success by enabling high-touch customer interactions that were previously difficult to manage at scale. This includes converting traditional methods into more efficient digital processes.” – Cristina Moise, Customer Success Lead at SmartDreamers
AI can also track the performance of customer success initiatives and provide recommendations for improvement.
Workflow Automation
Artificial intelligence can handle routine tasks such as data entry, follow-up emails, and meeting scheduling, freeing up customer success managers to focus on more strategic activities.
This allows CSMs to dedicate more time to understanding customer needs, developing tailored solutions, and building stronger relationships.
“AI is integrated into customer success processes to follow best policies and benefits, ensuring efficient and effective handling of customer interactions” – Christiana Vajda, Customer Success Manager
Moreover, AI can analyze customer data to provide insights and recommendations, helping CSMs identify trends and opportunities for upselling or improving customer satisfaction. By leveraging AI in this way, CSMs can enhance their strategic planning and engage more deeply with customers.
“AI can seem intimidating, but CSMs should see it as an opportunity rather than a threat. By automating repetitive tasks and providing valuable insights, AI allows us to focus on what truly matters – building meaningful relationships with our customers. In a rapidly evolving landscape, adapting to AI is crucial. It supports us by enhancing our capabilities, ensuring we can provide proactive and personalized customer success strategies without being bogged down by routine administrative tasks.” – Irina Vatafu, Head of Customer Success at Custify,
Also, AI can seamlessly integrate with CRM systems, ensuring that customer data is always up-to-date and easily accessible.
Combining technology and the human touch
“AI provides significant benefits in automating processes and making tasks easier for Customer Success Managers (CSMs). However, it cannot replace the human interaction essential in customer success.” – Hiba Mohammad, Principle Customer Success Manager at Oracle
While artificial intelligence can help automate repetitive tasks and free up the time of CS managers, this doesn’t mean that customer success professionals will be replaced by this technology. It’s important to find a balance between automation and human interaction to make sure that you provide the best for your customers.
“Despite the use of AI, personal and critical human interaction remains vital. The human touch is necessary to effectively communicate and manage customer relationships.” – Christiana Vajda, Customer Success Manager
