One of the most painful but necessary realizations for a Customer Success executive is that you simply can’t do all that you’d like to do in maintaining and expanding your company’s customer relationships. So you segment your customer base, come to a definition of what is a reasonable workload for your team members, and apply your resources as efficiently as possible for maximum effectiveness. That’s basic reality; you have to do it, even though you’ll still hear suggestions of the need to do more with less. But there’s another approach that should also be considered: designing and building an ecosystem around your company and product. I call that doing more with more.
Assets and Options
Who are the potential members of your corporate ecosystem? Consultants, trainers, influencers, your own employee alumni, compatible applications vendors, advocates, power users, champions both current and former — the possible list is extensive. The first step in your initiative is to identify them and their connections. (And to assess their potential, but that comes later.) I recommend that the ecosystem initiative should be run out of your Customer Success group because A) they are the ones most likely to have knowledge of these people and organizations, and B) they are the ones most aware of how these resources could be most effectively brought into partnership.
Partnership Success Strategy
What do you want your ecosystem to do? LeadGen? Product development input? Advocacy? Increasing product/company awareness? Positioning? Product support assistance? Content creation? What specific results are intended for each area, in what time periods? What are the goals and objectives you will use in measuring the success of your ecosystem initiative? Most importantly, what is it worth to you, how much are you willing to invest to bring it into being? What’s the expected ROI schedule?
Next, what’s in it for the members? Specifically, how will they benefit from their partnership with you. The answers will vary depending upon the partner and the depth of the relationship. Don’t overlook this issue. Partner relationships tend to last longer when they are balanced and mutually beneficial.
The Process of an Ecosystem
Where, how, and how often will your ecosystem’s members interact? Online resources? In-person events? Who is the overall manager that watches over the development and maintenance of the community? An ecosystem cannot be left to chance, not if you expect to achieve your design goals. While some of the pieces can be delegated to functional teams in your company, there needs to be someone that sees the big picture.
Moving Forward
These are only a few of the questions to be asked and issues to be handled in the design and development of a corporate ecosystem. If you’re interested in the potential, let’s talk. Join us for the discussion in The Customer Success Forum on LinkedIn, or schedule an Office Hours session here. For more information about ecosystem development, visit: https://www.mblaisdell.com
Recommended Reading
The Lessons of the Customer Success Ecosystem
Building the Corporate Ecosystem
Online Communities and Customer Success
Product As A Community
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Mikael Blaisdell
Mikael Blaisdell built his first online community on CompuServe in late 1979, back in the days of 300 baud acoustic coupler modems and when you could only log in after 6 pm local time. Many others followed, on AOL, Delphi, The Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link (W.E.L.L.) and LinkedIn. He founded The Customer Success Forum on LinkedIn in 2009, beginning with 350 members and building it to its current membership of over 65K worldwide.
Are you looking to design and build out a community and corporate ecosystem for your company and product? Want to take an existing one to the next level? Mikael Blaisdell & Associates offer a variety of services from design through implementation and ongoing maintenance.
