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5 Proven Customer Success Tips To Fight Recession 😎

Do you hear words like "spending freeze" or "budget reviews" in customer conversations? Chances are you'll hear it more if you chase new revenues. Read on to know how to fight it efficiently.

January 27, 2023

Hello 👋

Woah, we’re onto another Friday and it’s time for another edition of “Caaaallll To Aaaaaaction” (like how they announce names of boxers entering the ring by holding their breath 🤪).

Every week, we read tons of great stuff on SaaS marketing by marketers like you. It includes case studies, pitfalls to avoid, success (and failure) stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Product Hunt, Indie Hackers etc.

And, we love bookmarking them and sharing them with you.

But, this week, there’s a slight change in plan - we want to focus upfront on a topic that’s been bothering a lot of marketers for several months now - recession. (Don’t worry, we still have the best marketing tips at the bottom of this newsletter). ✌️

Frankly, most of us forget that a recession is an economic phase that plays out once every few years. We forget that things will look up eventually.

But, it's human psychology to conserve today for an uncertain tomorrow.

We’ve been wired to think this way for millions of years. 🧌

That’s why so many marketers and sales reps are struggling to respond to catchphrases like “spending freeze” or “budget reviews”.

And from our experience, we’ve noticed that when we focused on our existing customers during a recession, the new ones came in when the tide rose.

Okay, let’s dive in and discover a little more about it!

5 Ways customer success can make your business recession-proof 🧞‍♂️

Today, most companies want to cut costs.

Because the present recession is forcing them to review their spend.

For some, today’s reality is an existential crisis.

That’s understandable because recessions are unpredictable.

So, cutting down on non-core business functions is the most natural thing to do.

Example of a non-core function?

Customer Support. (Yes, that’s a sad reality!)

But, customer support/customer success is responsible for customer retention 💁‍♀️

And, increasing customer retention rates by 5% can increase your profit by 25-95%. (Source: Prescription for cutting costs by Bain & Company)

Which reminds you of:

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush"

Thats’s why investing in customers success is the biggest differentiator between companies that thrive and the ones that stumble during a recession.

So, here’re 5 ways to build long-term customer retention:

1. Categorize existing customers 👯

Get data on metrics like: Product usage, Number of users, User sentiment (NPS), Account tenure Industry, Company size, Last renewed date

P.S. If you don’t have data, then now is the time to start tracking it.

Then, categorise your existing users as:

  • Maximum Risk

  • Engage Immediately

  • Business As Usual

  • Minimum Risk

For example, customers with low product product usage could mean they’re preparing to wind down.

2. Talk to them👩‍💻

Next, speak to customers who are in the ‘Maximum Risk’ and ‘Engage Immediately’ categories.

Ask them:

  • What costs are they trying to reduce?

  • What is their near-term business objective?

Identify which customers are feeling the most pain.

3. Take action🏃‍♀️

Next, speak to customers who are in the ‘Maximum Risk’ and ‘Engage Immediately’ categories.

So:

  • Minimize churn by enabling delayed payments

  • Offer more discounts (for annual payments)

  • Build specific features that they ask for

  • Roll out new features at no extra cost

4. Take even more action🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

Remember, all that is not enough.

So:

  • Stay as close to them as possible

  • Host weekly webinars, Q&A, AMA sessions

  • Create videos, blogs, FAQs on most-frequent pain points

  • Send weekly newsletter with ideas on how to better use your product

5. Treat your customer success teams like royalty👑

So:

  • Set up daily meetings with your customer success teams

  • Ask them to track metrics in Point #3 above

  • Teach them how to look for alarm signals

  • Tell them to prioritize exsiting customers over anything else

  • Show them how to cross- sell/deep-sell

And, remember: 🥸

Don’t try to fight the recession. The key is to RIDE it.

It is natural that new sales will dip during times like these. Accept it, and take lessons from it.

Your existing customers are watching you...so act NOW!

Liked what you read? We’d be forever grateful if you could share this with your friends. That way, all of us learn and grow together. 🚀

The best SaaS marketing tips from social media 💪

That’s all for this week folks. See ya all with more stories next week. If you liked what we put together for you, you might want to read our previous editions here.

And don’t forget to subscribe if you already haven’t. 🫶🏻