MEDDIC & CSMs
I am hearing of continued new customer acquisition and new revenue challenges. In today’s economic conditions it is vital that your CX teams, and especially your CSMs, are doing everything to protect and expand current ARR. Today we expand on our previous post extolling the benefits MEDDIC provides your CSMs.
Some teams wait and leverage the impending renewal to re-connect with a customer that has had little contact with you over the life of the contract. Like an 18th century ship that has gone out to sea for several years, only when it ports do they discover what bountiful cargo it may hold. This is not a successful strategy. Needs, leadership, requirements, and processes change, if not completely turn-over, in during the life of an enterprise contract. Like Theseus’ paradox. Is it still the same company? You’d be surprised by what can change in just a year. You must be diligent and remain engaged with your customer well ahead of that renewal.
Here are just a few MEDDIC questions we all should be asking of our current customers to ensure solution adoption and revenue expansion. These should be asked at least once a year, and maybe more frequently for SaaS solutions where subscriptions can churn quickly.
METRIC
· What are the current KPIs of the organization?
· How have direction and strategy changed since purchase?
ECONOMIC BUYER
· When was that last time a leadership map was created?
· Have leadership personnel and responsibilities changed?
DECISION CRITERIA
· Is your solution satisfying the technical needs of the business in the same way?
· Has your technical support received any enhancement requests from the customer?
DECISION PROCESS
· When was customer procurement last contacted?
· Have preferred vendor requirements changed?
· Do you have documented and updated procurement process?
IDENTIFIED PAIN
· What new technical issues is the organization contending with?
· What new business outcomes are not being satisfied?
CHAMPION
· Is your champion still a champion and speaking on your behalf?
· What steps have you taken to identify new champions within the organization?
But often simply asking these questions are not enough. More diligent and disciplined steps must be taken. Best practices exist. Here are a few examples where in inclusion of MEDDIC can help de-risk your ARR and create expansion opportunities.
Health Scores: Include MEDDIC as part of your customer health scores. Knowing your customer is engaged with your and solution are great measures of adoption. But, are you engaged with your customer? Missing and stale MEDDIC should result in a lower health score.
Advocacy Programs: Good advocacy programs require continuous recruitment. When you remain engaged with your Champion and taking steps to identify other Champions, you create an opportunity to enlist them into your advocacy and reference efforts.
Adjustment Plans: Solution adoption and optimized usage requires continuous effort. The customer may require additional training, request new features, and augmentation services. Underneath those requests are challenges and potential pain that. Make sure you tie that Identified Pain to the assistance required.
Renewal Strategies: As renewal approaches, having affirmed the Economic Buyer and Decision Process will help you deploy the right strategy for that customer. You will be in a better position to work with your Economic Buyer and procurement team to discuss renewal terms, pricing adjustments, or other incentives that could encourage continued use. Customer acquisition is expensive. It’s often cheaper to retain a customer versus making a profit and losing a customer for life.
Expansion Opportunities: Every day grant an opportunity to expand your solution adoption and usage in an existing customer. If you are not currently engaged and knowing their challenges, and initiatives, how will you know where that expansion will come from. Or, are you going to wait for them to bring it up at renewal time? Yeah, not successful.
Customer Advisory Boards: Now not every customer can have the ear of product management. But they have yours, and you have product management’s ear. Establish the rapport that promotes voluntary feedback from the customer. Continuously gather insights, monitor progress, and make necessary adjustments to ensure ongoing value and growth. It’s better to retain a loyal customer than trying to find new customers.
Applying the MEDDIC approach from a CSM standpoint involves a thorough analysis of the customer's situation, pain points, and decision-making process to develop a targeted strategy for addressing the growth slowdown and driving renewed momentum. During these lows in the economy, it’s better to take care of your loyal customers, champions and provide support. Otherwise, when things pick back up, they will move on.
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