Quick Summary: B2B2C customer success rewards those who focus beyond the direct client to the end-user. Standardize end-user discovery, map shared “aha” moments, and equip customers with practical resources that to improve self-service and long-term expansion.
Whether it’s a healthcare office, a grocery store, a gym, or the dentist, we’re all consumers in everyday life. When that consumer experience goes awry—like when the gym unexpectedly increases your monthly fee, or the dentist’s membership platform is down—we’re left frustrated and deciding whether to hang on or move on.
The consumer or end-user is often a third, invisible chair in the B2B2C model, easily pushed aside or forgotten in the SaaS ecosystem. But when a gap exists between our products and solutions and that final consumer, adoption suffers and churn risk rises.
B2B2C customer success combines business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) approaches. It’s a significant and growing segment of the SaaS economy, particularly in fintech, healthtech, ecommerce, and vertical software, where B2C companies increasingly rely on platforms to power their customer experiences.
In B2B2C, the “ripple effect” is key, says Devin Joyce, director of customer success at Clerri.
“The important thing to think about isn’t just anticipating your client’s needs,” she says, “but what you do to help your clients anticipate their end users’ needs.”
How to create the ripple effect in B2B2C customer success.
By focusing on discovery, unified journey mapping, and tactical resource sharing, Devin explained at ZERO-IN in Chicago, you can create a ripple effect that transforms your own customers into powerful advocates for the people using their products.
1: Integrate end-users into the discovery phase
A customer journey map is incomplete if it doesn’t visualize the end-user’s experience. Devin encourages B2B2C CS teams to ask deep and consistent discovery questions to trigger customer “monologues” that offer insight into end-user behavior.
Here are her top five areas to focus on in every discovery session:
Persona: Is the end-user a baby boomer or a millennial? Do they live in an urban or rural environment?
Behaviors: When and how does the end-user interact with the customer and the solution?
Emotions: What is the sentiment surrounding the interaction? For example, in the dental industry, patients are rarely thrilled to be there, and this should dictate how the product is positioned.
Distractions: What external components or fears (like the fear of dental costs) act as blockers to usage?
Goals: When will the end-user actually feel value from the relationship?
You may not know what the customer will say, but make sure your team is on the same page, every time.
“Standardize and apply consistent discovery to make sure that you’re collecting that intel,” Devin says.
2: Create a unified customer journey with “aha” moments for all.
There’s no need to start from scratch on your customer journey mapping. Once you better understand the end-user from discovery, you can fold end-user milestones into your existing journey map.
With any industry or product, a consumer is significantly more likely to act (and keep coming back) when they receive informative, personalized touchpoints. Devin recommends starting with these critical moments for a more unified journey:
1: The introduction: The very first moment the end-user interacts with the solution/product.
3: The “Aha” moment: The point where the user first feels the value of the product (and where your customer sees it happen).
3: The re-engagement: Proactively identify when a user drifts away and have a plan to bring them back.
While you may have a great brand and stellar messaging, it’s best to meet the customer and end-users where they are. Use their own normal, casual, everyday language. In a dental office, for example, this means talking about a patient’s journey from “pre-visit to walkout”.
“Take the guesswork out of it as much as possible, to really help give them guidelines,” says Devin. “Use language like ‘one week before’ or ‘three days after’. This is language that they’re already using internally.”
3: Provide customers and end-users with tactical “lifejacket” resources.
The final element in Devin’s end-user ripple effect process is equipping customers with “life jacket” resources: tactical, user-facing content they can deploy right away.
At Clerri, the team created a simple one-pager to help dental offices discuss auto-renewal with patients, which shifted customers’ comfort levels right away.
As you’ve no doubt heard over the last few years, more than 70% of customers believe poor self-service is worse than no service at all. Make sure your lifejacket items are relevant, digestible, and easily accessible.
Here are more examples of life jacket resources from effective B2B2C customer success teams. They’re not complex, but they are end-user friendly:
Talk tracks and scripts: Write the actual words for your customers so they feel confident explaining or “selling” the solution to the end-user. “If your client experiences a high level of turnover,” says Devin, “you constantly have new people interacting with your solution.”
Digital templates: Provide social media posts, email templates, and physical posters for customers who may not have their own marketing departments so they don’t have to build these materials themselves.
Tips and tricks: Offer guidance beyond your software, positioning your team as an industry expert. “Effective self-service resources contribute to this by enabling customers to immediately find solutions. [Nearly 70%] of customer churn could be avoided if issues were resolved the first time they occurred,” says Devin.
A sustainable ripple effect for customer adoption and expansion.
Ultimately, Devin summarizes the ripple effect for B2B2C end-user success as three steps:
- Absorb: Understand the end-user at the deepest level possible.
- Map: Visualize exactly where and when they interact with the solution.
- Provide: Deliver the resources they need to find success.
By driving your efforts all the way through to the human being at the end of the experience, you can create a sustainable ripple effect of adoption and expansion.
