When 2023’s Customer Success Leadership Study suggested that 77% of CS teams meet with their customers in person, the finding was met with some skepticism. Yet, 2024’s results reiterate the trend, indicating that in-person customer meetings are here to stay, and that they make a difference.
This year, 82% of customer success leaders say they’re investing in in-person customer meetings. What’s more, those who do report bigger deals, better NRR, higher team growth, and lower CSM load. Of course, companies that sell larger deals can invest more in relationships. At the same time, better NRR and higher team growth may be influenced by this greater investment. While moderate, the differences for ACV and CSM load are statistically reliable.
It appears that meeting customers in person is a truly effective way to fight churn and build revenue, as John Gleeson of Success Venture Partners has seen first-hand. Here’s his take, from the 2024 Customer Success Leadership Study Webinar. You’ll find more insight from this session with John, Kerry Cunningham of 6sense, and ChurnZero CEO You Mon Tsang below.
What else did we learn in the webinar? Here are four more insights worth considering.
1. Cutting your CS ops role is a false economy in the long run.
2024 saw an 11% decline in companies with a dedicated CS operations role from 2023 (61%) to 2024 (54%), although more mature companies are countering this trend.
However, even modest productivity gains from ops personnel can justify their existence within your team.
2. The 2022-24 decline in NRR is understandable, but now is the time to stop it.
While still remaining above 90% on average, NRR has trended downward in a visible and statistically reliable way. This has intensified the debate around what teams are responsible for recurring revenue, and where they report to, given that NRR is now a qualifying metric when investors and boards consider the health of a company.
It’s important to view the decline in context, says Kerry Cunningham. IOn many ways, it’s a predictable outcome of the economic pullback. With the worst hopefully behind us, however, it’s time for CS teams to put the decline in reverse.
3. If your CS team shifts under the CRO, there’s a bright side.
“Put the CRO in charge of customer success, you get more revenue from the base, says SaaStr’s Jason Lemkin. “You just burn a ton of goodwill and customer happiness.”
In 2024, only 43% of CS teams report to the CEO. That’s a step backwards from last year, when 50% did. Instead, we saw has been a significant increase in CS teams reporting to the chief revenue officer (CRO) in 2024.
If your team does shift under the CRO, however, there’s a potential bright side, says John Gleeson.
4. Customer success charters need to change.
CS team charters haven’t changed much in five years, and given that half of CS teams own renewals and expansions, they’re overdue for an update.
While onboarding and adoption might set the stage for successful renewal transactions, prioritizing NRR is how you connect their outcomes to revenue to earn influence and stability for your CS team.
Explore more insights from the 2024 Customer Success Leadership Study.
- Read Lukas Alexander’s take on why it’s time for CS team charters to evolve.
- Explore how operational excellence is the key to a bigger CS budget with The Success League’s Kristen Hayer.
- Dig into three key trends from 2024’s study with ChurnZero.
You can also watch the full webinar with Kerry Cunningham, John Gleeson, and You Mon Tsang, here.
