Quick summary: Digital customer success can feel daunting to start, but this post breaks it into a practical framework built on four pillars: a clear customer journey map, reliable data and data hygiene, smart automation/technology, and the right content delivered at the right time. Put these foundations in place in that order, and you’ll reduce costs, improve efficiency, and free CSMs to focus on higher-value, strategic work.
Far too many customer success organizations know they need to start implementing digital customer success, but just don’t know where or how to start. And that’s understandable. It’s a new endeavor, and there aren’t currently many resources that explain how to begin implementing effective digital CS programs. However, the outcomes of having these programs in place are exciting, which is why many organizations want to start diving into digital CS. These outcomes include:
- Roadmaps for designing and developing future CS programs.
- Reduced costs across the board.
- Internal efficiency gains, driven by automation.
- More space for CSMs to focus on high-value, strategic activity.
- Self-serve digital resources for customers to overcome technical issues.
The four pillars of an effective digital customer success program.
At ChurnZero’s ZERO-IN 2024 conference, speakers Alex Turkovic and Dan Ennis shared a new way to look at building a digital CS program. Effective programs are built on four foundational pillars, they observed: customer journey, data and data hygiene, automations and technology, and content. Without all four in place, they caution, a digital CS program doesn’t hold up. These foundational pillars will help you lay the groundwork for setting up effective digital programs and processes. Let’s break down each pillar. Note: the first two pillars—customer journey and data—come first because it’s nearly impossible to create digital CS processes without having a string journey map in place, with the data to back it up.
Digital customer success pillar 1: Journey map.
The main focus on your current journey map should be all the human touchpoints the customer will experience in their journey. Now that you’re building digital CS processes, it’s time to implement digital touchpoints as well. Examples of digital touchpoints include:
- Onboarding portal
- Landing pages
- Mobile or in-app
- Community
- LMS/Learning
- Social media
- Surveys
When implementing digital touchpoints into your journey map, it’s important to keep in mind the three main journey categories: 
Along with this, internal actions should be included in the journey map. Actions like client handoffs, call notes, internal alerts, and process automation should be recorded throughout the customer journey. Anything that influences the customer forward in their journey to value, then renewal and beyond, should be documented.
Digital customer success pillar 2: Data and data quality
You should consider four types of data when putting together effective digital programs, say Dan and Alex.
- Product Telementry: The actions users take in your product.
- Engagement: How customers interact with your attempts to engage.
- Contextual: What’s going on with customers’ companies in general?
- Predictive Modeling: This takes the first three data types, then synthesizes them with commercial actions from customers, creating a model to predict future actions that customers will take.
This data will be the backbone of your digital CS strategies, so it’s critical to get the most accurate data as consistently as possible. Have the right tools and infrastructure in place. Know how your data is measured. Track everything. Finally, having ways to constantly evaluate and automate your data will save you and your team a lot of time and resources.
Digital customer success pillar 3: Automation and technology
Now that your journey is mapped out and your data is up to date, it’s time for the fun to begin. The four main things you can automate for digital CS are:
- Processes.
- Product.
- Communication.
- Integrations.
Start by looking at your current tech stack and the capabilities at your fingertips. This will give you a good idea of what you can start implementing now without additional tools and cost. From there, go back to your journey map. Evaluate different points of the journey that should be automated to provide a more efficient experience for your customers. Finding this alignment between your current tech stack capabilities and your journey map is a crucial step toward digital CS maturity.
Digital customer success pillar 4: Content
A common definition of digital CS is: “Getting the right content to the right person at the right time in the right place.” You’ve thought through your customer journey. You know what moments you want to create. You’ve collected the data that you need to automate. Now, it’s time to create the right content to inform and educate your customers throughout their journey. The main content sources you should prioritize are seen here: 
Don’t feel that you need to double the size of your marketing department to do this effectively. It all comes down to knowing the journey map and understanding how to inform and educate your customers so they remain active and engaged. Experiment with this and know that some content strategies may be more effective than others.
Where do you stand on the digital customer success maturity curve?
Digital customer success is here to stay and will only get more popular. Implemented correctly, it will be a blessing to your team and organization, not a burden. Take it one day at a time, follow the four pillars outlined in this article, and make sure the desired outcomes of your customers are at the forefront of your efforts.
