We talk a lot about ‘playbooks’ in customer success.
Here’s what they are...
A playbook is a specific, predefined customer engagement activity that consists of the following 5 elements:
1. An objective
A statement about what we aim to achieve by running this play.
2. Activity description
An overview of how the activity should be carried out.
3. Roles & responsibilities
Who are the people involved in this activity (both customer- and company side).
4. Process steps
A list or diagram of the steps to complete, includes details of how to log and track activities in CRM or CS platform.
5. Tools and templates
The materials to use when running the play. Could be a presentation template, an email template, a cheat sheet, excel template, guide, etc.
Common playbooks for CSMs include the following:
- Executive business reviews
- New customer CSM intro
- Customer cadence call
- Exec sponsor intro
- Health check call
- Renewal
- etc...
Don’t boil the ocean.
Pick five activities you want the team to do with customers consistently. Workshop together, document them, teach the team, and go, go, go.
As the team runs the plays, gather feedback, make improvements, and enable the team.
The key is continuous improvement.
