How to choose a customer success platform?

A Customer Success Platform is the perfect tool to obtain key insights on all customer and user interactions with your business and can help you deliver a better experience to your customers. While choosing a customer success platform that is best suited for you can be tricky, we’ve collated a set of questions and divided them into segments so you can easily evaluate the best Customer Success Platform for you.

Ask them for details about the platform

1. What is the USP of your platform? How does it stand different from others?
2. How will it help to ease my CS operations?
3. How does your platform calculate customer health scores?
4. Will it help me track data from all customer touchpoints?
5. Can I add my unique success metrics to your platform?
6. Can I collaborate with other team members on customer issues through the platform?
7. Do you have a competitor feature comparison sheet? If yes, could you please share it with me?

Asking these questions is crucial for evaluating how well the platform meets your specific customer success needs.

Understanding the platform’s unique selling points, its impact on CS operations, and its ability to integrate with existing metrics and data sources ensures that you choose the right solution for your business that effectively supports your goals and offers a competitive edge.

Pricing is important!

1. What does the pricing structure look like?
2. What is the initial cost, and would it change as we grow and scale?
3. Is the pricing user/seat-based?
4. Are there any additional costs involved? If yes, what are they?

These questions are essential to understand the financial implications of adopting a new platform.

Knowing the pricing structure, potential changes as your business scales, and any additional costs helps you budget accurately and avoid unexpected expenses.

This ensures that the platform remains cost-effective and aligns with your long-term financial planning.

What about integrations

1. Can your product integrate with all major applications? (Make sure you have a list of all the key apps you use to track customer data)
2. How long does it take for integrations to be completed? Is it real-time?
3. Could you please share any documentation on integration capabilities and limitations, if available?

This is crucial for ensuring that the new platform integrates seamlessly into your existing tech stack.

Understanding integration capabilities, timeframes, and documentation helps you assess how well the platform will connect with your current systems and streamline your operations.

This ensures that you can efficiently track and manage customer data without disruptions.

A smooth onboarding is crucial!

1. How long does it take to implement the platform?
2. What are the things I need to be prepared with before implementation?
3. What measures will be taken to make the implementation and adoption process smooth?

Understanding the implementation timeline, necessary preparations, and support measures helps you allocate resources effectively and set realistic expectations. This ensures a seamless onboarding experience, minimizing disruptions, and maximizing adoption and effectiveness from day one.

Some Other Questions

1. What security certifications do you have?
2. Do I need a technical person to manage your product?
3. What kind of support do you have? Is it paid or free?
4. What kind of reports can I generate from your product?

These questions help ensure that the platform meets security standards, assess the need for technical resources, clarify support options and costs, and understand reporting capabilities for better data analysis.

How Zapcale Can Help You In Your Customer Success Journey

ZapScale can be your comprehensive partner in customer success, offering you a set of powerful tools to improve your engagement with customers and enhance retention strategies.

With 360-degree customer visibility, you can access a complete view of each customer’s journey, allowing for personalized interactions and proactive support.

ZapScale’s pre-built health score framework provides deep insights into business, customer, and customer health, helping you identify issues even before they escalate.

It has upsell and churn prediction capabilities that enable you to see potential churn risks and identify opportunities for upselling ensuring you maximise customer lifetime value.

Together, these features empower your CS team to make data-driven decisions and enhance the overall customer experience. This ensures a successful journey for both your customers and your SaaS business.

---

FAQs

1. What key features should I look for in a customer success platform?

Look for features that facilitate customer engagement such as health scoring, customer segmentation, business outcome tracking, customer churn prediction, and task automation for customer success managers. Integration capabilities with your existing CRM and other tools are also essential for seamless data flow and comprehensive customer insights.

2. How scalable is the platform for our growing customer base?

Ensure the platform can scale with your growing business. This includes handling an increased volume of customer data, supporting larger teams, and adapting to growing customer success strategies. Consider the platform’s performance under heavy loads and its ability to accommodate future expansions without significant disruptions.

3. What kind of analytics and reporting capabilities does the platform offer?

Look for comprehensive analytics and reporting capabilities that provide real-time insights into customer success metrics. Key features should include customizable dashboards, detailed reporting on customer engagement and satisfaction, trend analysis, and predictive analytics for churn prevention. Ensure that the platform offers segmentation, sentiment analysis, and the ability to track KPIs like NPS & CSAT, enabling data-driven decision-making and strategic planning.