©2015 Gainsight. All Rights Reserved. Managing Sponsor Change: How To Navigate With A New Champion MATT HENSLER Allbound BETH YEHASKEL Spredfast KELLY PAYNE Glassdoor SANDY MIRANDA Power DMS
©2015 Gainsight. All Rights Reserved.
Managing Sponsor Change: How To Navigate With A New
Champion
MATT HENSLER Allbound
BETH YEHASKEL Spredfast
KELLY PAYNE Glassdoor
SANDY MIRANDA Power DMS
©2015 Gainsight. All Rights Reserved.
Managing Sponsor Change: Moderator – Matt Hensler Director, Customer Success
• 14 months in customer success
• Marketing and Brand Strategist
• @matthensler
How To Navigate With A New Champion
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Session Focus…
FREAK OUT, but don’t panic
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Understand The Risk And Opportunity
Session Focus…
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Deploy Strategies With Urgency And Purpose
Session Focus…
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Meet Your Panelists
Kelly Payne Director, Customer Success
Sandy Miranda VP, Customer Success
Beth Yehaskel VP, Customer Success
• 6+ years in customer success
• Publication Editor and Writer
• Doctor • @kelly_payne22
• 4+ years in customer success
• 15+ years in customer service & support
• News Anchor • @smiranda_DMS
• 8 years in customer success
• Marketer and Technical Writer
• Archaeologist • @byehaskel
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Why are sponsor change strategies critical for customer success teams? Explain what is at risk.
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Relationship Advocacy ARR The Importance of Sponsor Change Strategies
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• Retention/Churn Risk • Early Warning Signs / Risk Alerts are Key • If happens close to renewal, game plan
needed • Communication Risk
• Overall Partnership (POC/EB) • Communication Breakdown
• Knowledge Risk • “Begin Again” = Value proposition • Regain new Champion
The Importance of Sponsor Change Strategies
©2015 Gainsight. All Rights Reserved.
• Higher ability to influence and manage this high churn risk (unlike things like budget cuts).
• Requires “re-selling” an account. • Effective management of sponsor change sets up
opportunities for revenue growth
The Importance of Sponsor Change Strategies
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How should sponsor change strategies differ for different customer segments? (e.g. enterprise vs. SMB customers)
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• Strategic • Re-evaluate Needs • Document properly Enterprise
• Automated • Self Service • Informative SMB
Sponsor Change Strategies for Enterprise vs. SMB
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Sponsor Change Strategies: • Who they are in the Org / How they play into the
Decision Tree/Partnership = measure the impact of the departure
• CSM must understand the company hierarchy • Having a repeatable process for this event is
essential to the larger partnership & success of your business
Sponsor Change Strategies for Enterprise vs. SMB
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• Easier to have a sponsor ecosystem at large organizations
• Value of face-to-face meetings easier to cost-justify
• More urgency in SMB since main sponsor assumes many roles (e.g. power user, budget owner, etc.)
Sponsor Change Strategies for Enterprise vs. SMB
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How should your sponsor change playbook change for different types of sponsors in a customer organization?
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Depends on: • The “role” the Sponsor plays in the partnership. • How well you know the customer, their
business and goals.
Different Strategies For Different Sponsor Types
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• Tailor your strategy to what VALUE means to each sponsor § Power user value ≠ contract signer value ≠
budget owner value § Make sponsors aware of value YOU bring
THEM in their role
Different Strategies For Different Sponsor Types
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• Account for the complexity of your application. • Know that your most crucial sponsor may not be
a user of your product/service. • You may need to enlist the assistance of other
departments to keep in touch with non direct sponsors.
Different Strategies For Different Sponsor Types
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How should customer success teams proactively manage sponsor relationships to minimize panic when a change does take place?
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Absolutely! • Clean Data = Productivity • Defined Process = Proactive Alerts for CSMs to
act on
Proactive Steps to Minimize Sponsor Change Events
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• Use technology • Create
checkpoints
Proactive Steps to Minimize Sponsor Change Events
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• More contacts and sponsors = less impact • Harder on SMB level but the more sponsors the
better!
Proactive Steps to Minimize Sponsor Change Events
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What opportunities come with sponsor change?
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Positive Opportunity
Identify new opportunities
Establish fresh
relationship
Define a new focus
Negative Opportunity
Regain trust
Reestablish value
Lose focus
Opportunities That Come With Sponsor Change
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• Help make new champion successful • Follow exiting sponsor to their new company • Customer “reset” to re-establish goals and gather
deeper intelligence about the account
Opportunities That Come With Sponsor Change
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• Educate/Re-Educate New Sponsor/POC • Excite/Delight the Customer • Elevate the Partnership: opportunity to see
what we can be doing better • Fresh Start (if needed!)
Opportunities That Come With Sponsor Change
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Provide an example of a sponsor change that did not go as intended. What went wrong?
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Prior to using Gainsight: • No defined process • No Sponsor Change playbook • No Ownership (AM/CSM) on who reached out
to welcome new Sponsor • Time delay: Waiting too long, Sponsor went
MIA • Got Scrappy & Fixed it, but Lesson Learned!
Sponsor Change Gone Wrong
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• Missed sponsor change is easier with small customers
• One situation where it was missed until 2 months after the sponsor change event
• Left an opening for a competitor to connect with new sponsor
• Resulted in churn that could have been prevented
Sponsor Change Gone Wrong
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How do you prepare personnel in your company outside of customer success for their role in a sponsor change playbook?
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• Forge relationships beyond the CSM • Develop a strong Executive Sponsor program
The Role of Your Co-workers Outside of Customer Success
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• Pertinent information about a sponsor change is shared across systems.
• Tasks are created if an assist is needed.
The Role of Your Co-workers Outside of Customer Success
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Everyone is involved: • Exec Sponsors • Strong Cross-Team/Dept Communication • Sponsor Change Playbook
The Role of Your Co-workers Outside of Customer Success
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How does the sponsor change playbook change at different stages of the customer lifecycle? (e.g. onboarding vs. adoption vs. renewal)
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System: Welcome
Co
ntra
ct S
ign
Imp Manager & CSM Sales Cycle
Day 1: Imp Tech
Outreach
Pre-Close, Tech &
Project Call
Adoption Build & Customize Sales
Engage the right Sponsor for each stage of the Customer Lifecycle
Day 10: Build Update &
Review
Day 5: Build Update &
Review
Day 15: Build Complete &
Sign-Off
Day 20: Profile Update Training
Day 25: EC Walk-thru w/
Analytics
CSM & Sales
Day 30: Services Launch & Employer
Branding BP
Expertise, Speed, Professional, & Quality
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• Onboarding: - Evaluate the WHY
• Adoption: - Evaluate the WHAT
• Renewal: - Re-establish possibilities
Sponsor Change Strategies At Different Customer Lifecycle Stages
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• Different areas of focus based on stage • High end user adoption keeps you protected • Focus on adoption and education early to lock in
value
Sponsor Change Strategies At Different Customer Lifecycle Stages
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Audience Q& A
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Name 3 things attendees should do FIRST if no sponsor change strategies are currently in place.
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1. Identify one or more sponsors a each account 2. Keep regular, proactive touch points with
customers 3. Make a simple playbook on steps with new and
former sponsor – gift baskets go a long way!
Top 3 Priorities For Getting Sponsor Change Strategies In Place
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1. HOW – do you identify a change 2. WHO – is responsible 3. WHAT – should be done
Top 3 Priorities For Getting Sponsor Change Strategies In Place
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1. Talk about it: Make sure Execs, Leaders & CSMs/Sales are all focused on it & Define a Playbook
2. Use Tools & Monitor, Monitor, Monitor (CTAs): Gainsight Sponsored Tracking
3. Tie to Retention/Churn
Top 3 Priorities For Getting Sponsor Change Strategies In Place