B2B Retention: Delivering a First-Class Customer Experience

The people who interact with your customers are the ones who can make or break the journey. Herb Kelleher, founder of Southwest Airlines, understood this well—he recruited “cheerleaders” as flight attendants to ensure passengers had a great experience on the front lines (just one of the reasons the brand became beloved by passengers). 

As much as we’d like to automate customer retention, human connection remains the most effective relationship builder. So make sure you have staff who can foster these relationships, and bring customers together in-person whenever you get the chance. 

A customer-first focus begets friendly customer interactions and higher retention rates. One Huddler from a services company shared, “It can take years to build the right relationships, but once we have them we’re embedded in their RFP process.”

The beginning of any vacation can set the tone for the rest of the trip. If your customers have a rocky start, it could spoil the entire experience. That’s why several Huddlers emphasized the importance of being hands-on across the onboarding phase. 

One Huddler noted, “Marketing stays very involved in the first 10 weeks. If they don’t start using the product, we know we’re in trouble and we’re ready with communications.” It doesn’t (and shouldn’t) end there either. At this particular Huddler’s company, Sales tracks customer usage closely for the first 10 months, and then after that, marketing continues to track renewals while customer service monitors customer issues.

Yes, I do plan on visiting penguins on Boulders Beach for this trip—which will undoubtedly be an experience I won’t forget. You need to create these memorable experiences for customers, too. 

Help customers succeed in their roles via user groups, office hours, or webinars, and help them succeed in their careers through awards, innovations, and speaking opportunities. This isn’t about upsell, it’s about ensuring customers stay excited and involved. 

As one Huddler pointed out, “Satisfaction correlates with adoption, so make sure you know who is and isn’t using your product to the fullest.” However, just like you wouldn’t overwhelm your trip with too many activities, be careful not to inundate your customers with too many updates or new features—they could end up feeling more stressed than satisfied.

Not all customers are created equal, and there are many ways to segment them to deliver relevant content and prioritize outreach. Here are a few recommendations: 

• The Top 20%: Start by segmenting your customer base, focusing on the top 20% who may represent 3-4 times their portion of your total revenue. 
• Super Advocates: Don’t forget about those customers who, even if smaller, bring disproportionate value through their enthusiasm and prestige. 

• The “Loser Board”: Be proactive with customers at risk of “checking out” early. One Huddler monitors low engagement rates (i.e. log-ins, content consumption, webinar attendance, etc.) and proactively jumps in to get them back on board.
• Personalization via ABM: One Huddler segments customers by size and product and then uses ABM for specific segments to tailor content.

The question of who owns customer success has no standard answer—it varies across orgs to varying success. Of note, more and more companies are consolidating retention activities under a Chief Customer Officer (CCO). 

As one Huddler noted, “Our CCO is the owner of customer success, retention, and general well-being.” By centralizing these efforts, the CCO ensures that all aspects of the customer experience are aligned and working together. Marketing teams can collaborate closely with the CCO to create the kind of experiences and content that keep customers engaged and eager for the next “trip.”