Customer success is an important yet often overlooked function of sales-focused companies. Success teams support your customers after they go from prospects to active users of your product or service, but they don’t provide traditional customer service. Their job is to ensure that every buyer gets the value you promise. The goal is to keep your patrons happy and turn them into loyal customers who continue spending.

From that definition, it’s easy to assume that you don’t need to invest as much in your customer success team as your sales team. But the reality is quite the contrary!

These teams can and should upsell existing customers. When they do, you can experience a significantly higher sales ROI and increase the overall lifetime value of every customer.

Many Success Teams Could Contribute More to Sales

Let’s make one thing clear: You can't upsell without customer success. Your customer success team is vital in ensuring that buyers are getting the most out of your product. They keep them happy, remind them of the value your goods bring, and leave a lasting positive impression. Without them, upselling and cross-selling wouldn’t be possible at all.

That said, many teams aren’t doing enough to help you reach your full sales potential as a company. Success representatives already have an easy in. They don’t have to do cold-calling, and there’s no need to handle objections or show what a product can do.

That work is already over, but success reps are responsible for maintaining a connection with customers. Why not use that opportunity to make more sales?

It’s an obvious transition that can pay off handsomely. This department already contributes to your company’s overall success, building customer loyalty to form long-term relationships. If they’re not supporting sales with upsells and cross-sells, your organization is missing out on tons of potential revenue.

Examples of Upselling Opportunities in Customer Success

Customer success managers have many chances to support sales. The problem is that many don’t know how to identify the right time to bring up offers or recognize an upsell opportunity when it comes. Let’s look at some common examples of how your customer success team can use their expertise to maximize sales ROI.

Demonstrate Practical Understanding of Customer Problems

Many people confuse customer service with customer success. While customer service is the department your buyers turn to when they have a problem, customer success is the team that’s proactive about preventing problems in the first place.

They work diligently to ensure that every customer can use your goods to meet their unique objective.

Your representatives understand a customer’s problems better than anyone else. They are masters of empathy and learn to identify hurdles your buyers must overcome.

That knowledge goes a long way. Your customer success managers can use that insight to recommend additional products or create value propositions for an upsell offer. They have more in-depth knowledge of the customer experience than your standard sales force, putting them in the perfect position to upsell.

Engage Customers at the Moment of Most Need

Problems will occur even with a customer success department’s proactive nature. When that happens, your customers will often reach out to your customer success department to get assistance for an operational need.

That juncture is a rare opportunity to initiate an upsell discussion. In those moments of need, existing customers are more willing to entertain the idea of additional purchases. It’s when your propositions have the most appeal, and your customer success reps are on the front lines engaging your clients.

A Customer’s Growth Is an Upselling Opportunity 

Hopefully, your success team does a bang-up job and helps your customers grow. That’s always a fantastic thing to see, and it’s often enough to build brand loyalty that lasts many years. But have you ever considered how those wins can lead to an upsell opportunity?

SaaS companies are more likely to experience this scenario. Say, for example, that your happy client is growing so much that they are close to running out of accounts on a per-seat SaaS product. That will put that customer’s growth to a grinding halt.

Your success team can use that momentum to their advantage, upselling more accounts or cross-selling an entirely new package. It’s the perfect chance to sell more products and increase sales ROI. Most clients are more than eager to consider your value proposition. Thanks to the success they’re already experiencing, they’re more inclined to close a new deal, too.

More Cross-Selling = More Customer Loyalty

There are many reasons to encourage teams to support sales, and they go beyond boosting revenue. Cross-selling is a fantastic way to expand customer lifetime value and create an ever-deepening connection with your brand.

Cross-selling exposes your existing customers to other goods they might not realize you offer. As they gain more exposure and knowledge about those other offerings, they’ll develop a growing interest in them. Ultimately, they go deeper into your product and service ecosystem when they make a purchase.

It’s an excellent long-term strategy that can keep your customers around for much longer than they initially planned. Cross-selling strengthens that professional relationship and cements the connection between the customer’s success and your goods.

Increase Customer Renewal Rate

Do you have a product or service that requires ongoing subscriptions? In that case, customer success managers can be your gateway to more renewals. Renewals are a big part of your company’s sustained success and expansion.

Earning new business can be expensive. It costs a lot of money to qualify and cultivate leads. That’s not even considering the expenses involved with marketing to drum up interest in the first place.

Existing customers don’t need any of that. As a result, renewals provide an exceptionally high sales ROI. Your customer success team is often a reliable source of contact and engagement with your clients. Use them to encourage renewals.

When they approach their jobs with that sales-focused mindset, this team can do a lot to boost your renewal rates and keep revenue going strong.

Turn Great Success Experiences Into Unique Selling Propositions 

You might not realize how much of an impact your success team has on the overall customer experience, but it’s a big one. Amazing customer success and support are a rarity these days. As we mentioned earlier, it’s an often-overlooked aspect of your sales department.

The support this team provides leaves a lasting impression on customers. It’s something they appreciate, and it could be the thing that sets you apart from other competitors in your field. When customers enjoy working with your success reps, they love your product.

Turn that into a selling point. Train your team to create a stress-free experience that makes owning and using your goods a joy. Make it easy for customers to reach out, and encourage your success managers to be proactive about keeping customers happy.

When you do that, you can easily leverage the experience into sales and renewals. It becomes a value proposition, turning your success team into a valuable revenue-generating division.

Create Additional ROI Without Investing More

Getting sales and closing deals is a significant investment on its own. If your success team isn’t selling, you have tons of untapped potential to maximize your sales ROI.

The best part? You can boost your ROI with minimal additional costs. Your customer success team already exists, working hard to maintain those all-important customer relationships. With proper training and enablement tools, they can become another sales arm that increases the return of your sales investments.

Flockjay Helps Sales and Success Learn, Integrate, and Win Together

Encouraging your customer success managers to upsell and cross-sell can do wonders for your bottom line. If you need help pivoting their focus, turn to Flockjay. 

Flockjay is a comprehensive sales platform that empowers your sales and success teams. It acts as a learning management platform, sales enablement tool, peer-to-peer learning space, and more. Give your success team everything they need to keep that winning streak strong!

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