How to Harness the Unstoppable Energy of a Values-Driven Organization

Imagine if you could focus your team's time, effort and energy on a single focal point.

This north star would guide how you do everything in Customer Success. It would help you prioritize the 101 different tasks in your Customer Success to-do list. Instead of getting stuck in a haphazard and shortsighted approach to solving whatever problem comes up, you would know exactly where to focus your energy. Your team would have an identity and be proud of it.

Every few days, you could pause to make sure that you were still driving towards this focal point. You would sleep soundly at night, know that if you were to deliver in line with this thing, victory would be guaranteed. So, where should you focus?

Your purpose.

Purpose is non-existent in most Customer Success teams. Instead of focusing on a single thing, Customer Success leaders bounce around looking for problems to solve without a clear idea of what they are trying to achieve. Instead of defining their purpose, someone else in their organization, typically an executive, defines it for them. If you aren't clear on what you're trying to achieve, it's impossible for anyone else to know what it is you do and why you do it. Let's dive into how to capture your purpose.

The first step to creating your purpose is writing down and committing to three core values with your team. These values represent what your Customer Success team is willing to spend more time, effort and energy on that any other Customer Success team. These core values represent how you work with your customers, internal teams and each other. In rare cases, you'll adopt your company's values if you align with them. Otherwise, write your own and ask forgiveness, instead of permission to do so. Nearly every company we've worked with has values that get lost in translation. This is because:

• There might be a list of ten values, and you can only remember one, in a pinch.
• They use generic, non-descriptive words like integrity, innovation, and teamwork.
• They don't mean anything to you, your team or have a relationship to the work you do.
• You didn't have a say in creating them, so it's hard for you to rally behind them.
• They don't tell you how to work with customers, internal teams and each other.
• They are just 'posters on the wall', instead of words that move you to action.
• Your values should never get lost in translation. Instead, here's an example of what your values will look like.

Jack and Jill are CSMs at a fast-growing software company in San Francisco. Their Customer Success leader has worked with them to create a list of values they can rally behind. The values are Customer Excellence, Empathy, and Be Thoughtful. A few months after they agree to the core values, Jack (a senior CSM) takes a customer call, and Jill is listening to learn how Jack approaches difficult conversations. As the call progresses, Jill notices Jack make an offhand remark that 'bugs never get fixed around here'. If there were no core values in place, Jill would likely avoid asking Jack why he would say something so harmful to a customer. On the other hand, if she was to confront Jack with her opinion of what he should have done, he might feel like she's making a personal attack on him.

Jill knows all of the team values, which means she is empowered to say "I noticed that there was one point where you sounded a little frustrated, and you said that bugs never get fixed around here. I didn't feel like that held up to our core value of Customer Excellence. Can you help me understand what happened?" The values create a neutral jump-off point for a conversation, instead of putting team members in uncomfortable situations where they feel like they are attacking each other. This conversation starts with a clear intent of providing feedback and seeking to understand, instead of creating conflict.