Inside Technology Services

I have recently travelled back from two conferences, including the CCO Summit, hosted by Gainsight, and the Customer Success Summit, hosted by Totango. One discussion thread at both conferences was the ability to scale Customer Success organizations effectively. It was awesome to hear Totango’s Guy Nirpaz introduce Spark, which is how Totango intends to provide their customers a fast path to scalable value. In Nick Mehta’s kickoff discussion at the CCO Summit, he spoke about how one of the important themes for customer success was to become more prescriptive to our customers. Whether it is use of technology or improved process, the theme of “scale” was very evident.

Journeys come in all shapes and sizes. Some are short and easy, like a quick weekend getaway, while others are long and arduous, like a multi-week trip to parts unknown. The longer and more complex the journey, the more a plan or a roadmap, literally and figuratively, is needed to ensure success. Any journey starts with some basic questions: Where do I want to go? How am I going to get there? What do I want to see and do? What do I need to bring? A customer journey is no different than any other type of journey—it starts with some basic questions and is supported by a well-thought-out plan.

So, what does education services (ES) have to do with the customer journey? Everything. Think of ES as the tour guide, that person at the front of the pack describing what you’re seeing, answering all your questions, and shepherding you to the next destination. Just as a tour guide has a map, education organizations do too—a curriculum roadmap, which serves to guide customers through every stage of their product usage journey. Here are three stops along the customer journey where education services can play a critical role.

Generating a profit is the goal of every cloud business. Yet for many, achieving it remains elusive. As companies walk the path toward creating a profitable cloud-based business—or transitioning from a product-based to a service-based business—many challenges exist in this still-emerging market. And those challenges are amplified when operating through an indirect channel sales model.