It's not just about features - start-ups should design for customer outcomes

Customer success isn’t something you “add later” — it’s the foundation. And I'm not saying you should be "customer-obsessed", what I'm saying is that you need to consider how to communicate with your customers and how you build the customer journey to ensure retention moving forward.

Here's an unpopular opinion: having a Product-First mindset sometimes hurts the business.

Why? Because you tend to obsess over features instead of outcomes. And you forget that customers don’t buy a product, they buy progress in their lives or businesses. They aim to better their own lives by adding more efficiency to their processes or ensuring cost savings. They buy from where the value proposition is clear and easily achievable.

How can you look at “Customer Success” on Day 0?

Don't look at it as if it's support, but as if it's helping you design your business around addressing the main pain points or helping customers achieve their goals. Ask yourself: “What problem are we solving, and how will success look for the customer?”

Customer Profile – How to identify the right client with the help of Customer Success

Why do Startups ignore the need to invest in customer relationship strategies?

As you're being pressured from all over the place, you focus mainly on impressing investors, so you place product features over value.

Remember, though, not having a formal customer relationship role yet is difficult to fix later, as it will always seem like a non-priority.

Once you create a custom and neglect customers in the early stages, the time you spend not building trust and a partnership mindset with them will have negative consequences later, when it'll come to renewals or expansion opportunities.

Imagine a start-up that focuses on onboarding and asking customers for feedback - not only does it improve the product using the relevant feedback they receive, but this practice also builds trust and creates a business bond that'll come in handy later on.

So what do I recommend?

Include a Customer Success Vision Statement in your business plan. Or add it afterwards, making a smooth transition to using and communicating it, for example:“We aim to help small businesses reduce time spent on manual tasks by 15%.”

In the first months, spend time talking to users. Make it a priority, alongside building the product.

When it comes to every feature idea, ask: “How does this improve the customer’s outcome?” Afterwards, ask the customers how the new feature will serve their definition of success.

Write down your customers' definition of success in a short sentence. Keep it simple and use it as a filter for every decision you make.

Don't consider Customer Success a department. It’s a mindset, and you either design your business accordingly or struggle with the consequences later.