5 Questions with Vipin Thomas of Freshworks
Freshworks is a SaaS company with a suite of business software products that includes Freshdesk, Freshservice, Freshsales, Freshchat, Freshcaller, Freshteam, and Freshmarketer. Leading their Customer Success team is Vipin Thomas, whose job is to increase retention, advocacy, and growth with existing customers.
We asked Vipin 5 questions about his role at Freshworks and this is what he had to say…
What stages have you identified in the Customer Journey at Freshworks as it pertains to Customer Success? Which criteria determine who belongs in each stage?
Onboarding is owned by a dedicated team who helps customers during the initial stages post which Customer Success comes into play for maturing, renewing, ongoing and advocacy.
Onboarding is typically a couple of days to 3 months – it really depends on the complexity of the implementation. After the customer is live, CSMs (based on their engagement with the customer) define which stage – “maturing”, “ongoing” or “advocacy” – they fall into. We have developed playbooks to identify each of these stages. Renewal engagements are initiated a couple of months before the renewal date.
What criteria do you use to create your most useful customer segments?
At Freshworks, we segment our customers by product, MRR, use-case, industry, and employee size.
What factors do you use to calculate the health of your customers?
Health scores differ from each product and in many cases even with the same product, health scores may differ by each segment. Broadly, we consider the following categories when defining the health:
- Product usage. E.g. session times, Daily Active Users (DAU)
- Financial information. E.g. age of an open invoice, contractions, expansions
- Support tickets. E.g. age of open tickets, Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
- Net Promoter Score (NPS)
- Customer Success Manager (CSM) Score
Depending on the scores and customer segments, we have playbooks for each.
What factors indicate to you that a customer is at risk of churn?
We consider a lot of factors to identify customers at risk. Here are a few examples:
- Product Usage compared to the previous quarter
- Long pending tickets
- Outstanding payments (over a certain period)
- Continuous negative CSAT ratings
- Detractors on NPS
- Change in stakeholders, etc.
Does Customer Success “own” a revenue target at Freshworks?
Yes, we have a net negative revenue churn target.
If you work in Customer Success and would like to participate in our “5 Questions” series, we’d love to hear from you! Just email us at hello@akitaapp.com for more information.
Related Articles
Best Customer Success Software for Your CS Department in 2024
If you are reading this, you are faced with a real challenge. Either you already manage a customer success function and your existing toolset is not fit for purpose, or you have decided to start a customer success department and want to implement the right software as a solid foundation for your Customer Success Managers […]
Top Customer Retention Software to Reduce Churn in 2024
Figuring out the right customer retention management software to help manage your Customer Retention goals can be tricky. It really comes down to what your specific goals are, what type of market you serve, the customer data you retain and where that data resides. There are some specific types of tools you should consider. Customer […]
Customer Success vs. Customer Experience: Notable Differences
Positive customer relationships are the foundation of any SaaS business. Both customer success and customer experience aim to boost customer satisfaction, but they are actually different concepts that address different segments of the customer journey.
Best Customer Onboarding Software in 2024
How do you make sure you get this process right? Apart from having the right people and the right motivation, it would be remiss not to use the tools you already have or invest in some new ones, such as customer onboarding software so that everything required is being done to ensure your clients expectations […]
What is Customer Success: Short and Simple Guide
In the world of SaaS, customer churn can feel like a constant threat. But what if there was a secret weapon to turn happy trials into loyal customers? Customer success is what you seek, it’s a strategic approach that goes beyond basic support to ensure your users achieve their goals.
CSAT vs. NPS: Differences, Formulas, Examples
Customer satisfaction is the holy grail of any SaaS business. But how do you truly measure it? Enter CSAT and NPS, two powerful metrics that can shed light on your customer experience.
Customer Success vs. Sales: Differences and Similarities
Understanding the differences between customer success and sales in SaaS is crucial for navigating the intricacies of customer retention, satisfaction, and acquisition. Although both departments participate equally to ensure and maintain the business’ sustainability and growth, they work with different methodologies and goals. While customer success focuses on ensuring customers derive maximum value from the […]
Steps to Creating a Customer Onboarding Email Template
How you begin your relationship with customers often dictates how long and successful their relationship with your company will be. Given that SaaS companies need to retain customers for a period of time in order to accrue enough subscription revenues to become profitable, delivering valuable onboarding experiences is essential.