4 Proven Ways CS and Product Teams Can Work Better Together

Teamwork between CS and Product is fundamental.

But it's not always easy.

Here are 4 proven ways that will help you work better together:

Schedule Regular Meetings

Transform your meetings from dull status updates to dynamic collaboration sessions.

Kick-off each meeting with a 5-minute demo of the latest feature, followed by a rapid-fire round of customer feedback.

Make sure everyone is on the same page about:

• Customer needs

• Product plans

• Upcoming releases

Key Elements of Effective Meetings:

• Demos of new product features: Showcase the latest developments.

• Discussions of customer feedback and requests for improvements: Ensure customer voices are heard.

• Decide which product updates to focus on based on customer impact: Prioritize what matters most.

• Align on release timelines and communication plans: Keep everyone in sync.

Ensure all CS team members attend these meetings.

Share detailed notes afterward, highlighting action items and owners.

For more tips on effective meetings, check out my guide on turning boring QBRs into growth rockets.

Create a Clear Feedback Process

Simplify the submission process to make it super easy for your customers to submit improvement requests and feedback.

Document the entire process and keep it simple.

Steps to Streamline Feedback:

• Use a feedback platform or a simple Slack channel

  Start with what you have.

• Build a template for key details

  Include customer impact and priority.

• Work with Product to review and prioritize request backlogs

  Keep visibility into the roadmap and status of submitted requests.

• Communicate and give regular updates on progress

  Keep the feedback loop closed.

For more on feedback processes, explore my article on the best customer feedback platforms.

Link Requests to Revenue

One of the best ways to get product teams’ attention is to show how a customer request could impact revenue.

Quantify the potential upside of addressing a request:

• More business from the requesting customer

• Attracting new customers

• Reducing customer churn

• Saving time for CS/Support

Highlight High-Revenue Requests

Bring these to your execs in Product and Sales meetings.

Companies with strong CS-Product alignment report 20% higher customer satisfaction scores and 15% faster product development cycles.

Learn more about the financial impact of customer success in my Net Dollar Retention (NDR) guide.

Celebrate Wins Together

When product improvements ship based on customer requests, celebrate the teamwork.

Recognize the Product team's responsiveness and highlight the customer impact and success stories.

Ways to Celebrate:

• Share success stories in team meetings.

• Highlight the improvements in internal newsletters.

• Publicly recognize the efforts of the Product team.

Real-World Success Story

At one SaaS startup, implementing these strategies led to a 30% reduction in churn and a 25% increase in feature adoption within just six months.

This shows the power of effective CS-Product collaboration.

For more success stories, read the latest news with Rachel Sheriff, Recurly's Chief Customer Officer.

And That’s It

Simple and yet powerful.

Ready to boost your CS-Product relationship?

Start implementing these strategies today and watch your customer satisfaction soar!

P.S. Stay tuned for next week's post, where I explore measuring the ROI of CS-Product collaboration.

P.P.S. How’s your experience so far working with Product teams?

Any other tips you’d like to add here?

For more insights, visit my archive and explore other exclusive articles on customer success you won’t find anywhere else!