Value realization means being able to demonstrate the real-world value of your solution to your customers after the deal has closed and the solution has been implemented. A critical aspect of the value-selling framework, value realization is key to maintaining happy, loyal customers for your business.
But where do you get started with value realization and how can you improve your value realization metrics? The following are five practical steps that you can take right now to help you improve your business value realization metrics.
1. Help Your Team Embrace the Importance of Value Realization
The first step to improving your value realization metrics is for your customer success team to truly understand and embrace the importance of value realization. Done well, a robust value realization framework provides many advantages for your team by creating a seamless and positive customer experience, facilitating clear and meaningful communication with customers, driving customer satisfaction and loyalty, and more. This not only directly impacts the business, but it can also make your customer success team’s jobs easier and help them hit their customer satisfaction goals.
2. Define How You Will Measure Value Realization for Customers
Next you’ll need to define how you will measure value realization for your customers. There are two parts to this: 1) what value realization framework will you use to structure your value realization strategy, and 2) what technology platforms will you use to streamline the tracking and communication of customer value realization metrics.
Choosing a Value Realization Framework
According to our recent survey with IDC, most customers expect their solution vendors to provide a value realization framework for them. In fact, only 6% of customers indicated they had their own framework for value realization that they expect vendors to use. So, if you haven’t already, now is the time to determine the right value realization framework for your business that will help you align with customers on the challenges, goals, desired outcomes, and key success metrics of your solution.
One of the most powerful frameworks with proven success is known as the Value Trinity. The Value Trinity is based on three interlocking gears that demonstrate to customers how your solution benefits their corporate goals, their job goals, and their own personal goals. Learn more about the Value Trinity.
Choosing a Value Realization Platform
Your value realization framework needs to be executed at scale. Smaller businesses might be able to get started with manual tracking, reporting, and communication of value realization metrics, but this process is cumbersome and quickly becomes untenable. A value realization platform that digitizes this process can be a complete game-changer, enabling you to run your value realization program at scale while freeing up your customer success team to provide the necessary human touch with their accounts.
3. Monitor the 3 Most Important KPIs
With value realization, it’s easy to fall into the trap of tracking any and all metrics–after all, the more data the better, right? Wrong. Reporting on too many metrics, and more importantly, not focusing on the right metrics, only dilutes their impact when communicating with customers. While every customer will have slightly different KPIs that are most important to them, there are a few baseline KPIs that you should be monitoring for all of your accounts.
Net Dollar Retention (NDR) and Net Revenue Retention (NRR)
Net Dollar Retention (NDR) and Net Revenue Retention (NRR) are metrics that indicate the growth of a business. These are key metrics to report on as they show the contribution of your solution to a business’ bottom line and growth targets.
Time to Solution Go-Live
Time to solution go-live is another key metric that will be relevant to virtually all customers. This is a measure of the amount of time to onboard and implement the solution. Keeping this metric on track is key to being able to show your solution's ability to hit the ground running and not get stuck in the implementation phase.
Time to Solution Value
Time to solution value is a measure of the amount of time it takes for the solution to start delivering a return on the customers’ investment. A fast time-to-value can help you retain customers and secure renewals.
4. Understand What Success Means for the Customer and Tailor Value Realization Metrics Accordingly
As mentioned in the previous section, each customer is unique and will have their own set of challenges, priorities, and visions for success that should have come to light during the sales process. Therefore, value realization should be tailored to each customer’s unique profile, considering and incorporating the key milestones and successes that are most important to your customer.
5. Approach Value Realization as an Ongoing Cycle in Your Customer Relationships
Finally, it is important to approach customer value realization as an ongoing cycle in your customer relationships, rather than a once-and-done activity. As you continue to work with your customers, you’ll discover more about what’s important to them, and you’ll be able to adapt your approach as the customer’s priorities evolve and build a trusted, long-lasting partnership with your customers.
For More Information
Learn how to differentiate your organization to attract, retain, and grow your customers from Ecosystems and IDC's Second Annual Survey on Customer Value Excellence.
