This article has been transcribed from a presentation given at the Customer Success Festival Sydney in November 2022.

In this article, I'm going to talk about the five customer value tips that can help you shine in the coming years.

But first, I have a question for you: if I were to ask 1,000 customer success professionals the meaning of value realization for their customers, how many different answers do you think I would get? 10? 100? 1,000?

The reality is that everyone has a different definition of value and value realization. To top it off, our customers have different definitions of value realization too. This makes value realization both a fascinating and challenging topic. When it comes to how we define value, there’s a quote from Warren Buffett that really resonates with me:

“Price is what you pay and value is what you get.”

Over the past couple of years, our stakeholders have been under immense pressure to optimize their technology investments, so we’ve seen an increasing need to help our customers realize value from our products more quickly than ever. All of us are talking about value realization, so it’s no surprise that according to the latest IDC report, the ability to articulate and deliver value is becoming a competitive differentiator for organizations.

Most customer success professionals would probably agree that value realization should be the foundation of B2B sales and there should be transparency about the value realized between buyers and sellers. We shouldn't be guessing whether or not value has been realized by the customer when they make millions using our technology. We need to look at the evidence.

When customers choose to partner with us, their reputation is at stake. We owe it to them to make them successful. They expect value, and they trust us to deliver it. Now, that value might be an increase in profits, it could be a reduction in cost, or it could be an improvement in employee productivity. Whatever kind of value they’re looking for, at the end of the day, the need for value is a very genuine need that must be supported and recognized.

At Adobe, our customer success organization’s charter is centered around the notion of accelerating value for customers.

In this article, I’m going to share my top five tips on how you can do the same and become a value champion:

  • Tip #5: Demonstrate value at scale
  • Tip #4: Value realization is a team sport
  • Tip #3: Arming decision-makers with value KPIs
  • Tip #2: Nurture value realization mastery
  • Tip #1: Partner closely with product management