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22
January
2024
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There's no more valuable content an organization can give its sellers than real, quantifiable proof of the impact their solution has delivered. Customer success metrics raise credibility and form the foundation of value stories that open and expand opportunities.
Here are two examples.
A CRM data cleanup solution saved a customer $30,000 in media costs in year one, on a $10,000 investment. Simple, clear, obvious connection.
A supply chain solution helped a customer better track inventory and align it with delivery schedules. In year one, they saw a 20% improvement in OTIF deliveries and a 10% improvement in customer satisfaction. Less obvious — other factors may have contributed — but the solution played a meaningful role.
The difference between these two examples highlights something important: capturing metrics is rarely straightforward. It requires a focused effort to connect your solution's capabilities to functional benefits and ultimately to a business outcome.
Why don't customers just generate metrics themselves?
Three reasons. First, short memories: once a problem is solved, customers move on and quickly forget what life looked like before your solution. Second, attribution: positive outcomes are rarely the result of one single factor. Third, and most importantly, lack of focus. Metrics don't fall into your lap. They have to be nurtured and harvested with intent.
Two modes of generating metrics
Harvesting is the result of rigorous sales execution. During the sales cycle, the customer identifies the metrics they'll use to define success (M2s), grounded in existing customer proof points (M1s). A thorough handover to delivery ensures those targets are tracked and ultimately realized as M3s, which then feed back into the M1 repository for future sellers and marketers to use.
Mining is harder. It's what happens when there's a lack of continuity from sales to delivery, and the customer-facing team has to reconstruct a value story from historical and present-day information, without the benefit of documented baseline metrics.
Harvesting is always preferable, and it starts with not cutting corners during the sales cycle. That means thorough execution across every element of MEDDPICC — identifying meaningful pain aligned with executive priorities, quantifying the problem and potential solution, and ensuring your Champion is fully supported and committed.
As the deal moves into closing, baseline measurements should be established and tracked through implementation and adoption. Done well, the delivery team inherits a clear picture of what success looks like — and the customer team is aligned to it.
When things go wrong: hitting the reset button
Even with the best intentions, disruptions happen. Baselines go undocumented. Handovers lack rigor. Executive alignment drifts. Personnel changes. These are the gremlins that sabotage value delivery — and knowing they exist is the first step to mitigating them.
When a customer relationship has lost its sense of purpose, it's time to reset. And here's the thing: it's almost always easier to repair a customer relationship than it is to land new business. Problems are opportunities.
Resetting means asking uncomfortable questions:
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Why did the customer originally decide to do business with us?
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What were the original goals, and what's changed?
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What value has been delivered — and who knows about it?
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Where have we missed opportunities?
One of the most common mistakes in these situations is assuming you still have a Champion. If you're in this position, you probably don't. But you're already in the account, which gives you a real advantage: you can identify pain, access stakeholders, develop a new Champion, and re-establish executive alignment.
A successful reset leads you back toward harvesting — reestablishing baseline measurements, refocusing on goals, and rebuilding the communication and collaboration needed to get to shared success.
Mining for metrics
When the relationship is functioning but baseline data is missing, the work is investigative. You need to understand what the solution was supposed to deliver, whether it's been properly implemented and adopted, and what the measurable impact has been.
The process often feels like assembling a puzzle: connecting functional improvements to operational outcomes to business results. In the inventory example, that means asking: has there been a measurable improvement in OTIF? If yes, how much? What contributed to it? How much credit does the solution deserve?
That investigation, done well, becomes your value story.
In summary: metrics don't grow on trees. The best way to generate them is through disciplined sales execution that sets up harvesting from day one. When that doesn't happen, mining is possible — but it takes more effort, better relationships, and a willingness to ask hard questions. Either way, the goal is the same: a clear, credible story that connects your solution to real business outcomes.
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