Welcome to your dose of Customer Experience & Customer Success insights, DE&I amplification and wellness banter.

Happy August!  I usually welcome August as a time to reset, because July is very busy in my family - we have 10-ish family celebrations/birthdays in July, which means a lot of cake and a lot of calories.  As someone who tries to balance health with a foodie-lifestyle, it can be a challenging month.  So I use August to try to transition back into my “healthier” eating routines - which looks like cleaner eating, less sugar and more movement. August is also the start of #backtoschool for many like myself, which means transitioning from one routine and schedule to another

This got me thinking of transitions, and how they serve us as individuals and as customer-facing folks.  As an individual, I am already craving messages from my school to “save-the-date” and get ready for what lies ahead.  As a customer, I need expectations for what lies ahead, so I can best plan for my family.

As a customer-facing person, this same principle can be expected for those I work with.  Setting expectations for your customers, from onboarding to adoption to long-term engagement can help make transitions easier and more solid. Below are some areas to consider when nailing the art of transitions:

• Sales to CX - The sales to customer experience handoff is a critical customer experience transition, and one which requires documentation, enablement and personalized transition.  Ensure you take time to prepare for a sale with your internal teams, so you can activate a transition strategy as soon as it occurs.  (Link to my CS Quickstart Toolkit which includes a Sales to CS transition plan)
• Implementation to Customer Success - Customers in Implementation projects often get high degrees of hand-holding and problem solving, which is great.  However, afterwards many can struggle with a differing support level when their long-term plan begins.  Ensure customers understand what the journey looks like, and how they will continue to be supported so the transition is easier.
• Customer Success to Support - Similar to the Implementation transition, customers may not fare well with reduced touch experiences without prior notice.  Let them know if you have a chatbot, AI or live support, and when it operates.  Set expectations as best as possible for responses.  And ensure, feedback goes both ways.
• Product launches - Have you ever logged into a tool and been greeted by a totally new view - no one likes to be surprised or have to relearn something big.  Share news, big news, which may impact how people interact with your product to nail the transition.

All this begs the question, how transition-ready are your processes?

If you want to continue this discussion about data or anything related early stage Customer-centric thinking:

• Shoot me a message, would love to chat further!
• Read my column on Inc. Magazine which is focused on CS 101
• Need a little CX help?  I am a part of the Recast Success Fractional CS Marketplace - Get your first 30-minute meeting free* with code MEETUS30

Recent things I have heard, wrote or read:

• The world's first quantum computer is coming to Illinois which I thought was super cool - Link ( World Business Chicago )
• It’s #Olympics-mania everywhere, including the workplace.  Did workplaces prepare? - Link (Inc. Magazine )
• Need some no-cook recipes for hot days, so do I?  And since I am talking wellness in August, I liked this list - Link ( The New York Times Food)

Upcoming events of interest:

• Aug 24 - Join me with the team at ZapScale at their #scaletale event - I am talking about Scaling CS as well as Global CS. Link to event
• Sept 12 - The 🪷South Asian Success community is hosting a webinar on “Building a Personal Brand on a Global Scale” with Prashanth Jothi - Link to event
• Oct 7 to 9 - If you are a Consultant, Fractional or Fractionally-curious, consider joining us at #FRAK2024 - www.fractionalconference.com. Use this code - FRAKNSPEAKER - for 10% off the registration fee.
• Oct 21 to 23 - Join me and other leaders at the #CXM360 Best Practices Symposium organized by Michigan State University - Registration is open here --> https://lnkd.in/g9MRWKrm