New accounts increase revenue, but it’s actually repeat customers that generate the highest returns.
According to a Bain and Company report, a 5 percent increase in customer retention can lead to a 25 percent increase in profit because existing clients are likely to spend 67 percent more than new customers. This leads to lower operating costs for the business, which equates to higher net gains.
So, how can companies keep their customers for the long term?
Palette’s VP of North American Operations Roxanne Imrick suggested amplifying customer care before a contract is even signed, setting clear expectations during the sales cycle and walking away when it’s not a good fit.
“During our sales cycle, we aim to fully understand what the customer is looking to buy so that we don’t sell them on a thought or a process that our software can’t deliver,” Imrick said.
Imrick said this approach helps her team fully understand their clients’ processes before getting to work should a deal be made. It also minimizes the risk of unwanted surprises post-sale, when Palette’s project team begins developing the client’s automated accounts payable (AP) system.
AP AUTOMATION
“It helps us keep things as standard as possible and ensures that we’re handing off our new customer to our project and support teams without any speed bumps,” Imrick said. “It keeps everyone on the same page.”
Palette’s client continuity efforts are furthered by an organized communication strategy, structured onboarding, and an experienced customer service team to offer support along the way — all in an effort to create the most desirable customer experience.
Imrick and her colleagues take Built In Chicago inside Palette’s end-to-end customer service model.
How does Palette enable a positive client experience during the sales cycle?
Roxanne Imrick, VP of North American Operations: It starts with selling to the right customer through a consultative approach. We identify whether or not a prospect is a good fit for Palette, and if they are, we begin outlining what their project will look like based on their needs. This is a full knowledge transfer. We need to understand what specifically they’re asking for, and they need to understand how our software can do that for them. This helps us teach them our language and lets us hand off our clients to our support team in the best way.
What happens after the client signs?
Helen Liatos, Service Operations Specialist: After sales, the customer is introduced to the project team and business analyst. They sit with the customer to review their needs and actually build their automated AP system and run testing. Once the client is moved into production, the project team holds a closure meeting with the client and introduces them to the team I’m on, our service operations team.
Imrick: Sometimes there is downtime in the few weeks that follow a contract being signed and the project kickoff. Our marketing team recently started to follow up with new clients to onboard them and introduce them to our Palette community during this downtime. They also interview them about how the sales cycle went and what attracted them to our company and solutions. It’s created a really natural progression throughout and helps further connect the client to Palette.
How does Palette continue its customer care efforts once they’re up and running?
Liatos: After the project goes live, our customer support team becomes the client’s main point of contact for any issues or customizations to their platforms. We have a great software system we use for our ticketing system that we introduce to the client, which helps us resolve their issues quickly. I’ve seen some organizations take a few days to respond to tickets, but that’s not the case here. Our aftercare is really strong. Our project team also continues to work with the client on any open issues during the transition from their team to our team.
Our teamwork drives our customer experience. None of us could do it without all of us.”
What about Palette’s Centsoft product? How is this process similar or different from the above?
Lisa Berkstresser, Centsoft Product Manager: The Centsoft product is plug and play, meaning it’s very quick and easy to use. Our onboarding procedure is as follows. Once I have a signed contract, I go to a portal and create a ticket for our developer to connect with our client’s IT person. If there are any specific needs here, I can notate it within the ticket. Then the developer sets up the connection within an hour, and I call the customer to set up a time to review it with them and train their administrator, which also takes about an hour. The customers really like this quick turnaround.
How does Palette’s customer care stand out?
Liatos: Our customers come first. That’s the culture of our team. We make sure they are attended to and supported. On the customer service side, we hold regular meetings with our clients to make sure there is nothing outstanding or anything that has been dropped. Our service operations team is small, but we are very knowledgeable and technical. We have developer, database and integration skills, so when a customer needs help, we can normally address it within our department. That’s a huge benefit to have senior service representatives.
Berkstresser: We don’t want to just get customers; we want to keep our customers. I say this to our Centsoft clients because most of them are smaller organizations. As a client of Centsoft, which is now part of Palette, they get to benefit from the extensive customer support we offer through a larger company like Palette. They like that.
Imrick: Our teamwork drives our customer experience. None of us could do it without all of us.
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