Customer Success & Web3
The customer success business model emerged in the early 2000s as SaaS became the preferred delivery and pricing method for business software. Customer success teams seek to retain customers by building long-lasting relationships by proactively showing users how to get value from the solution, addressing issues, and troubleshooting problems. After all, companies that sell SaaS solutions typically won’t recoup the full cost of acquisition for a new customer until the second or even third year of their subscription. So, a customer’s subscription fee essentially serves as an annuity that must be nurtured to make sure it continues.
Why Customer Success?
Ultimately, a happy customer is a profitable customer. Extending the average customer Lifetime Value (LTV) can make a huge difference for a business. Focusing on customer success is an important—and necessary—investment.
Enter: Web3
The introduction of web3 technology now offers new ways for companies to reach their supporters and to promote customer success. Built on blockchain technology, web3 software is an emerging, new generation of the internet that centers on the principles of decentralization, transparency and security. While “web 1.0” brought us the early internet, web 2.0 introduced us to centralized social media and web functionality. Web3 focuses on enabling more freedom through decentralized applications developed on the blockchain. When applied to customer success, web3 techniques can foster a much deeper, more meaningful relationship between companies and their customers.
Fostering Customer Success in the Web3 Space
At a functional level, customer success is the practice of helping customers achieve their desired outcomes through a product or service. As more individuals seek autonomy on the internet, brands have the unique opportunity to use web3 tools to create more authentic connections with their supporters and to promote customer success. Specifically, web3 technology enables:
- Enhanced engagement. In a web3 space, a company can have a more direct relationship with a customer and offer more individualized support. The structure is such that users are members of a community in which they actively provide insights and direction.
- Deeper rewards structures. There are ample opportunities to reward engagement in the web3 space. With tokengating, for example, enterprises can create exclusive access, events and rewards for defined loyalty tiers.
- Increased ownership. Web3 seeks to give community members a voice. Using NFTs, businesses can allow their most loyal fans and supporters to vote and provide influence on timely issues.
- More transparency. The token-based structure enabled by web3 enhances data ownership. Data is to be exchanged between a brand and consumer, rather than owned by a third party or search platform.
By becoming early adopters of web3, businesses can gain a competitive edge in the all-important area of customer success by reducing churn and increasing LTV. This goes for companies that sell web3 software and SaaS companies that can use web3 software to enhance customer success. And, while some users may find new technologies to be daunting, many solutions currently offered are designed to be “web 2.5.” This means a business can begin leveraging web3-based tools while giving customers some of the web 2.0 features they already know. Customer success teams can help their customers navigate this novel space, build trust, and get the most out of the software–all while future-proofing their business for technology ahead.
Looking to incorporate web3 into your customer success strategy?
Tokenization can serve as an extremely efficient mechanism for creating, managing and rewarding a community with dynamic levels of permissions and privileges. If you are interested in building a community for your brand based on web3 technologies, then check out Society. It is a web3-enabled tool that allows you to control and manage your communities and customers across platforms and at scale. If you have any questions about Society or how to incorporate web3 technology into your own customer success strategy, then we’d love to have a conversation. Contact us.
