A lot of businesses are concerned about an impending economic downturn. Whether things turn around for the better is anybody’s guess. But one thing is certain, both your business and your customers are feeling the tension in the air. What can you do to help your Customer Success teams keep customers happy and spending? Conversica’s own Ella Dillon (Chief Customer Officer) shares a few tips about using AI to retain and grow customers during tough economic times. How Downturns Affect Customer Success Teams When confidence in the economy tanks, net-new pipeline tends to dry up. After all, anxious buyers feel they need to be extra careful with their dollars during a downturn. Companies recognize the chilling effect the economy has on buyers. When acquisitions of net-new customers slow down, companies put increased pressure on Customer Success teams to retain and grow revenue from existing customers instead. This is a tall order for Customer Success teams, who are already forced to do more with less. Clearly, Customer Success organizations need ways to establish resiliency for today and beyond. Risky Business: Blind Spots Affecting Customer Success Teams Truth be told, people don’t like repetitive, tedious tasks—and Customer Success Managers (CSMs) are no exception. We all know engaging customers with personalized communication is vital, and it’s so much easier when you can offload the bulk of it to an AI Assistant. After all, you want your CSMs focused on building rapport with customers and providing recommendations that delight, retain, and grow customers. When CSMs are juggling too many tasks, essential actions get dropped. Enterprise and noisy customers get the lion’s share of attention. But large swaths of customers get left behind — or only get reactive attention. This means lots of customers, concerned about their budgets, might be on their way to churn. Sadly, human-sent emails are less persistent, consistent, or prompt than AI-delivered emails. Leveraging AI Assistants helps CSMs give customers the proactive attention they need to succeed and pass customers over to a CSM at the right moment. This means less leg work for your CSMs and better engagement for your customers. Motivating the Team Take time to celebrate the wins. Seeing the stories of customers succeeding thanks to your team’s help goes a long way towards motivating your CSMs and keeping everyone on track. Conversica has a dedicated Slack channel to share great stories of our customers’ AI Assistants getting real results. Seeing the individual stories reminds us that Conversica is not just another tool in our customers’ tech stack. When we help our customers get going with the platform, we’re helping create tangible value for the humans on the other end. The Future of Revenue Is Silo-Less Consider this: 83% of customers say they’re more loyal to companies that provide consistency across departments, according to Salesforce’s 2022 State of the Connected Customer report. Customers don’t want to have to know the difference between one team within your company or another. They simply want to communicate with your brand and get the help they need. Conversation Automation makes this a reality for Customer Success teams increasingly tasked with expansion and other selling motions. With an AI Assistant ensuring upgrade and cross-selling conversations feel natural and handoffs from CSMs to AEs are smooth, you build stronger relationships with your customers. How’s that for a frictionless experience? Key Takeaways from “Recession-Proof: Using AI to Retain and Grow Customers in a Downturn” Even if times get tough, there are some things that are always effective: robust strategies, proactive assistance, and delivering on your promises. Companies can help Customer Success teams keep up with important activities that keep customers happy and healthy by employing AI Assistants. If you are looking to tackle the challenges of today and beyond, now is the time to innovate. Now is the time to adopt a Conversica AI Assistant. Want even more practical tips on how to leverage Conversation Automation to assist your Customer Success team? Watch the full half-hour webinar, Recession-Proof: Using AI to Retain and Grow Customers in a Downturn.