Drive Engagement with Stakeholder Alignment as a CSM in 3 Easy Steps
Welcome, everyone! We'll dive into some significant 'Aha' moments I experienced during this year's Pulse conference. There were many inspiring sessions, but the topics that stood out to me most were Rocking Executive Businesses Reviews and Stakeholder Alignment.
Today, we will focus on the latter, beautifully presented by Gainsight’s Customer Success Team. Their articulate breakdown of the stakeholder alignment framework provided valuable insights into how their executive team fosters growth and prevents risky customer churn. So, without further ado, let's delve into the magic of stakeholder alignment.
What is Stakeholder Alignment?
Stakeholder alignment is a systematic process that moves us from a place of blindness, unaware of our critical customer stakeholders, to clarity and engagement. This transformation prevents us from being surprised by changes in customer objectives. It provides an automated, scalable rhythm for consistently engaging with crucial stakeholders.
Why is it Important?
1. Proving Value: It demonstrates the worth of our efforts to stakeholders.
2. Raising Visibility: It amplifies our work and achievements.
3. Managing Sentiment: It helps to control the narrative around our initiatives.
4. Building Long-Lasting Relationships: We can form and nurture enduring partnerships with our stakeholders.
How Do We Implement Stakeholder Alignment?
The first step is identifying the personas. Who are the key influencers and decision-makers in your ecosystem? You can start by defining the following for each persona:
- Common Titles
- Their Challenges
- Emotional Drivers
- Business Objectives
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- A narrative describing their perspectives
With these personas clearly defined, the stage is set for stakeholder alignment.
When Does Stakeholder Alignment Occur?
Second step is to define the cadence. Your engagement with stakeholders should be the same as your customer segment. For instance, global customers should ideally be engaged quarterly, enterprise and mid-market bi-annually, and digital-led as needed.
Executing Stakeholder Alignment: A Practical Guide
Third step is to put all your planning into execution.
1. Identify Key Stakeholders: Consistently pinpoint decision-makers. Remember, your company's and customers' priorities and organization could change, so ensure you reassess your matches regularly.
2. Align Buddies: Assign personas to executives within your organization collaboratively.
3. Engage Stakeholders: Connect with them through valuable calls and emails, understand their current objectives, and reinforce the delivered outcomes.
4. Identify Stakeholder Risks: Look out for non-responsive stakeholders, new sponsors, or a considerable gap since the last stakeholder check-in.
Key Takeaways
Depending on where you are in your stakeholder alignment journey, here are some steps to take:
- Beginner: Start tracking stakeholder alignment for your business and use ghost notes to establish executive engagement. Consider setting up a cross-functional 'tiger team' to identify critical personas and define a meeting cadence.
- Intermediate: If you've already established a stakeholder alignment process, please take a look at the appendix for guidance on operationalising your approach within Gainsight.
- Advanced: If your stakeholder alignment process is already operational, consider advanced strategies, like identifying personas through an in-app survey. This will give you a clearer picture of your customer's organizational chart and how they use your product if you don’t have this information already.
Remember, stakeholder alignment isn't just a process—it's a transformational tool for proactive customer success. Keep rocking those business reviews!
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Do you have questions and want to learn more about establishing stakeholder alignment at your organization? Let's chat. Feel free to reach out to me on Linkedin.