There is much talk around CDMs, but what are their duties in an IT company?
The CDM manages and takes care of the relationship with the customer. This position is responsible for making its interlocutor feel at ease in using the product by guiding them and conveying the idea that there will be always a support team at their disposal during the entire onboarding process. To summarize, the main objective of an onboarding specialist is the one to make the customer feel enthusiastic about their product, by offering an excellent usage experience that can be reached by meeting customer’s needs and providing the adequate solutions.
Why is the CDM position of high importance in SaaS companies?
Fostering customer loyalty from the very beginning is of extreme importance for the entire supply chain of Software as a Service companies. A CDM has the responsibility of managing the customer, teaching them the correct way to use the product and explore its full potential, in the most easy and fast way possible.
The CDM wears different hats inside the company. They need to integrate a team-working attitude to problem solving and project management skills.
What skills should a customer delivery manager have?
Not all of us are able to handle customers. You need to combine a good dose of empathy and possess adaptability and stress management skills, not to mention problem solving. These are the soft skills that are useful in providing the best possible customer service. Let’s look at them together.
Communication skills
As a client onboarding specialist, you need to have excellent communication skills. You will need to be prepared to receive an avalanche of questions to which you will have to find answers that dissipate any doubts. Depending on the request, the answers can be short and precise, or they can be more extensive. The goal is to pass concepts to the client in a comprehensive manner to speed up the onboarding process and deliver a valid product on time. Also noteworthy is the ability to relate internally with different company departments, such as the R&D department, for the development of new features for the customer.
Empathy
Usually, customers use a ticketing or email service to request support on the product. This means that you are faced with angry people who are disappointed that they cannot handle tasks on their own. A high level of empathy helps to suppress negative emotions and to limit them, turning the relationship into a – sometimes – pleasant conversation. As a result, a quick and “jovial” service makes for a happy client.
Patience
Cultivating patience is perhaps the most important tool at the disposal of Customer Delivery Managers. It will happen often that you must explain the same thing several times, in different ways, to different people on the same day.
But let’s remember one thing: While one activity or product function may be obvious to you, the same may not necessarily be true for someone who is approaching the product for the very first time.
Problem solving
It is the ability to solve problems, technical or otherwise. A good problem solver can find the right words to ease the tension a user is experiencing, especially in case of a bug or a technical requirement that may cause the customer to give up.
Therefore, this skill is so important for those working in the Operations department of a SaaS company.
Thorough knowledge of the product
This may seem obvious, but it is not! Knowing the product thoroughly is essential for those working in customer onboarding. Solving technical problems is the basis of one’s daily work. This is precisely why it is necessary to handle all features and capabilities of the solution to the best of one’s ability.
What are the main responsibilities of a customer delivery manager?
Although we have previously covered the main tasks of a CDM, we will now go into detail, showing each aspect of this job.
Supporting customers during the initial configuration process
Some products need to be customized in order to have special implementations. This task is part of the activities of a CDM. A good customer delivery manager must be able to have a thorough understanding not only of the technical aspect of the solution, but also have a fair amount of knowledge of the market in which it operates in order to provide key insights and contextual help for the customer’s needs.
Solving customer’s concerns
Once the relationship is established, customers will start contacting you with new ideas and implementation requests. Therefore, it will be important to document each request, forward it to the product team for an evaluation and development phase.
Create relationships based on feedback
Creating relationships is perhaps the most difficult and significant aspect in a customer service process. When a SaaS company hires a CDM, it expects customer satisfaction and loyalty toward the product to increase. Therefore, after helping customers achieve their goals, the feedback received becomes important in order to collect more data, continue the internal improvement process, and make sure customer expectations are met.
It truly is a data-driven relationship!
