The Journey: #012 The Value Match

As a CSM, my # 1 focus in every customer interaction was simple: drive value.

But here’s the thing—you can’t drive what you can’t define.

So first, I’d get crystal clear on what value meant for them—not me, not my product, not our internal metrics. Their goals. Their definitions of success.

But I didn’t stop there.

Once I understood their outcomes, I mapped our product directly to those objectives in a way that was obvious, repeatable, and impactful. Not just “this button does this,” but “here’s how this workflow moves your business forward.”

One of my favorite customers back in my CSM days? Oracle.

Not because they were one of our biggest accounts, but because they came to the table ready to collaborate.

They brought their goals. I brought the strategy. Together, we’d workshop everything.

And guess what?

We barely talked about the product.

Our convos were all about outcomes:

What are you trying to achieve?

What’s standing in your way?

Let me show you how to fix it—with our product.

It wasn’t about features. It was about fit.

Those conversations pushed me. They made me better.

And they cemented something I’ve carried with me ever since:

The best customer conversations aren’t about your product—they’re about your customer’s path to success.

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Fast forward to ClientSuccess.

When I joined, I leaned hard into my subject matter expertise. I knew what internal conversations buyers were having.

I knew what success looked like to them—and I used that to guide our product strategy and customer engagement.

We identified 7 core reasons companies buy Customer Success software:

• Data Democratization

• Operationalizing Process

• Driving Efficiency

• Mitigating Risk

• Identifying Growth

• Increasing Visibility

• Scaling with Ease

I took those objectives and mapped every part of our product back to them. Feature by feature. Workflow by workflow.

So when a customer said, “We need to mitigate risk,” we didn’t just toss out a health score and call it a day.

Instead, we’d say:

“Let’s find the risk signals in your book. First, we’ll segment your customers. Then we’ll build health scores based on your historical churn data, create playbooks for your top risk triggers, automate alerts, and ensure your team has reporting to act fast and consistently.”

Now we’re talking value.

Now we’re giving them something they can use, measure, and scale.

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Want to do this in your org? Here’s your mini playbook:

1) Align with Marketing on Value Props

Start by reviewing your website. What problems do you say you solve? Confirm with Marketing to make sure everyone is speaking the same language.

2) Review Case Studies

See how real customers use your product to drive real outcomes. This is gold for understanding true value delivery.

3) Map Features to Outcomes

Go through your product. Match each feature to at least one of your core customer outcomes. Most features tie to multiple—embrace that.

4) Consider the Workflows

How does a customer actually use your product in their day-to-day to get results? Understand the flow inside and outside your tool.

5) Measure What Matters

Define KPIs that track progress toward each outcome. Prioritize leading indicators (what predicts success) over lagging ones (what reports it after the fact).

It’s tempting to lead with features. But if customers don’t understand how those features map to outcomes, they won’t know how to use them—or why they matter.

The best CS teams know this.

They anchor every conversation on value.

They pair every feature to an outcome.

They don’t just sell the product. They deliver the promise.