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The Silent Silo Killing Customer Value: Services


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Everyone in SaaS loves to talk about breaking down silos between Sales and Customer Success. You’ve heard the calls to “align GTM” and “create a seamless handoff.” And don’t get me wrong, those efforts matter.


But there’s one silo we don’t talk about nearly enough:


The Services silo.


Over the past decade, I’ve seen Services teams report into CS orgs again and again.


But strangely, I rarely hear Customer Success leaders fighting for their success. We scream about closing the gap between Sales and CS, but what about the team doing the actual work?


What Services Is Saying (Loud and Clear)


Lately, I’ve been working with a company where the Head of Services joins every strategic call, alongside the CEO. And let me tell you, they’re vocal about the challenges they face:


🚩 Poor expectation setting


🚩 Selling on futures


🚩 Missing data


🚩 Lack of process


🚩 Siloed workflows


These are solvable problems. And yes, we’re working through them. But the real question is: Why do these problems keep happening in the first place?


So, I dug in.


The Data Doesn’t Lie



Only 36% of Professional Services teams proactively collaborate with Sales and CS.


Yet:


  • 61% believe that stronger alignment would improve margins


  • 59% say it would improve retention


  • 56% say it would improve renewals


  • 46% believe it would reduce time spent on low-value work


Let that sink in. The teams closest to delivery, arguably the most critical part of the customer journey, are disconnected from the rest of the engine. We’re expecting them to deliver flawlessly while operating in the dark.


And then we wonder why customers churn.



You Can’t Be Customer-Obsessed While Ignoring Services


Customer Success has always positioned itself as the post-sale hero. But here’s the truth:


CS can’t succeed if Services is set up to fail.


And we have to stop pretending these misalignments aren’t our problem. If you’re a CS leader and you’re not bringing your Services counterparts into the conversation, you’re leaving blind spots all over your customer journey.


3 Moves to Bridge the Gap Now


If you want to fix this, here’s where to start:


1️⃣ Invite Services Early

Let Services into planning meetings, not just escalations. Bring them into QBR prep, forecast reviews, and strategic account planning. They see things you don’t.


2️⃣ Audit Your Handoff

Look at your pre-sale to delivery process. What promises are being made that Services can’t realistically keep? What context is being lost?


3️⃣ Share Goals and Metrics

If Services owns delivery and CS owns retention, but you're not tracking shared outcomes, you're not truly aligned. Consider success metrics that span both functions, like Net Revenue Retention (NRR), time-to-value, or expansion influence.


A Closing Thought: Let’s Get Honest


We throw around the word “customer-centric” like it’s confetti.


But real customer-centricity means giving every team that touches the customer a voice. Especially the ones doing the heavy lifting.



So here’s the real question:


What other silos are silently killing your ability to deliver customer value? And what are you doing about them?



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