
24/09/2024
Celebrating small wins in customer success
Written by Deborah Knight
This week I joined Dean Colegate on his “Just One CS Thing” podcast.
In the podcast, we discussed the importance of celebrating the small wins in Customer Success! Sometimes it can feel like there’s a delay between the effort and reward on the initiatives we work on. Other times, our successes get lost or hidden in data. So, taking the time to identify and celebrate the small wins is key to enjoying the journey!
The Challenges We Face in CS
Let’s be honest—Customer Success isn’t always the easiest place to be. There’s a lot of negative bias to deal with.
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Negative feedback: We’re often the first to hear when a customer’s unhappy. Maybe it’s that feature they’ve been desperate for but still isn’t ready, or maybe it’s churn risk that’s looming.
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Effort vs reward: We work on things that take months to come to fruition—like influencing stakeholders or negotiating renewals—and yet we’re measured on this quarter’s metrics. That can feel disheartening.
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Hidden successes: Some wins just don’t show up in the numbers. Like finally getting through to a client who’s been ghosting you for months or successfully negotiating a renewal, even if it meant a downsell to align with their needs.
Sound familiar?
Why Celebrating Small Wins Matters
In my career, I’ve been in situations where all I was asked about was churn. As a CSM, it was about retention rates. As a leader, it was presenting churn performance to execs.
It’s easy to feel like all you’re doing is firefighting. I’ve worked with teams that felt burned out and despondent because they weren’t recognising their own successes. They were doing incredible work, but it wasn’t being celebrated or even acknowledged.
Here’s the thing: if we only focus on the big picture—like revenue or health scores—we miss the progress we’re making. For example, at Doctify, we were working hard on campaigns to improve health scores. We’d see great success with specific cohorts, but the overall trend line wasn’t shifting. So, we started tracking movements within the health score—how many clients were improving versus slipping. Suddenly, we could see real progress.
How to Celebrate Small Wins
So, how do we start recognising and celebrating these moments?
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Start small: Have one-on-one conversations with your team. Ask them what they’ve learned or what they’re proud of. For example:
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“That renewal was tough, but you handled it brilliantly. What did you do differently this time?”
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“How would you have tackled that three months ago?”
These chats help people see their own progress and feel good about it.
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Team shoutouts: Bring it into team meetings. At Perkbox, we’d have fun with it—giving quirky awards like the “Ghostbuster Award” for finally reconnecting with a ghosting client. Or we’d celebrate a “Customer of the Month,” where we shared the story behind the success—not just the numbers, but the effort and learnings too.
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Love & Learn: I love this concept. Share wins, but also share what you learned from the challenges. It’s a great way to frame progress positively while staying honest.
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Take control of the narrative: When reporting to leadership, don’t just talk about the top-line numbers. Highlight the movement within the data. For example, show how many clients improved their health score or how your efforts are preventing churn surprises.
Conclusion
Celebrating small wins isn’t just a “nice-to-have.” It’s essential for keeping teams motivated, maintaining momentum, and recognising the value of the work we do every day.
Your call to action: Start small. Have a chat with your team or your manager about a recent success. Celebrate it, even if it feels minor. And if you’ve got a great way to celebrate wins, I’d love to hear it—share your ideas and experiences!
Conversation starters:
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What’s one of your most memorable small wins in Customer Success?
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How do you keep yourself and your team motivated during tough times?
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What’s your favourite way to celebrate a win, big or small?
Let’s start recognising the brilliant work we’re all doing—because every step forward matters.
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