The CXO and the VP of Services often bemoan the low attach rates of services in the deals sold to customers. The issue is not only a loss of short term corporate revenue but perhaps, more importantly, the long term impact on customer success and satisfaction – which impacts renewals and upsell opportunities.

Sales compensation is frequently cited as the root cause. If the salesforce is not comped on services sales (or there is a lower commission) versus product sales, then the expectation is that sales will not put much emphasis on selling services. While this is certainly a valid argument, it is a self-inflicted wound that can be addressed through modifying the compensation plan. Perhaps the tougher reason for low attach rates is that the services were not positioned effectively during the sale. In this blog we’ll explore a simple, but effective way to better position services as well as products.

With any subscription XaaS business, it is important that Customer Success Teams as well as Sales Teams are using the same language when discussing their shared customer – if nothing else to ensure a smooth handoff and transition during the customer lifecycle. For instance, sales teams are expected to sell “value” and/or customer “outcomes” while customer success teams are charged with delivering… well, customer “success”.

Are these terms effectively synonyms describing the same concept, or are they very different? In truth they are neither, but rather are intimately intertwined as they describe the customer’s viewpoint depending on where we are in the customer lifecycle.