Report:
The Forrester Wave™: Customer Success Platforms, Q4 2023
How does Forrester define the Customer Success Platforms market in 2023?
Customer success (CS) teams are struggling to 'do more with less' amidst an ever-broadening scope while trying to prove the impact of their work. As 'growth at all costs' is no longer viable, CS teams need alternatives to high-touch models and must invest in digital-led programs. Customer success platform (CSP) vendors are addressing these challenges by delivering advanced capabilities and integrations that allow teams to understand customer behavior, predict needs, and proactively offer solutions that deliver customer value and lead to retention, growth, and advocacy. CSP vendors are leveraging AI advancements to help identify program gaps, refine the customer journey, and scale the CS motion.
Key Facts for The Forrester Wave™: Customer Success Platforms, Q4 2023 in 2023
- Publication Date: 06-Nov-2023
- Document ID: RES178446
- Summary: In our 22-criterion evaluation of customer success platform (CSP) providers, we identified the most significant ones and researched, analyzed, and scored them. This report shows how each provider measures up and helps customer success professionals select the right one for their needs.
- Authors: Shari Srebnick, Dave Frankland, Angela Lozada, Christine Turley
How did the Customer Success Platforms market evolve in 2023?
- CS teams are struggling to 'do more with less' amidst an ever-broadening scope while trying to prove the impact of their work
- 'Growth at all costs' is no longer a viable go-to-market strategy
- CS teams need alternatives to high-touch models and manual processes
- Investment in digital-led programs is essential to meet customers where they are
- CSP vendors are delivering advanced capabilities and integrations to understand customer behavior and predict needs
- AI technology advancements are being leveraged to identify program gaps, refine customer journeys, and scale CS operations
- Workflow automation and digital strategies are key to delivering customer outcomes at scale
- Predictive analytics and generative AI are central to vendor innovation roadmaps
- Rich reporting and multiple integrations provide unified customer views across the tech stack
- Bi-directional CRM synchronization strengthens collaboration between sales and CS teams
What product features are required to be included in this year's evaluation?
- An established, standalone CSP offering. The vendor must consider digital-led customer success and increasing net revenue retention as primary use cases for its offering.
- A broad range of use cases for customer success. These cases enable a holistic approach to customer success, including at least 50% of core CS capabilities: increase net revenue retention; scale customer success teams and overall strategy; scale and optimize retention efforts; and accelerate onboarding and product adoption.
- Interest from and/or relevance to Forrester clients. Forrester clients ask about the evaluated vendors and products during inquiries and interviews or have use cases that these vendors are well-suited to support. Alternatively, in Forrester's judgment, evaluated vendors may have warranted inclusion because of their capabilities and market presence.
What are the common features of top products in the Customer Success Platforms space?
No common features specified.
Scope Exclusions
- Vendors without an established, standalone CSP offering
- Vendors that do not consider digital-led customer success and net revenue retention as primary use cases
- Vendors supporting less than 50% of core CS capabilities (increase net revenue retention, scale customer success teams and strategy, scale and optimize retention efforts, accelerate onboarding and product adoption)
- Vendors without sufficient interest from or relevance to Forrester clients
Inclusion Criteria
Vendors must, among other requirements:
- An established, standalone CSP offering with digital-led customer success and increasing net revenue retention as primary use cases
- A broad range of use cases enabling a holistic approach to customer success, including at least 50% of core CS capabilities: increase net revenue retention; scale customer success teams and overall strategy; scale and optimize retention efforts; and accelerate onboarding and product adoption
- Interest from and/or relevance to Forrester clients based on inquiry demand or warranted inclusion due to capabilities and market presence
Offering Strengths — Relative Weighting
- Engagement across the customer lifecycle — 30%
- Process and workflow — 25%
- Insights and reporting — 20%
- Data and technology — 15%
- Support and guidance — 10%
Strategy Strength — Relative Weighting
- Vision — 25%
- Innovation — 30%
- Roadmap — 25%
- Partner ecosystem — 5%
- Pricing flexibility and transparency — 10%
- Community — 5%
FAQs
Q: What does this research cover?
A: This research covers a comprehensive evaluation of eight customer success platform providers across 22 criteria. It assesses current offerings including engagement capabilities, process and workflow automation, insights and reporting, data and technology integration, and support features. The evaluation also examines vendor strategies including vision, innovation, roadmap, partner ecosystem, pricing transparency, and community engagement. The research identifies how CSP vendors are addressing current market challenges through AI advancements, digital-led strategies, and robust reporting capabilities.
Q: Who should use this research?
A: This research should be used by customer success professionals, CS leaders, and CS operations teams who are evaluating customer success platform providers for their organizations. It is particularly valuable for B2B companies looking to scale their customer success operations, transition from high-touch to digital-led customer engagement models, improve net revenue retention, and leverage AI and predictive analytics to optimize their customer success strategies. The research provides guidance for selecting the right CSP based on organizational size, maturity level, and specific business needs.
Q: What are the mandatory features of vendors included in this market?
A: To be included in this evaluation, vendors must have: 1) An established, standalone CSP offering where digital-led customer success and increasing net revenue retention are primary use cases; 2) A broad range of use cases enabling a holistic approach to customer success, including at least 50% of core CS capabilities (increase net revenue retention, scale customer success teams and strategy, scale and optimize retention efforts, accelerate onboarding and product adoption); 3) Interest from and/or relevance to Forrester clients based on inquiry demand or warranted inclusion due to capabilities and market presence.
Q: What are some reasons for not being included in this report?
A:
- Lack of established, standalone CSP offering
- Digital-led customer success and net revenue retention are not primary use cases
- Support for less than 50% of core customer success capabilities
- Insufficient interest from or relevance to Forrester clients
- Lack of market presence or capabilities to warrant inclusion
Q: What should buyers consider when evaluating products in this market?
A:
- Prioritize vendors that offer digital-led strategies for success at scale with workflow automation, personalized communications, self-service capabilities, and in-app guidance
- Look for AI and machine learning capabilities that enable predictive analysis, sentiment analysis, and data-driven decision-making to optimize resources
- Ensure vendors include rich out-of-the-box reporting targeting CSMs, CS leaders, and CS operations with insights on task status, customer health, usage patterns, renewals, and expansion opportunities
- Evaluate integration capabilities with CRM, product analytics tools, and data warehouses for a unified customer view
- Consider bi-directional synchronization with CRM tools to strengthen collaboration between sales and CS teams and connect CS work to revenue impact
Q: How has the Customer Success Platforms market evolved in 2023?
A:
- Prioritizing digital-led strategies for success at scale through workflow automation, personalized communications, self-service capabilities, and in-app guidance to eliminate low-value CSM tasks
- Leveraging AI and machine learning to harness predictive analysis and optimize resources through customer data insights, predictive analytics, sentiment analysis, and generative AI for prescriptive analytics
- Rich reporting and integrations out of the box with standard reports for multiple user types, consolidated data from CRM and product analytics tools, and bi-directional synchronization to strengthen collaboration between sales and CS teams
Q: What differentiates Strength of Offering vs. Strength of Strategy?
A: Current Offering evaluates the strength of each vendor's existing product capabilities across customer lifecycle engagement, workflows, reporting, technology, and support. Strategy evaluates forward-looking elements including the vendor's vision for the market, innovation approach, product roadmap, partner ecosystem, pricing model, and community engagement. Current Offering focuses on what vendors deliver today, while Strategy assesses their direction and ability to meet future market needs.
Reference
- Forrester, The Forrester Wave™: Customer Success Platforms, Q4 2023, 06-Nov-2023, ID RES178446
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