Unlocking Your Best Leads: CSQLs

A diverse team of four collaborating on one laptop screen

The average deal close rate from a cold call is less than 2%, and arguably has fallen significantly below that in the last year. That is one reason why it’s 5x cheaper to sell to an existing customer or even a friend of a customer. To harness this potential, companies must strategically align their sales and customer success teams. One effective way to achieve this is through the development of a Customer Success Qualified Lead (CSQL) funnel. Here’s how you can create and optimize a CSQL funnel to enhance both customer satisfaction and business scalability.

1. Define Customer Success Qualified Lead (CSQL)

A CSQL is a lead that originates from a Customer Success Manager, bypassing marketing and SDRs. Unlike traditional marketing qualified leads, CSQLs are considered ‘warm leads’ that have a much higher likelihood of success and have already had some level of qualification. This drives down CAC significantly. 

Leads may come in from a variety of avenues if CSMs are prioritizing generating leads. This includes 

• Nurturing relationships with executive sponsors after they leave customer organizations to see if there is a need for your solution wherever they work next.

• Asking happy customers to make peer referrals 

• Nurturing relationships to gain access to decision-makers at customer’s affiliates, parent companies, partners, or sister companies

• Reviving churned customers

Operational Considerations:

• Create a deal flow that allows CSMs to create CSQLs

• CSMs can provide valuable contextual information and may even participate in the handoff call to sales. 

• CSMs who are incentivized are more likely to go the extra mile to set the salesperson up for success. Incentives could be something like a spiff or an eligibility criteria to participate in Club. 

2. Align Sales and Customer Success Teams

Alignment between sales and customer success teams is crucial. Sales teams need to understand what makes a good CSQL, while customer success must be equipped to nurture these leads effectively.

Strategies for Alignment:

• Joint training sessions to understand the full customer lifecycle.

• Regular alignment meetings to refine lead qualification criteria based on feedback.

• Shared goals and metrics to ensure both teams contribute to the funnel’s success.

3. Nurture Leads Through Tailored Engagement

Once identified, CSQLs require tailored engagement strategies that highlight the unique value your service provides, aligned with their specific business needs.

Engagement Tactics:

• Ask champions making a referral to join the call to share their experience

• When reviving churned customers focus on how you have overcome whatever issue caused them to churn in the first place and the new capabilities you have developed. 

• Leverage the CSM to provide anecdotes that help overcome objections by sharing how similar customers (including the source of the lead) have had success. 

4. Measure Success and Optimize

Continuously measure the effectiveness of your CSQL funnel. This involves tracking conversion rates, customer lifetime value (CLV), and churn rates. Use this data to refine your approach continually.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Time from CSQL to opportunity creation

• Conversion rate from CSQL to paying customer.

• Customer satisfaction and retention rates.

Creating a CSQL funnel is about more than just identifying potential customers; it's about fostering a growth-centric culture that views every customer interaction as an opportunity to build lasting relationships. It is about incentivizing and recognizing the huge business value that is unlocked when CSMs nurture relationships beyond their current book of business.