BLUEPRINT.

SPICED Across the Customer Journey

AM
S P I CE D

is used to ensure a
smooth transition
process for the customer
when completing an
internal handoff

CSM

AE

SDR

Without
proper handoffs, the
customer could fall
through the cracks

Figure 1: How to use SPICED as a bridge across the customer journey to maintain a consistent experience

Customers interact with multiple teams and individuals throughout their

journey with your company. Any time a customer transitions from one contact
at your business to the next, there’s a risk: will your customer have the same
wonderful experience with those new individuals that they’ve had so far? Or
will they fall through the cracks? Having a smooth internal transition process
between your teams can act as a bridge to ensure that customers have a
seamless and consistent experience, regardless of who they’re talking to.

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 The impact of a strong internal transition versus a weaker one can be immense.
When internal transitions are done poorly, the customer may feel like they’re
wasting their time and money with a disorganized company, planting the seeds
for buyer’s remorse and even churn down the road.

When internal transitions are done well and consistently, they set the stage for a
deep and long-lasting relationship with the customer, leading to growth from
renewals, expansion, and also referrals. Customers who have a great experience
with you not only want to continue working with you, but they also tend to tell
their friends and colleagues about your solution. As a result, those people may
become your customers too.

Having a consistent structure for sharing information across your organization is

the best way to transition accounts between teams and team members. Every
SDR/AE/CSM/AM relationship is different, but having a consistent language
and style of capturing information across teams will avoid miscommunication
and save time. Best of all, it creates that bridge to ensure that customers have a
great experience with your company.

The SSPICED
P I CE D Framework for Handoffs

S P I CE D
SITUATION PAIN IMPACT CRITICAL EVENT DECISION

Situation: Efficient context-setting in less than 30 seconds

The first step in any successful transition is to break down customer information
into separate components. Whether you’re on the giving or receiving end of the
customer handoff, capturing information in a logical order will help anyone in
your company understand the customer’s situation in just a few seconds.
Standardize this process so that everyone on your internal teams uses the same
terminology and structure.

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 Examples of Situation questions to cover:

● What’s the situation you uncovered about the customer?

● What’s happening in their world that led them to your solution?
● What industry are they in? What do they sell?
● Who are their customers?
● How many employees do they have?
● What is their average contract value?
● What is their revenue?

Pain: Why they care

Research and prospecting fulfill a critical role in identifying and understanding
the pain a customer is experiencing. We find pain by listening to what the
customer verbalizes and then asking questions to uncover what’s beneath what
they’re saying — and why they’re saying it now. Capturing what you learn about
their pain allows everyone who works with this customer to align on what the
customer wants to improve.

Prioritize this pain in the notes, so your team knows where to start the
conversation without asking the customer to repeat what they’ve already told
you or another team member.

This is critical: there is nothing worse from a customer’s perspective than feeling
like they've already completed an explanation of their pain, only to be asked the
same diagnosis questions again. Whenever customers hear something generic,
especially after they’ve explained their specific pain and goals, they get
frustrated because it gives them the impression that their last call was a waste
of time.

Before speaking with a customer, summarize what you know and add context or
research to your questions instead of asking generic questions that force them
to rehash known information. Have a clear idea of what the customer said and
focused on previously so you start off looking like a rockstar!

No context, low-quality question Question with context to show you’ve done

“I heard a lot of information from Jon, but I’d love to hear it from the transition internally
you. What are some of the top things you’re struggling with?” “Jon mentioned to me that the top pain you’re looking to solve is
consolidating your information into one dashboard so your team has
the ability to prioritize your top customers. Is that right?”

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 Impact: What they want to get out of partnering with you
Success in recurring revenue businesses depends on helping your customers
reach their desired impact. During transitions, impact is the crux of why you’re
partnering with your customer. The impact is the desired outcome they’re
looking to achieve, and this can be a combination of rational and emotional
impacts. Rational impact typically occurs at the company or functional level; it
often involves revenue growth or other financial impacts, such as cost savings.
Emotional impact is usually felt at the personal level; it may include things like
getting a promotion or being seen as a leader in the company.

You may not get the chance to uncover impact during every call, but you can
listen for cues in every conversation. For example, when a customer tells you, “If
we’re able to solve this, it would help us achieve…” this is golden information that
everyone on your team should be aware of. Remember, you don’t always have to
uncover new impact in every conversation, but you must be attentive and listen
to hear if it’s there.

Critical Event: Their timeline

A critical event is the timing that drives everything the customer cares about.
Think of it as a deadline that has consequences if missed. Identify critical events
by asking questions and listening for what happens if the customer does not
achieve their desired impact on time. You can ask, “What would happen if you
don’t achieve X by a certain date?”

If they answer, “It’s no big deal. We’ve been like this for five years…” then it’s not a
critical event. A true critical event might sound something like, “If I don’t do it by
September 1st, my job is on the line, my team's job is on the line, and we might have
to go through layoffs.”

Be opportunistic when you hear your customer mention anything about time.
When a customer mentions they’re looking to achieve something by a certain
date, mirror their language and ask why that’s important.

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 As you continue a partnership with customers year after year, both impact goals
and critical event timelines should be updated to align with any new executive
priorities or changes in the direction your customer is heading. Make sure to
keep in touch with multiple executive stakeholders to learn how your
partnership aligns with new business goals. If you become complacent, your
competitors may use this as a way to replace you by becoming better aligned
with the customer’s changing impact goals and critical events.

When you uncover new opportunities or changes in priorities, ensure this

information is documented in a central place for all team members working with
the customer to access. Of course, if you discover business-critical or
time-sensitive information, be proactive and share it with the relevant internal
stakeholders directly, in addition to documenting.

Decision: How to earn commitment

To help the customer make a decision, it’s essential to verify the steps and
people involved in making that decision. This may change year over year as your
customer’s company scales or your partnership reaches a certain commitment
level (e.g., above $10K ARR). Knowing these steps and sharing them with your
team will help you deliver against them faster and more effectively.

For more complex deals, be sure to outline not just the steps but the decision
criteria your customer is using to evaluate whether or not to go with your
solution, a competitor, or the status quo. If you have a high-velocity deal,
documenting the decision process is usually sufficient.

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 Completing the Internal Handoff
Now that you have your notes in the SPICED framework, how do you use them
to perform an easy and effective transition?

If you’re taking over a new customer — whether a net-new customer from Sales
or an existing customer from a CSM or AM — first review the SPICED notes that
are stored centrally for all to access. Second, meet with the person transitioning
off of the account to ask questions and discuss any nuances, including the
customer’s sentiment, expectations, unique or unusual use cases, and any
potential surprises that may arise.

This meeting can be synchronous or asynchronous; if scheduling a live meeting

is a challenge, try communicating by sending short videos back and forth.

Hold internal meetings before every important customer meeting. This is a

powerful way to create an aligned, professional experience for the customer that
sets you up for success. This meeting can be as short as 90 seconds for a
straightforward transition or as long as 30 minutes if you need to go through the
history and strategy of the customer or other complex information.

Give your team concise notes in the SPICED structure. They'll know exactly
what to look for, and in 90 seconds they can read and highlight the most
important details. You can even record a video on your phone discussing these
notes and send it in a quick message to your colleague.

Most importantly, keep in mind that successful transitions are all about
consistency, accountability, and a customer-centric mindset. Hold your team
accountable for sharing and leveraging each other's notes. Your colleagues will
love you for it, and all your hard work will turn customers into raving fans.

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 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FROM

Videos available on Additional open source

the WbD YouTube Channel templates can be accessed at
www.thescienceofrevenue.com

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