Nurturing by Customer Segment: 3 Tips to Understand Personalities Like Siblings and Improve LTV
Hello, this is Komaten.
“Why did that customer churn even though I provided the same onboarding support?”
If you are involved in Customer Success (CS) in the IT or SaaS field, this is a high wall you will inevitably hit at least once.
Even if you painstakingly create manuals and send regular step-by-step emails, there are those who use the product enthusiastically and those who suddenly stop logging in. It can feel like pushing against a curtain, and sometimes you might feel your heart breaking from your own helplessness.
I understand that feeling all too well.
Actually, I also face customers daily as a CS professional at an IT company, but when I go home, I am just an ordinary father of two, with a 6-year-old son and a 1-year-old daughter.
Recently, through parenting, I suddenly realized something. Even siblings born to the same parents and raised in the same environment have completely different personalities and reactions.
My 6-year-old son has a stance of “I’ll read the instructions and build the blocks myself, so don’t touch!” while my 1-year-old daughter appeals with her whole body, saying “Just play with me! Look at me!” The “watchful approach” that worked for my son doesn’t work at all for my daughter.
Doesn’t this feel exactly like the “customers” right in front of us?
Treating customers collectively as just “users” is actually a very dangerous trap.
In this article, I will share tips on how to segment customers like sibling personalities and design the optimal nurturing plan for each.
If you read this, you should find practical hints to maximize customer LTV (Lifetime Value) while reducing wasted support man-hours.
Why “Uniform Onboarding” Fails
To put it simply, it is because the user’s “initial equipment” and “playstyle” are completely different from person to person.
Let’s compare the IT tools and web services we provide to an RPG game.
There are cautious types who read every corner of the operation manual before starting safely, and there are RTA (Real-Time Attack) types who skip all tutorials and charge straight at the boss.
So, what happens if you force everyone to “first read this 30-page initial setup guide”?
The RTA types will definitely get bored and drop out along the way. The important thing is to respect individual playstyles.
To prevent customer churn, it is essential to determine which type they belong to at the initial stage.
So, how exactly should we segment them?
A Segmentation Method to Divide Customers into “3 Sibling Types”
Let’s classify them into three broad types based on customer literacy, purpose of introduction, and reactions during the first kickoff meeting.
I will explain the optimal approach tailored to each personality.
1. Firstborn Type (Self-driven/Logical)
Characteristics:
They want to research and proceed on their own. They prefer reading manuals thoroughly and understanding functions comprehensively. Their IT literacy is also high.
NG CS Behavior:
Over-interfering with frequent calls or emails asking, “Is there anything you need help with?” For them, contact that disrupts their pace is nothing more than “noise.”
Optimal Nurturing Plan:
What they need is the provision of a well-equipped environment.
It is best to perfectly maintain FAQs and video tutorials, and just hand them the key to the armory, saying, “Please look here if you have any trouble.”
And rather than regular contact, they are very pleased when you provide pinpoint information on new feature releases or advanced API integration examples—techniques one step above.
2. Middle Child Type (Efficiency-oriented/Practical)
Characteristics:
They want to achieve results efficiently and in the shortest time possible. They love success stories from other companies and templates they can use immediately.
NG CS Behavior:
Explaining at length about the history of features or the mechanisms behind the system. They will be turned off, thinking, “So, which one should I use to be the fastest?”
Optimal Nurturing Plan:
Prepare the ultimate shortcut that says, “Just do this and you’re good.”
Presenting concrete benefits, such as “Other companies in the same industry are using this feature to cut their work hours in half,” will strike a chord.
Let’s capture their hearts by providing overwhelming “time performance,” such as handling part of the initial setup or distributing ironclad templates by industry.
3. Youngest Child Type (Companion/Emotional)
Characteristics:
They have a strong aversion to IT tools. They fear change and just want someone to push them forward.
CS 'Don't' behavior:
Dismissing them by saying, 'Please refer to the web manual for details.' Their spirit will break instantly, and they will never log in again.
Optimal nurturing plan:
The key is providing thorough support and stacking up small successes.
Walk alongside them with a slightly over-the-top enthusiasm, like, 'It's amazing that you were able to log in! That's the first step!'
Schedule regular meetings and navigate the operations while looking at the screen together. While this is the most labor-intensive approach at first, once you build a deep relationship of trust, this type has the lowest churn risk and the potential to become an enthusiastic fan (evangelist).
Real-world insights! The timing for 'assessment' that determines retention rates
So, when should you determine these types?
The key lies in the communication during the 'initial introduction phase (from kickoff to the first two weeks).'
For example, try paying attention to the 'quality of questions' during the kickoff meeting.
If they ask, 'Can you tell me about the CSV export specifications?', they are the 'Eldest Child' type.
If they ask, 'How are other companies getting this to permeate their organization?', they are the 'Middle Child' type.
If they look anxious and ask, 'Will our veteran employees really be able to master this?', they are the 'Youngest Child' type.
In this way, you can form hypotheses from casual early conversations and branch the scenarios for emails sent via MA (Marketing Automation) tools.
Honestly, it is resource-wise impossible to provide full support to everyone. That is precisely why building such mechanisms for 'individual optimization' is required for CS moving forward.
Summary: Facing the 'individual human' on the other side of the screen
In our pursuit of efficiency and scalability, we tend to treat users as one large mass called 'customers'.
However, on the other side of the screen is an individual human with their own emotions, background, and challenges.
Just as my own children show me their brightest smiles through different approaches.
I believe that changing the nurturing plan for each customer segment is synonymous with genuinely standing by their 'success,' rather than just improving the churn rate.
Why not change your perspective just a little bit for your customer interactions starting tomorrow, by trying to see their 'personality' rather than just the system?
If you have similar experiences or insights, please leave a comment; it encourages my writing! I might be slow, but I will definitely reply!
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