Jessica Osborn from Blackbaud presented on the relationship between professional services, customer success, and sales. She discussed two views: the "cannibal" view where the teams compete for resources, and the "codependent" view where teams rely too heavily on each other without clear boundaries. Osborn suggested an ideal state where the teams work together efficiently to identify and achieve customer outcomes, with healthy boundaries between teams, in order to deliver the best customer experience and achieve business goals. She provided three examples of "plays from the cross functional playbook," including leveraging customer success stories when expectations are unrealistic, identifying critical adoption actions when product usage is low, and conducting root cause analysis when customers fail to achieve outcomes.

1. Professional Services & Customer Success:
Cannibals or Codependents?
Jessica Osborn | Blackbaud

2. Agenda
• Background
• Cannibal or Co-dependent views of challenges between Sales,
Services and Success
• Transitioning from siloed to customer centric: The cross functional
playbook
2

3. Background

4. About Me
4
Jessica Osborn
Director of Onboarding & Adoption
Jessica.Osborn@Blackbaud.com
Started career in account management for
digital agencies.
Worked for rapidly growing SaaS start up
that went public. Early adopter of customer
success movement.
Currently working to improve customer
onboarding and adoption at Blackbaud
where customer success is quickly evolving.

5. Fundraising
Financial Management
Reporting & Analytics
Box Office & Admissions
Marketing
Student Management
Grant Management
Program Management
Social Listening
Payments
Corporate Social Responsibility
Powering
Social Good
5
Education Institutions

6. Customer Success and Professional
Services: Cannibals or Co-dependents?

7. Cannibal or Codependent?
7

8. Cannibal or Codependent?
8
Cannibal Examples
• Customer Success is
competing with
Professional Services
and Ed Services for
revenue or resources.
• Sales resistant to
selling services
because it cannibalizes
recurring software
revenue.

9. Cannibal or Codependent?
9
Co-Dependent Examples
• Sales and/or Customer Success
gives away valued services at
no cost.
• PS reopens scope and does
work at any time the client
requires at no additional cost.
• Customer Success expected to
save all customers without input
to sales approach or ensuring
critical capability delivered in
activation.

10. Why? Inside out view can lead to…
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When we only focus on
achieving our individual
department financial goals,
we don’t always work
together in optimal ways.

11. Ideal State
• Assembly line to identify
and achieve customer
desired outcomes
efficiently.
• Work together with
healthy boundaries.
• Deliver best in class
customer experience,
which leads to achieving
top line growth and
recurring revenue goals.
11
Measure &
optimize
Identify
additional
opportunity
Deploy
changes to
achieve
outcomes
Sell
achievable
desired
outcomes
Land Adopt
ExpandRenew

12. Moving from siloed to customer centric:
3 plays from the cross functional
playbook

13. When client expectations are unrealistic?
Sales + Marketing + Customer Success + Services
• Source customer success stories and
references that demonstrate
achievable outcomes
• Use to promote the total solution
(product + services) that drove
success
• Make contribution to program a KPI
for Customer Success and Services
team members
• Measure impact of advocacy on
growth
13
Blackbaud advocacy program
contributed to 25% growth impact

14. When product adoption is low?
Product + Customer Success + Services
• Identify customer desired outcomes
+ what actions are critical to
achieving outcomes
– Monitor product usage for
milestones & ongoing adoption
– Conduct user research
– Deliver multichannel
communication to point
customers in the right direction
(Prof Service & CSM guidance,
in product, email, webinar)
– Automate where possible
14
5402 Customers
2385 identified
as At Risk low
adoption
1215
Opened
Overall HealthScore improved 20%
Blackbaud Emerging Market Case Study

15. When customers fail to achieve expected outcomes?
Marketing + Product + Services + Customer Success
Delivering outcomes
isn’t always simple.
When something isn’t
right, assemble cross
functional tiger team &
conduct root cause
analysis.
15
Root Cause Analysis Tool: Fishbone Diagram

17. Contact Information
Jessica Osborn
Director of Onboarding & Adoption
Jessica.Osborn@Blackbaud.com
512.652.7844