{"id":44198,"date":"2023-10-20T15:34:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/zendesk-ceo-mikkel-svane-on-how-startups-can-keep-customers-happy-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:34:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:34:07","slug":"zendesk-ceo-mikkel-svane-on-how-startups-can-keep-customers-happy-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/zendesk-ceo-mikkel-svane-on-how-startups-can-keep-customers-happy-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Zendesk CEO Mikkel Svane on how startups can keep customers happy – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

Rapid changes to technology and consumer behaviour are continually altering the way startups have to operate, Zendesk co-founder and CEO Mikkel Svane says.<\/p>\n

Speaking at Zendesk\u2019s Relate Live conference in Sydney, Svane says that more and more startups are adopting a subscription-based business model.<\/p>\n

For these businesses, happy customers are critical to their survival, he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou all work one way or the other with customer service,\u201d Svane says.<\/p>\n

But what that actually means is changing.<\/p>\n

For subscription-focused startups, the value of a customer over their lifetime and ensuring they have a great experience every time they interact with the brand is their bloodline, Svane says, with a customer potentially sticking around for six times longer if they have a satisfying experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you give your customers a bad experience, they\u2019ll go elsewhere because it has never been easier,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

But relationships with people aren\u2019t easy, so being authentic, strategic and transparent is vital.<\/p>\n

\u201cRelationships are complicated, we know that from our personal lives,” Svane says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are exposed to awkward, complicated relationships everywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn businesses, relationships are awkward too.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the danger for businesses is these relationships are now very public, Svane says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings like the internet, things like social media have completely changed how we think about customer relationships,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Building strong and positive relationships with customers comes down to how they perceive every interaction with a brand, and Svane says more than 70% of customers who\u2019ve had a bad experience will actively tell others not to use it while 62% who are highly satisfied will promote it to others.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople like to tell all the worst stories,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

He points to YourTaxis\u2019 failed marketing campaign where it invited customers to share taxi stories, fueling a backlash of negative stories from dissatisfied users.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn today\u2019s world, a campaign like that can backfire like crazy,\u201d Svane says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a business, we\u2019re incredibly vulnerable to how our customers perceive us.”<\/p>\n

With the power now in customers\u2019 hands, founders must listen, design and provide an experience to customers that goes beyond the basic transaction.<\/p>\n

The subscription model is fueled by customers who are given such great interactions at every point with the brand that they come back time and time again, Svane says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about selling the product every week, every month,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor all these businesses, it\u2019s really about the life-time value, the long-term relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking at his own favourite brands, Svane says he has uncovered the secret to a successful subscription business.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it\u2019s so easy, because it\u2019s so easy, because it\u2019s so inexpensive, because it\u2019s so inconvenient I buy a lot more than I should be,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not just about subscribing to a service, this is subscribing to a lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n

StartupSmart attended the Relate Live Sydney conference as a guest of Zendesk.<\/em><\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> Facebook,<\/em> Twitter, <\/em>LinkedIn <\/em>and <\/em>SoundCloud.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rapid changes to technology and consumer behaviour are continually altering the way startups have to operate, Zendesk co-founder and CEO Mikkel Svane<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44198"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}