Writing Customer Objectives For Any Industry

Before we delve into this topic, I think it’s important that I mention what I mean by customer objectives.

Customer objectives are specific goals that the customer aims to achieve by using a product or service. These objectives focus on their business outcomes, such as improving efficiency, increasing revenue, or reducing costs. They reflect the customer’s priorities and define success from their perspective. As a success manager, this should always be your focus.

In contrast, objectives that are more interesting for you as a CSM might be more focused on ensuring that the customer successfully adopts the product, realises its value, and remains engaged. Your objectives typically revolve around facilitating the customer's success but are measured internally through metrics like customer satisfaction, retention, or upsell. Whilst customer objectives are focused on what matters to your customer.

How to structure customer objectives

Writing objectives is straightforward but you need to make sure that you have all parts covered. At Retentional, below is the structure we use for writing customer objectives:

1. Title: Keep it short and to the point
   
   [increasing file sharing efficiency by 25% within 3 months ]

2. Description: Why do we need this objective? Provide a concise background
   
   [Streamline collaboration across creative teams to improve productivity and reduce project turnaround times]

3. Success criteria: What will define this objective as complete?
   
   [Increase average file sharing speed from 4 minutes to 3 minutes per file across teams]

4. Due Date: When do we expect to complete this objective?

5. Key Results: What are the 3 to 5 actions we need to take to help meet this objective?
   
   [KR 1: Set up automated version control for creative assets.

   KR 2: Adopt real-time file collaboration features.

   KR 3: Train teams on how to use collaborative tools effectively.]

6. Comments: A live tracker commenting on the progress of the objective, overall

What makes a good customer objective?

There are a few things you should consider when writing customer objectives effectively. Try to encompass all the points below but it’s not the end of the world if you miss one or two!

Consider the following:

1. Specificity: The customer objective should be clear and well-defined, so everyone understands what success looks like.

2. Measurable: It must have quantifiable metrics to track progress and achievement.

3. Achievable: Ensure the objective is realistic given available resources and constraints.

4. Relevant: It should align with broader business or customer goals.

5. Time-bound: Include deadlines to create a sense of urgency and accountability.

6. Customer-focused: Prioritise the client’s outcomes and needs.

These principles will ensure the objective drives meaningful impact. Use the 3 Horizon Model we recently wrote about to add that additional level of craftsmanship to your objectives.

For every customer success plan, it’s recommended to have around 3-5 objectives to work on, anything more is probably unrealistic and most likely won’t make any considerable impact on the success of your customer’s activities. 

If you want more examples, sign up to Retentional.net - we have a bank of templates you can explore!