CSM Quick Lesson: Master SPICE Model for Client Conversations with Andrea Rijna

Speaker A: In this uh, phase of the conversation you want to ask context related questions. So what is currently going on with the client? This can be anything from customer satisfaction to how they manage their processes, how many people are on the team, if they're meeting their targets, all these kind of situational context related questions.

Speaker B: Yeah, my first time I'm using this button, it's actually new, I wanted to situation. Would it also apply, uh, like the issue, like what is the situation? Could be also the current issue going on like addressing the.

Speaker A: That's, that's what comes next. Yeah, so that's a nice segue, uh, because the P in spice is for paying. So once you have some sort of context, ah, uh, from what's going on with the clients, you can ask, okay, are there any issues resulting from the way that things are currently set up from the tools that you currently use, the features or whatever, the way your processes are done, the way you deal with your clients, Are there any issues coming from that? Um, so here's where things get interesting because this is where the client will realize, hey, we have a problem that actually needs to be solved or that could be solved. Um, then the next uh, letter of the appreciation, uh, is the I and it stands for impact. And this is where you're going to ask your customer which impact it would have. Um, either positive. So is there any positive impact if this issue would be solved or is there any negative impact if it won't be solved? And that's when a customer really start thinking like, hey, what is going to happen to my team, to my business, to whatever I'm responsible for if I don't get this issue resolved? And that's a beautiful moment to kind of lean into. Okay, I might have an idea of how we can achieve this impact for you. Are you interested to hear what I'm thinking? So rather than pushing your upsell opportunity or your feature from the start of the conversation, you now know what, what's going on with the clients, uh, what issues are they running into and what is the positive or negative impact that you can lean into and you briefly segue into. Would you like to hear what I think? Are you curious to know what I could do for you? So this is a very customer centered conversation and by the time that you mentioned that you have an idea that could help them, they will easily lead into it in most cases. So that's why this really works.

Speaker B: So it's like an, it's an opener for the customer to have to be ready for like to be more persuasive Receptive. Receptive.

Speaker A: Receptive, definitely. Yeah. Um, and I think the number one irritation that people have with CSMs or salespeople is that they seem pushy or they only talk about themselves. Right. Um, and this way, you're even asking for their commission, uh, their permission. Would you like to hear my thoughts? They say, yes, they gave you the permission to start explaining your thoughts on the solution. Right. So I love this because it gives the client a feeling of autonomy in the situation or that they kind of have the steering wheel in their hands, but you know that you're actively managing the conversation in a really, really customer centric way. So that's the win. Win, I think.

Speaker B: Um, yeah, no, I was. I was. I was going. I was in the. That's the impact. Right. And then the C, if I'm not mistaken.

Speaker A: Yeah, we have CE actually. It stands for critical events. You could ask questions around. Okay. Is there any season or deadline or date driving the timeline to get this issue solved, to have achieved this impact? So this could be anything from, oh, we need to meet certain targets, or we are doing seasonal work and this new feature needs to be live before a certain date or anything like that. Uh, and this is super useful to know because, um, this will drive urgency. And what happens a lot in deals is, um, we put a proposal on the table for a client. We don't hear for them for a while. At the meantime, we want to make our targets, so we start making it about us. Oh, I need to make my target. They need to sign before the end of the quarter or the month or the year or whatever. And instead you want to reach out to the customer and say, hey, listen, you told me that it's extremely important for you to have this done by December, because in January you have this thing going on. You have this event, KPI, targets, whatever. I just want to make sure we get in touch again to make sure that we can get that done for you. So again, it's about the client. So having some sort of deadline on their end is super useful to drive fuel. Um, and then lastly, the D, uh, stands for decision. And here you want to ask any questions like, um, what are important factors for you to make a decision about this? Who are involved in the decision making? Uh, what are the objectives of the different decision makers? Uh, can I help you to get this across to your manager to get this signed off, anything like that? So you want to understand the factors that play into making the deal on their end. So, yeah, that's it. The spice model.

Speaker B: Let Me just recap a little bit here. Andrea, you said that first is situation, problem, impact, critical event and then the last one, the D is for decision. Decision. Uh, okay, you said several times.

Speaker A: Do you see, do you see yourself using it?

Speaker B: I think that it will make sense to before answering that if we maybe go towards a real example and see how, how we could apply that in towards a real example. Because I think that like you said is a customer centric approach. So that's, that's what we want be moving towards. Right. So that way we can have that rapport report with the customer. So I think that is definitely a method that I would, if I will use but I need more a clear example or path to follow. So would you mind if we ah, go towards a real example?

Speaker A: Yeah, of course. What kind of uh, yeah, you did share a bit of an example with me, of course, course. But yeah, maybe you can explain.

Speaker B: Yeah, so currently right now I'm working for a company where the. It's an upselling tool for hotels. It's a platform for um, that helps hotels generate more ancillary revenue. So in this platform there are two main products. There are three. But right now we're going to focus on two, which is the pre arrival and the front desk upselling tool. Really amazing tools by the way. Everyone, if there's anyone in the hotel industry, recommend you to go and check it out.

Speaker A: Send Byron a message please.

Speaker B: Exactly, just reach out. And so with this is that maybe in a scenario that I have had before is how can we move the needle towards opening the doors for a uh, upselling opportunity for the customer to not only have one tool but to also purchase the second one which will benefit them, of course. So uh, I wanted to move towards that and see how that will work.

Speaker A: Yeah, sounds good. And of course I came prepared because I looked you up a little bit. Um, and I highly recommend every CSM if you want to start applying this uh, model. I actually use ChatGPT to apply it to your employees and this specific use case and I got amazing examples. So I just want to highlight how great tech is. We all know, but still. Um, um, yeah, so if we apply this model to uh, the specific use case. Uh, so in the situation stage you want to get context, right? You want to know what's going on with this customer. Uh, I have some notes here so bear with me. Um, good questions you could ask are things like, hey, can you walk me through your current guest experience process, especially in the days leading up to their arrival. So you want to Understand. Okay, how does this actually work for this specific account? Uh, what tools or features are you currently using to engage with clients before they arrive? Or how do you currently ensure that guests feel prepared and excited about their upcoming stay? Does that make sense for you?

Speaker B: Yes. Yes. Because it's also a really open question where, where we can start a conversation towards that and moving the needle.

Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. And open questions are so important to get, uh, the most information you possibly can.

Speaker B: Interesting. Because the situation part is more about. Okay, give me more information. I want learn more about you before we move to the next stage. And uh, the first question that comes also to my mind in my case will be what is your current process looking like when it comes to uh, how your receptionists are upselling in when, when the guest is during the check in? Because with the front desk upselling tool, that's the idea, right. To make the life of the agent of the receptionist easy when it comes to check in and increase possibilities. So it's like, I want to understand. I don't, I'm not offering nothing. I kind of want to understand.

Speaker A: Yeah, this is super useful information for you. Right? And on, uh, one end you're giving open questions, so you're allowing them to say whatever they like, but it's specific enough that you're already framing the conversation into uh, an upsell area that's useful for you. Right. So it's a win, win. I think in that case, completely agree.

Speaker B: And once we have that information, what do we do? How do we transition to the next part?

Speaker A: Um, so they give you some context related, uh, information. Right. Um, and based on that you can ask pain related questions. That, that makes sense. Some examples could be, uh, have you noticed any recurring issues with guests not being fully informed or prepared before arrival? Or do you get feedback from customers about their pre arrival experience? What have you been hearing? Um, or maybe to relate it to your specific examples, um, are you missing out on any revenue because you don't have, uh, upsell pre arrival? That could work, right?

Speaker B: It can. Especially also because of the words that you're using. You use issues, I just added challenges and you also use miss out. So that's kind of already turning on the alarms internally for the customer into. Okay, so yeah, I might have some issues there that I, they didn't even maybe notice it or haven't expressed them.

Speaker A: Oh yeah, that's nice. Yeah, it could be maybe they're not even aware that they're missing out on revenue because people cannot order a bottle of champagne for their honeymoon. Before they arrive, who knows? Yeah.

Speaker B: And with that information please.

Speaker A: Yeah. So uh, once you know what they're running into, you want to what the impact is of those issues. Um, so you could ask something like um, how do these pre arrival challenges affect other overall guest satisfaction or your reviews for example on booking.com or um, what would happen if inefficiencies in your check in process grow while your guest numbers increase? Uh, or maybe in your specific case, uh, how much revenue could you potentially gain if you had upsell opportunities before guests even check in?

Speaker B: Yeah, because it's a lot about revenue. Right. So we know that what drives, drives our clients is not only is revenue and the guest experience which are tied. So of course we do a research and we as customers because we understand our guests, I mean our customers. So I like how the uh, you use the, how it's like how that can impact based on, on the issue and the context.

Speaker A: Yeah and it's nice what you're mentioning because often uh, people buy a tool either to have more efficient processes and save money to make their clients happier or simply for the bottom line like trade up. So these are indeed great motivators I think for anyone to invest in upsell for sure.

Speaker B: And once we have the impact now, how do we move into the critical events?

Speaker A: Um, yeah, I think first this is like a nice opportunity if you know what they could achieve potentially by investing in your features. Right. So that could be the moment where you say uh, hey I have some thoughts on how we could achieve that. Are you interested? Or something like that. That um, uh, this one I really like.

Speaker B: That was today's csm. Quick lesson for the full conversation and more practical tips. Just go and check out today's episode description where you will have the link to the full conversation. Remember to hit follow also follow us in their social media and you can also go and check out uh, our new website. Remember, keep learning, keep growing and let's keep improving the world of customer success until next time.