TLDR
What LSPs Can Learn from SaaS about Customer Growth
Let’s get something straight. We all walk around thinking we treat our customers well. We’re customer-focused, right? We build what we think is the perfect service, polish it until it shines, and then spend all our energy trying to convince as many people as possible that they need our brand of perfection. But that’s not being customer-centric; that’s being product-centric with a friendly smile. The real game-changer, the mindset that’s reshaping our industry, is flipping that script entirely. It’s about focusing on the value generated by each customer, not just the value of your product. This isn't just semantics; it's a fundamental shift in strategy. The SaaS world figured this out ages ago. For them, a sale isn't a "one and done" transaction. The real victory isn't the initial signature; it's the renewal. That recurring revenue is the lifeblood of growth, and each renewal cycle is a referendum on your value. In today’s economy, where new business feels like squeezing blood from a stone and sales cycles are longer than a director’s cut, your existing customers aren't just a revenue stream; they are your main engine for growth. This is the heart of customer-led growth.
So how do you actually start this journey? It begins with asking better questions, and not just having your sales team do it. This needs to be embedded in the entire company’s DNA. When a Project Manager receives a request, their first thought shouldn't be "Okay, the customer said so," but "What is the customer really trying to achieve here?" We have to move from interrogating clients for information to spin a sale, to listening with the intent to solve a core problem. You start asking about their ultimate goals, their biggest headaches, and the gaps they see. You even ask if you’re talking to the right people or if there’s someone else in their organization you should be helping. It’s a ton of effort, sure, but the payoff is massive. You uncover upsell opportunities you never knew existed. You find out another department desperately needs a service you already offer. You get ahead of problems and prevent that dreaded "silent quit," where a client you thought was perfectly happy suddenly informs you they're onboarding your competitor. They don’t just ghost you; they send a formal breakup email.
This isn't just a theoretical exercise. Imagine a traditional LSP that tore itself down and rebuilt itself from scratch because they realized their old structure couldn't support a customer-centric vision. It was a messy, complicated process, but it started with changing the mindset. They began by identifying their ideal customer partners—allies who could serve as a testing ground for this new approach. They overhauled how data and information flowed through the company, making sure the insights from a sales call didn't just die in a CRM but informed everyone down to the vendor managers. They transformed simple "touchpoints," like a quote request, into two-way "interactions," opening up a real conversation from the very beginning. Meanwhile, a tech-first company like Language I/O lives and breathes this. Their success is built on a "dream team" model where Customer Success, Sales, Product, and Marketing operate as a single, cohesive unit. There's no animosity or fence-throwing; it's about a seamless handoff to make the customer successful from day one because if the customer doesn't see value, they will churn. They run Voice of the Customer programs to ensure their product team isn't just building cool features in a vacuum but solving real-world needs.
Ultimately, whether you're a SaaS company or an LSP, the destination is the same. The structure is startlingly similar; the only real difference is whether your core asset is a product built on code or a service built on brilliant human talent. Quality is no longer some universal standard; it's "fit for purpose," defined entirely by what the customer needs to achieve. This requires you to walk the talk. You can't just slap "customer-centric" on your mission statement if your organization still operates in silos. You have to open up the conversation with everyone, inside and outside your company. You need to get your leadership involved and even get them in front of the customer's leadership in Executive Business Reviews. Stop being afraid to challenge the status quo. If last year taught us anything, it's that the ground beneath our feet is always shifting. The way you've always done business might be the very thing holding you back from what you could become.
And that's a wrap on this edition of LOCANUCU. We've journeyed from the simple idea of being "customer-focused" to the transformative power of being truly "customer-centric." The key takeaways are clear: it's a mindset shift driven by lessons from the SaaS world, it requires a brave organizational overhaul to break down silos, and it's powered by constant, authentic communication.