How a SaaS FinTech Company Turned Customer Truth Into Board-Level Insights
With over thousands of customers and growing board scrutiny on recent customer losses, this SaaS company in the FinTech space required answers to a critical question: How well did they understand the reasons why customers were leaving? Were they operating on assumptions?
Their CRM data told part of the story. Internal opinions filled in some of the rest. But both required validation to the board. The company needed objective truth from the market and their buyers and customers.
Challenge
What started as a churn question quickly exposed a deeper issue. The company didn’t have a reliable source for customer feedback. Internal teams were making decisions and moving quickly, but without complete, validated signals. The reasons for customers leaving were assumed, not proven. Insights weren’t credible enough for board-level scrutiny.
The initial churn insights led to deeper inspection by interviews from IcebergIQ into other focus areas, including customers that did not onboard effectively. This evolved into a need to learn more about the new business wins and losses, primarily why prospects were not moving forward or had selected a competitor. Loss reasons in CRM lacked depth and consistency, and the real reasons for the loss were missing. Leadership wanted more than a one-time report - they needed a repeatable system for uncovering unbiased loss reasons and feedback to continuously inform sales and marketing, with the goal of increasing win rates and even turning some of these specific losses into wins.
In this article, you’ll learn:
Insights from win-loss programs can be used to improve your win rates
Your buyers will reveal more to an independent 3rd party
Win-loss and churn analysis programs support key decisions across multiple functional teams – sales, product, marketing and customer success
Why IcebergIQ?
IcebergIQ came highly recommended from the company’s PE firm, so the CEO did a reference check with another IcebergIQ customer, who said “IcebergIQ is who you trust when the stakes are high.” But the real differentiator wasn’t just credibility, it was how IcebergIQ operated.
Unfiltered, 3rd party conversations that surfaced what customers wouldn’t say internally
Win-loss insights gathered in a programmatic, ongoing way designed to scale, not just report
Expertise of the IcebergIQ account team – for outreach, conducting interviews, and overseeing the program, including a lead analyst who analyzed and presented the findings. This account management approach allowed deep collaboration and a personalized experience
The IcebergIQ lead took the time to learn the business, challenge assumptions, and uncover insights the company didn’t know to ask for. The program was adapted and customized based on what would provide the most value.
“It never felt like we were working with a vendor. IcebergIQ acted as an extension of our team, taking time to understand our business, ask the right questions, and uncover insights we wouldn’t have found on our own. The level of insight and adaptability in their interviews was a game changer. ”
Results
Beyond direct feedback, the biggest benefit to the company was increased confidence in that feedback. Every GTM team learned from the insights.
CS leadership moved from assumptions to validated churn drivers directly from customers, and used these insights to coach teams and sharpen retention strategies
Sales leadership identified gaps and inconsistencies in CRM loss data, and replaced guesswork with clear patterns to improve deal strategy and coaching
The broader executive team gained validated, 3rd party customer insights that could be backed up if scrutinized by the board
As the company CEO says, “our program with IcebergIQ was more than just a project, it was a strategic capability.”