Start At The End is a simple exercise to identify key assumptions that must be tested to achieve customer success goals. It asks CS teams to describe what successful customer outcomes look like, and use this to define their success strategies. We typically look 12 months ahead, but it can be shorter or longer depending on customer lifecycle. Then, teams imagine all the ways customers might fail to achieve success, using these insights to identify key risks and assumptions that must be examined early. At the end of the exercise, you will have:

• A shared understanding of what customer success looks like for your key segments

• A list of critical assumptions about customer adoption, retention, and growth that need to be validated early

• A prioritized set of success metrics and leading indicators to track

• Most CS planning activities focus on managing a "list of activities" rather than driving measurable customer outcomes. Start At The End helps teams put customer success at the center of their work and identify assumptions that could lead to churn or missed expansion opportunities.

• Start At The End is quick to facilitate but yields valuable insights. It's great for CS leaders who are new to facilitating workshops or teams that need to quickly align on customer success goals.

• This activity helps CS teams envision what successful customer outcomes look like and build proactive strategies to achieve them.

Tips

• When defining what success looks like, it may be helpful to focus on goal setting from the perspective of the customer and business. Identify what value or success looks likes for your customer. Then define what value you are looking to achieve for your business.

• The technique forces participants to think about failure, which many teams never do. It's surprising how much you can learn about a domain just by getting participants to share their fears.

• It's easy to communicate the results of the session in slide ware and project rooms. We'd recommend keeping the results up in the project space throughout your effort.

Who do you need?

• Facilitator
• Product Owner
• Project Sponsor, both technical and business
• Architects

Suggested Time

• 1-2 hours. The session can be done without any participant prep.

Difficulty

• Facilitator: Easy
• Participants: Easy

Facilitation Materials Needed

• None required, but 3x5 sticky notes with markers can be useful if you want participants to jot their notes down independently and then present back.

How does it fit?

• Typically done in the Why area of the Discovery of the Open Practice Library