Have you ever followed a cookie recipe step-by-step, exact measurements and all, only to end up with burnt, flattened, or misshapen dough?
Naturally, you ask yourself where you went wrong. But you nailed all the measurements and ingredients, and there isn’t anything wrong with your oven. That is, until you discover that you used light brown sugar instead of dark, your butter wasn’t room temperature, and you didn’t chill the dough long enough.
When it comes to following a recipe—or overseeing your company’s wellness program—you can check off all the right boxes, maintain momentum, and keep your eyes on the prize, but sometimes, you still miss the mark. So, what’s the secret?
Spoiler alert—it isn’t your ingredients, utensils, or ability to follow a recipe. What you’re missing is someone who can stop you from using light brown sugar.
It’s almost impossible to know all the ins and outs of people engagement, wellness education, and program administration on your own. After all, it takes multiple people (and plants and animals) to create the ingredients you buy for your cookies, which is why successful and effective wellness programs are contingent on the support and guidance of a powerhouse customer success team.
What Sets True Customer Success Experts Apart?
Every wellness solution—digital or otherwise—is usually coupled with a dedicated client success manager(s) to ensure program success. But with so many identical solutions to choose from, it’s challenging to know how long a support team will have your back…or how well they’ll support your organization’s goals.
According to Gallup, only 24% of employees actively participate in their company's wellness initiatives, even with in-house administrators. And with organizational needs, wellness priorities, and the world as a whole changing every day, the need for an organized, adaptable, and forward-thinking customer success team is key to moving the needle on health outcomes.
“Across industries, clients crave hands-on guidance, creativity, excitement about wellness, and 24/7 availability when getting their programs off the ground,” says Bree Slauscius, certified Worksite Wellness Specialist and Client Success Manager. “They have enough on their plates as it is, so it’s up to people like me to find unique ways to streamline communication and break the process into steps that can support measurable progress.”
Just like dark brown sugar produces a tastier cookie than light brown sugar, reliable customer success managers create mutually beneficial alliances and understand each organization's unique wellness goals, culture, and challenges. Doing so allows them to help companies transform their wellness programs from optional benefits into engaging, results-driven initiatives through tailored and proactive guidance.
But what separates subpar account managers from stellar client success partners? We spoke with one customer success professional, Jordan Tojo, a 10-year veteran in wellness program implementation and client success, about what’s gotten her clients across the finish line, and what her secret recipe to client success really looks like.
Step 1: Why Saying “No” Can Actually Set Your Recipe Apart
Customer success managers may balk at the thought of saying "no" to clients. Yet, the most successful managers understand that well-outlined boundaries create stronger wellness programs.
“As weird as it sounds, saying ‘no’ (gently) to clients is actually an underestimated trick to the trade,” says Tojo. “Our job is to guide them to a manageable program that is user-friendly and easy to understand. I love being able to take my clients’ big ideas and help them tailor it into something great for their population.”
A skilled client success manager knows setting boundaries doesn't mean refusing help. The goal is to ensure each organization's recipe for wellness stays on track and redirect requests that could throw a program off course. One quick program pivot or redirect could be the key to increasing engagement, attracting new hires, or even improving health outcomes.
In addition, strategic boundary-setting can boost wellness program efficiency by:
- Maintaining program focus and preventing scope creep
- Ensuring resources are allocated effectively
- Protecting core wellness objectives
- Building authentic client relationships based on honesty
While it can be tempting to over-please clients in fear of losing business, an experienced customer success team delivers more value by setting boundaries and staying focused on what matters most—offering program recommendations that attract rather than lose engagement.
Step 2: Your Garde Manger: Detailed Notes, and Lots of Them
When it comes to starting or revamping a wellness program, a client’s to-do list can get as messy as a kitchen on Christmas. With hundreds of ideas, plans, and KPI’s to hit, it’s easy to get caught up in every little program detail without hands-on support.
But clients don’t need someone to clean up their mess and leave. They want to feel supported every step of the way, and for a customer success manager, that starts with listening to their goals, concerns, and challenges.
“You can’t have a truly successful wellness program without taking incredibly detailed notes and providing them to clients after every call,” explains Tojo. “Clients and even brokers need support teams with top-notch organization skills, clear communication, and willingness to provide parameters within best practices. Having everything mapped out is key to ensuring they have a successful and easy-to-manage program year.”
Key documentation elements that help wellness partnerships stay on track include:
- Client feedback and specific wellness priorities
- Onboarding assessment results and original goals
- Program participation patterns and participation levels
- Special requirements or customization requests
- Progress tracking and milestone achievements
It’s important to remember that detailed client notes work as tools for building stronger relationships and delivering better wellness programs. Absorbing and reiterating these notes allows customer success specialists to understand their clients' evolving needs better and address potential challenges proactively.
💡 Pro Tip: For rockstar customer success managers who love going above and beyond, utilizing cloud-based operating systems like Monday.com can be a game changer for leaving feedback and notes, setting deadlines, and watching progress in real time. “Clients and brokers love having insight into the process and seeing what's coming,” says Tojo. “Plus, it's organized and visually appealing when you need to lay out a project.”
Step 3: Don’t Give Cookie-Cutter Recommendations to Different Clientele
It’s easy to sniff out a customer success team that provides the same solutions and recommendations for every client.
When your book of business is as long as your list of cookie ingredients, it’s important to approach each client interaction with curiosity and an eagerness to learn. To truly stand apart and produce real change, customer success specialists must love listening and learning about where clients come from, who their people are, and what matters most to their organization.
“If I’m working with an HR leader who wears 18 hats, I'm not going to suggest a program with a lot of intensive management or administrative oversight,” Tojo explains. “Instead, I’ll recommend easy-lift challenges and ideas with proven results.”
Every organization is different—and each one has different goals. Learning how to speak the language of wellness to multiple clients across industries takes practice, but can easily be done by:
- Analyzing each organization's challenges and opportunities carefully
- Combining industry best practices with specific client learning
- Tailoring program communication styles for diverse populations
- Adjusting incentive structures or activity challenges to match an organization's culture
But on top of offering personalized support, a client success manager’s job is made all the easier with a digital wellness solution that can adapt, pivot, and grow as fast as they can.
“When it comes to tangible program growth beyond the first year, you need a customizable infrastructure that not only meets the client’s industry and population needs, but also their administrative capabilities,” Tojo explains.
Just as an electric mixer can get the job done easier than a rolling pin, customer success managers benefit from and can offer more tailored support with help from a versatile wellness platform. With resources, clickable elements, customized banners, logos, activities, and more that are unique to each organization, clients feel like their wellness program is fresh, not a stale leftover.
Step 4: Don’t Lose Sight of Your True Recipe: Wellness
Getting caught up in little details, financial adjustments, and benchmarks is unavoidable when preparing to launch a wellness program. But at the end of the day, clients need wellness programs for one reason only: to improve organizational health and wellbeing.
It’s a customer success team’s job to remind them of this every step of the way and celebrate their commitment to growth and wellbeing. After all, you don’t make cookies to just sit in a bowl and look pretty—they’re made to nourish and spread happiness.
A wellness program is no different.
“I try to make each program launch fun and exciting for each of my clients by encouraging them to get creative,” Tojo says of her implementation process. “I highly encourage admin teams to add a few custom challenges or "outside-the-box" ideas to really garner their buy-in to the process. I can help them plan and decide, of course, but it helps them feel like they have a strong input in something, therefore getting them more invested in the success of their program.”
The mark of a successful customer success manager is how well they can maintain enthusiasm beyond the program start date. Through ups and downs, accomplishments and speed-bumps, customer success teams keep clients’ eyes on the wellness prize with tailored recommendations, goal adjustments, and industry insights.
Doing so creates wellness programs that not only capture participation, but deliver meaningful results.
Customer Success That Is Truly *Chef’s Kiss
A customer success manager's role in corporate wellness goes beyond traditional account management. They mold the dough of organizational wellbeing into programs, benefits, and initiatives that keep clients and employees coming back for more.
Each organization needs a custom-fit approach to achieve success in corporate wellness programs. What does that look like for your organization? Get in touch with WellRight today to find out how our customer success experts can help you create a wellness recipe that resonates.
