A Note from the Renewals Team Manager

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Hello and thank you for visiting the Renewals team blog! I’m Jane Kaufman and I manage the Customer Renewals team (which lives in the Customer Success department, a newly-formed entity within Blackbaud – you can read about it in this short press release; I report to the guy in the article).

All of the members of our team work hard every day to manage your overall relationship with Blackbaud to ensure a positive, successful experience not only with our products but with our company as a whole. As evidenced by the formation of a distinct Customer Success department, there is a big shift in thinking going on at Blackbaud – and the Renewals team is right in the middle of it. In the past 12 months, the Renewals team has gone from a team of 8 people to a staff of over 20 tenured, dedicated representatives. I highlight this so that you, our client, can get a sense of the changing tides at Blackbaud. The formation of a Customer Success department and the doubling of the Renewal team were both done for one purpose: to serve you better. I have been privy to (and very excited about) the conversations happening daily at Blackbaud regarding what we do well, what we don’t do well, and where we should be investing as a company to ensure our clients value and trust their continued investment in Blackbaud products.

It’s clear to me that the Executive team believes if we invest in front line people and technology for the sole purpose of helping our clients be successful, there will inevitably be a return on investment for Blackbaud – and I say this not to remind you that Blackbaud is a for-profit company but to highlight for you that Blackbaud leadership views our success as totally dependent on yours. In a recent meeting I had with the President of our business unit, he said (I am paraphrasing as this was two weeks ago and I didn’t write the quote down exactly)

“We have to help our clients adopt the goodness we are putting into our products – it’s there for free (!!) and even though there’s no immediate revenue in it for us, I want someone to come up with an investment we can make today to create awareness about these upgrades and updates…it will pay off in the end.”

If you struggle as a nonprofit (to raise funds, to gain awareness in your community, to renew your member base, to win grants) you will struggle to pay for the investments you’ve made in technology and you may be put in a position where you need to cancel or suspend those investments. On the Renewals team, we work with folks in this position every day. Cancelling your investment in technology is bad for you and bad for Blackbaud. We know Blackbaud products and services can be one of the biggest line items on your budget spreadsheets – so we work every day to infuse that spend with undeniable, consistent value.

There is an appetite at Blackbaud to keep the focus (and dollars) on Customer Success. If you have feedback, ideas, or comments about how we can better accomplish this, please note them in the comments section of this blog. There is no better time than now, when there’s momentum and a focus on this area. You’re the experts on what we as your technology partner can do to help you keep improving; the Renewals team is fully invested in making sure Blackbaud is doing everything it can to keep you successful, to keep your business, and to be viewed as a true partner to your organization. I personally am responsible for retaining your business – and I know I could use your help in understanding how I can guide this growing team in doing it better.

Thank you for being a client from all 22 of us on the Blackbaud Renewals team and from all 70 of us in Customer Success!

Jane
News Community News 06/04/2014 10:06am EDT

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