Introducing Lantern

Think about the last time you renewed software for your business. Chances are you don’t really remember the highlights of the pitch, or the differences from the competitor. If I had to guess, the most memorable part of the purchase was the CSMs and AEs you worked with – and the relationships you built with them.

At the end of the day, B2B companies sell more than a product – they sell trust. The trust between a customer and their vendor is built slowly. Break that trust and a customer will churn. Nurture that trust and a customer will buy again — and refer their friends.

In 2018, I was working at a cybersecurity startup called Menlo Security. We were rapidly growing revenue and headcount, but we had a data problem. We couldn’t answer basic questions like: “Who are our champions?”, “Which accounts need to be nurtured?”, or “Who has recently talked to a customer?”.

At Menlo, I spent most of my time trying to answer these questions. I created predictive models around LTV and even spent 6 months deploying a legacy customer success platform. But the problem couldn’t be solved in a spreadsheet, and definitely not in a clunky CSP. To truly understand our customers, I started to realize that we needed a better data model to build a unified, 360° view of the customer.

Unfortunately, these problems weren’t unique to Menlo Security. B2B companies of all sizes are affected. CSMs, AEs, and support reps are expensive to staff, and using chatbots or automated emails is too impersonal. It’s hard to scale every customer relationship – so how can customer-facing teams make sure they’re connecting with customers at the right time?

Introducing Lantern

‍Today I’m excited to announce Lantern, the first all-in-one platform designed to increase Net Revenue Retention has exited Beta.

Your next best customers are already using your platform. In 2022, companies can no longer afford to neglect their mid-tier customers. Lantern is the first end-to-end solution that aligns Success, Sales, and Product teams around accelerating value and connecting with customers when it matters most, in-product.

Here’s how it works:

1. Compile data: B2B Customer Data Platform - We’ve created the first real time Customer Data Platform - purpose built for B2B. Connect your existing SaaS tools with 1 click or bring your own warehouse.
2. Provide Insight - ML models that automatically detect expansion and churn. Build your own rules with no code or write SQL for advanced insights.
3. Real time action - Lantern is an event-driven platform. When we detect a customer needs help or is ready to expand, we can run asynchronous playbooks or initiate a video call with the customer – in-product and in real-time.

Regardless of your GTM motion, company size, or industry, strong customer relationships help expand deals. With dozens of vendors vying for attention, it’s never been harder to connect with your customers. Customer facing teams should be proactively delivering value - not spamming inboxes with automated emails. Lantern enables B2B companies to cut through the noise to deliver the right message, to the right customer, at the right time.

Lantern unlocks a new pipeline channel: your existing customers. If you’re interested in learning more, feel free to reach out at david@withlantern.com or schedule a demo here.

‍