Breaking Into Tech: Customer Success Manager
Before reading, ask yourself “Do I like…”
Being the point person in an organization
Thinking creatively to solve complex business problems
Not having a clearly defined role, autonomy and flexibility over how I handle business
If any or all of these sound like you then you should consider a career as a Customer Success Manager. Being a CSM is all about figuring things out, being challenged and coloring outside of the lines for a better picture.
Nice to meet you and welcome. I’ve spent over 8 years in the tech industry as a Customer Success Manager (CSM), at junior, mid and senior levels. I’ve hired and led teams of successful CSMs. I’ve worked at large enterprises, small startups and even had the opportunity to be a part of a company’s IPO process, exciting times. Customer success at one company doesn’t always mirror what it means to another organization. This is where being open to change is really important. No matter how different the function is from company to company, your objectives are the same and it takes a specific personality to be highly effective as a Customer Success Manager.
What Is Customer Success (Revisited)
I’ve covered “What is Customer Success” in another blog. In short, customer success as a job function helps retain business, grow business and aligns with business objectives to ensure a customer’s success, as the name implies. Introduced in 1997 by John Luongo, the CEO of Vantive, the idea was simple but ingenious especially for it’s time. Customer Success is all about ensuring your customers succeed with your product or service. It's about retention, growth, and aligning with customer objectives. Since inception it's evolved into a pivotal role in tech, where every interaction is a chance to enhance user experience. Customer success can be applied to any industry, however, in this article we will focus primarily on the tech industry.
In the tech industry a Customer Success Manager (CSM) is typically the account manager assigned to an account to handle day to day items as well as assist the customer in their long term objectives. A CSM in tech serves as the vital link between a company and its clients.
Here are some key responsibilities of a CSM
Standard Duties:
Facilitating Client Meetings
Being a Point of Escalation
Serving as a Technical Liaison for Clients
Advocating for Vendor Products (Workshops, Enablement and Training)
Monitoring Client Product Usage
Providing Client Feedback to Internal Teams
Managing Projects
Preventing Client Churn
Strategic Duties:
Discussing Client Vision via Quarterly Business Reviews
Speaking with Client Executives
Traveling Onsite for Client Meet and Greets
Representing Company at Tech Conferences
Creating Documentation for Clients to Increase Product Utility
Assisting with Client Renewal Process
This list really only scratches the surface. The next layer down would be HOW these things get accomplished. If CSM were painters, the “how” would be their artwork. While art is fluid the CSM would still need a few core competencies and characteristics to function well in this position.
Confidently figuring out the correct path needed is an essential function of a CSM
Characteristics
Whether you’re hiring for your CSM team or you are excited to jump into this career path as a way to learn a lot and help businesses develop, there are some essential characteristics, I believe, help make for a CSM who excels at providing value:
Flexible/Adaptable - The need to be fluid in your style is important, every customer is different and their specific needs are unique to them in some fashion. Able to tailor approaches to diverse client needs.
Technical - You do not need to write software in your spare time but you should have a genuine interest in technology to understand and advocate for client requirements.
Business-Minded - There needs to be a healthy balance of understanding the business, what their objectives are and why they exist. Every company has a mission. Your mission is to understand what the customer sees as important in order to help them meet theirs.
Communicative/Collaborative - You are for the team in every sense of the word. I like to describe a CSMs essential function as the hub to the wheel with different departments being a spoke, one is no good without the other and YOU bring all the pieces together.
Confident/Trustworthy - Building client trust through reliable performance and exceeding expectations. Gaining a clients trust is not easy and for good reason, there are several other vendors vying for the same rapport as you.
Most importantly CSMs need to be…
Problem Solvers at Heart
CSMs are problem solvers by nature, using creativity and a diverse skill set to resolve issues and enhance customer satisfaction. The ability to dive into an issue and come out of the other side with a reasonable resolution is core to the job function. In order to successfully be a problem solver, CSMs need to combine many items from the list above with ease. The amount of creative thinking for this role cannot be overstated but it is one of the more exciting qualities about the position, making everyday at work a bit different than the previous day.
Sounds good
So how do I actually become a CSM?
CSM Requirements
As mentioned, every CSM position is a bit different depending on the organizations definition. At large, companies typically ask the following of mid-level CSMs:
Education: A bachelor’s degree or equivelant experience is typically required. Some roles may prefer or require a degree in a technical discipline if the product or service is highly technical.
Experience: Previous experience in customer-facing roles is highly valued. This could include roles in customer support, account management, sales, or consulting. Experience in the tech industry or with software-as-a-service (SaaS) products is often preferred.
Technical Skills: While not always mandatory, having a basic understanding of technology and software can be beneficial. This includes familiarity with CRM systems, understanding of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), and knowledge of relevant industry tools.
Certifications: While not always mandatory, certifications related to customer success management or specific technical skills (e.g., AWS certifications, project management certifications) can enhance credibility and marketability.
Soft Skills: Essential soft skills include excellent communication (both written and verbal), strong interpersonal skills, empathy, problem-solving abilities, and a customer-centric mindset. CSMs need to build relationships, manage expectations, and advocate for their customers within the company.
Industry Knowledge: Depending on the company’s focus, knowledge of specific industries (e.g., healthcare, finance, technology) and their unique challenges may be required or preferred.
Landing the Job
Ready to step into this rewarding career? Here are some practical tips:
Learn/Study a Technical Discipline
Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure)
Networking
Security
Application Development
Technical Project Management
Get Certified
Study and get certified in your chosen discipline
Showcase the fact that you can take initiative
Projects
Work on a personal project that you can showcase
This helps exemplify that you can relate to the clients you are asking to help serve
Network
Find other people in these roles via LinkedIn and start connecting
Utilize local meetups, tech conferences and online groups to connect
Cater Your Resume to the Role
Highlight:
Soft Skills (collaboration, leadership, conflict resolution)
Personal Projects
Team and Individual Accomplishments
Bonus: Start Doing the Work at Your Current Job
Look for ways to innovate an existing process at your current job. The functions required to implement something new are many that a CSM does on a daily basis. You’ll be required to make a business case, speak to stakeholders and implement a plan. All of these are key to a well performing CSM to provide client value.
Long before I worked in tech, one of my responsibilities was to help train new phone reps at a large insurance and banking company. This was a new rotational program and we were, in essence, building the plane while trying to fly it. The trainers, like myself, were hand picked based on performance, not coaching skills. This is where I learned that sometimes the teachers need to be taught. I received positive feedback on my coaching and decided to try to scale this to others in a shared format. I documented the questions, methods and results that were working for the reps I coached and shared with other trainers who added their own.
Result: we suddenly had a standard for coaching new reps based on this new program with repeatable processes for new trainers to utilize. If you revert back to the list of essential characteristics, the actions taken in this story touched on effective collaboration, adaptability as well as a business mindset. While I didn’t know it at the time, I was performing the duties of a technical program manager and/or customer success manager.
I know this story well as it was one that I used in one of my first interviews for my first job in tech.
“Perform the position you want while in the position that you’re currently in”
Does remote work interest you?
Benefits to Being a CSM
Beyond the intrinsic rewards, CSMs enjoy competitive salaries, remote work opportunities, travel perks, and performance-related incentives like stock options. Let’s start with the most important benefit for the people who rely on currency to pay their bills; salary.
As of this writing, the average salary for a CSM can range from 60k-200k yearly according to BuiltIn.com. Leave a comment if you would like to know more about how CSMs get paid. Generally speaking, this profession is well paid and normally compensated additionally for business results (renewals, expansion and client adoption)
Other benefits include:
Remote Work - CSMs are rarely required to report to an office as their job function doesn’t normally require it (this varies from company to company)
Work Related Travel - While this can go either way, those who like to travel to see customers will really enjoy this benefit
Sponsored Company Conferences - Meet clients at your company’s conference and be among professionals who are just like you
Performance Related Pay - Get paid additional based on your actions and customer results
Stock Options - On average these positions provide stock options in the company
Call to Action: Get Started
Take a look at the following list for simple ways to get started on your journey into Customer Success, many of these resources are absolutely free. This is a curated list that I’ve used to help coach others to get into this field:
LinkedIn Networking
Technical Training
A Cloud Guru - Great resource for studying and getting cloud certifications
KodeKloud - The best DevOps training platform
CompTIA - Not really sure what you’re interested in? Start here CompTIA offers a number of different certifications in different tech disciplines
Udemy - Peer uploaded content, huge discounts for technical training, great video representation
Soft Skills Training
PMI Certifications - Agile project management is used in nearly all tech companies and other industries as a standard choice for projects
How to Tell an Effective Story - Jeff Sipe is the interview coaches interview coach, excellent interview examples
Creating Your Own Job - Find creative ways to create your own position and have a damn good story to tell at your next interview
Go Out and Meet People in the Field
Local Events - Make a new friend, offer support and learn from people in the business
Tech Conferences - This is a curated list of technical conferences that is constantly updated, find one near you and get into the mix
Lastly, find a coach. I am not the only one available and I implore you to do your due diligence. Find the coach that best suits your learning style and capabilities, someone who can meet you where YOU are in your journey.
Join The Conversation
Comment below what you would like to know about becoming a Customer Success Manager. If you’re already in this field, please share your experiences for others. If you found this helpful and would like additional guidance, book a call with me and let’s chat about your future: https://iamjttaylor.com/technical-career-counseling
Thanks for reading.
-JT
