Organization Structure & Career Path

Archives for June 2020

Suggestions on trying to land a Success role with no formal CSM experience in today's climate?
Pre-COVID I had some prospects, but many distant hopes because my resume lacks true CSM or AM experience. I have the transferable skills, and have worked with many CSMs in my prior role. I was a de-facto CSM for a handful of accounts while providing technical support and guidance for all other enterprise accounts. Besides…
We all need to send a little love to ourselves sometimes. How do you celebrate the wins and how do y
Would love to hear from the community. Here's a story: Today, I had a customer who experienced these challenges: * original CSM was unengaging and unresponsive so they requested a CSM change. They got me. * Things improved and they were comfortable doing a one year extension to see how things continue to progress. * Major…
Education/Upskill budget ideas
Hi Team, I have an education/upskill budget of $500/quarter and would like some ideas on how to spend it. I've been a CSM for 7 or 8 years now and would consider myself a high performing IC with leadership ambitions. I've taken SQL lessons, public speaking, read a number of business books, and writing classes. My initial…
When Customer Success is in your blood, but SaaS isnt...
Hello all! Im a recovering small business owner, who is trying to break into the CS world. Prior to my experience of growing my retail business, I was an account sales executive in a publishing/media realm. While I was growing in entrepreneurial spectrum, my peers were getting into SaaS industries. CS comes as second…
Differentiating "entry-CSM" vs. "Enterprise CSM" job postings
As an organization who is looking to break out into CSM to have multiple levels I'd like to know how others have created distinctions when posting those two roles at the same time. At the most simple level our initial thoughts have been around years of proven CS experience with clients that match our "enterprise" level.…
What is everyone's favorite, non traditional, interview question to ask?
Few of my favorites: * If you could start a non-profit, what would the mission be? * How do you manage stress? * What do you do to stay mentally "healthy"?
Customer Experience W/out SaaS
Hi community! I joined about a week ago and first just want to say thank you to @Sara Bochino for introducing me. What a great resource! A little bit about me: I have been working as Head of Accounts for 3 years now at the company I work for, which has a very heavy focus on customer relationships and experience while also…
CSM to CSM Client Hand Off - External Communication
My team has recently doubled in size from one CSM, me, to two CSMs. As I begin internally reassigning accounts, I am curious how you all have communicated this transition to clients so that they don't feel like they are being pushed off to someone new. My current plan is to have an update in our newsletter then follow up…
Are PMP/Six Sigma/Project Management Certifications worth it? Which Certs are Credible/Recommended?
Well, hello there ?! We see a lot of buzz out there around different kinds of Project Management or Operational certifications... Out of curiosity, I decided to do a little research and found that the costs and curriculum for these certifications/degrees varied greatly. Needless to say, It was difficult to see what courses…
Best channel for those of us seeking work?
Hey GGR! The startup I was at failed right as COVID began. I know it’s tough out there for those of us CS superstars looking for work. What’s the best channel for us to share what we’re looking for and where members of the community can share opportunities as well? Thanks in advance! Mathleen
CCSM - how did you obtain this credential, and what inspired you to pursue it?
I come across many people who have obtained or who are now posting they are a CCSM. How have any of you obtained yours? Is SuccessCoaching the only service who provides it?
Hi to the Gain Grow Retain Squad :D
Hi All, This is Sidd and I work at Freshworks as a Customer Success Account Manager. I handle the UK/EU Mid Market Segment and hold retention and revenue expansion $ targets. I am based in Chennai, India. Very excited to be here and big shoutout to @Jay Nathan for inviting me on here. Look forward to learning more about…
Where's the best place for Upsells to live?
I've found that it's often valuable to keep CS focused on making customers successful and maximizing retention, passing upsell opportunities to sales. That way, it feels cleaner for the customer as well -- this person is here to help be succeed, not sell me stuff. I've also used SPIFs to incentivize CSMs to uncover…
Building a CS Team from Scratch
@Jeff Breunsbach posted a question about templates/playbooks for CS leaders building their team from scratch last week and it sparking a neat conversation: https://community.customerimperative.com/post/looking-for-examples-templates-of-cs-team-playbooks-engagement-model-docume--5eebd7619ef20c60890e7244 @Ronald Krisak…
Mentorship
Hello All .. Its a pleassure getting connected with this community. I am asipiring to become a CSM and working towards the goal. Looking for some great mentorship to acheive my goal.. Lookimg forward. Best, Sheela
Looking for Examples/Templates of CS Team Playbooks, Engagement Model documentation, and Accountabil
We've got a CS Leader who's in the midst of building much of customer success from scratch. Looking to leverage this community to see if there are tools and templates that can be useful as this leader gets started on their way. So Community. What do we have that we can share?
Transforming relationships from Sales-led to Success-led
In situations where you have business development reps that have longstanding relationships with clients and tend to act autonomously in setting up and conducting meetings, what have been some effective strategies you have used to establish the CSM as the "trusted advisor", and therefore the primary point of contact? How…
Presentation/Public Speaking skills
Do you or your organizations' encourage presentation/public speaking training? Early on in my career I was fortunate to take a presentation skills training course and also refine my public speaking skills with Toastmasters. It has proved extremely beneficial especially when presenting a story with data on slides (QBR).
Does anyone have experience taking a Wonderlic test or a predictive index behavioral assessment for
Incentives for Sales to sign healthy deals?
I'm trying to find ways to incentivize the sales team to ensure that the clients they sign are set for success from the get-go (right product fit, right deployment approach). One approach I'm trying to push is to have 50% of their variable comp be paid out ONLY at the end of a successful deployment (with specific usage…
How to decide who does what.....
Looking for input regarding who should be responsible for renewing contracts? Many were signed 12 months prior - before current sales or acct. managers were in place - so no one owns the original relationship. New people aren't compensated / bonused / incentivized so there isn't much urgency and new sales guys aren't…
CSM's Role in Escalation
At IBM we had a Customer Relations department what we called Critical Situations or Crit-Sits. Generally one software issue didn't make a crit-sit. Generally most had 2 or more serious issues requiring escalation that needed to be addressed. Initially critical-situations were handled through this team. As CS developed. The…
Customer Success Leadership
Tomorrow I will be interviewing for the Head of Customer Success position at my company. To anyone who has experience leading client-facing teams, what advice do you have for someone wanting to go into CS leadership? Thanks in advance!
Technical Roles in Customer Success
What kinds of roles do companies have. TAM, CSE, other?
CSM Segmentation
I've been thinking a lot about segmenting the CS team, perhaps having specific CSM's for initial onboarding, and others for adoption/strategic conversations. I find that it's hard to be an expert at all stages of the buyer's journey, and members of my team naturally gravitate to the things they enjoy more. Some like the…
State of Customer Success
Hi everyone! We are doing a "State of Customer Success" survey & want to hear from as many awesome CS professionals as possible! Plus, if you take the survey you might even win one of the cool Apple products we're giving away! https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6676484131771179009/
What's your definition of Customer Success?
I've heard many good definitions of Customer Success. I'd love to hear yours. Here's mine: “Customer success is ensuring the client reaches their desired outcomes by maximizing the value of the product being provided. Pair this with delivering a wonderful experience, and you have a recipe for retention."
For those currently exploring opportunities of the leadership variety, what are some of your best pr
How do you walk the line of providing a contextualized action-oriented plan that demonstrates you're the right person without giving up the complete recipe BEFORE you're hired?
What value do you see in Certifications? An example is the Gainsight cert tests on best practices in
What kind of process would be effective in using customers as multiple resources for your organizati
I'm eager to get all my fellow peers’, opinion on the best process to approaching customers as and internal resource for your organization. Often times, when we have a successful customer, or a customer who is eager to partner in product design, or testimonials all teams are eager to contact them. This results in getting…

Upcoming Events

Gain Grow Retain Live - Boston
GGR Live: Boston | Scaled Customer Success | June 7 Effective Strategies to Reduce Cost via Scaled Customer Success In a time where “doing more with less” is top of mind for leaders, come together with your peers to discuss effective strategies and best practices to scale and meet your organizational goals without…
June 8 Leadership Office Hours
When Thursday, June 8 11:00am - 12:00pm EST Who Customer Success Leaders who are building and scaling at B2B SaaS companies What * learn from each other in breakout room discussions * talk about Doing More with Less * sign up for specific dates or the whole series Expand your network and leave with one new idea to…
Gain Grow Retain Live - New York
THE VAULT: Secrets of CS Leaders "Doing the right things" Its a cliche as old as time — “doing more with less” — we'd rather think about it as "doing the right things". Every business is different and every customer success leader has different challenges - but do we really? Join us in THE VAULT for an evening where…
June 22 Leadership Office Hours
When Thursday, June 22 11:00am - 12:00pm EST Who Customer Success Leaders who are building and scaling at B2B SaaS companies What * learn from each other in breakout room discussions * talk about Doing More with Less * sign up for specific dates or the whole series Expand your network and leave with one new idea to…
July 6 Leadership Office Hours
When Thursday, July 6 11:00am - 12:00pm EST Who Customer Success Leaders who are building and scaling at B2B SaaS companies What * learn from each other in breakout room discussions * talk about Doing More with Less * sign up for specific dates or the whole series Expand your network and leave with one new idea to…

Organization Structure & Career Path

Discussion List