I think the high-level keys to success as a CSM are:Never stop learning, and learn a wide range of topics. Learn about CS, learn about Sales, psychology, finance so you understand your own business, your customers' industry(s), scaling SaaS companies, other SaaS departments so you can partner with these teams better. Change Management: I'm coming to realize how much of the CSM role is some form of change management. If you can nail Change Management, many of the outcomes you want will come into play.You're either being dealt changes(from company and customer), dealing out the changes(driving adoption or expansion), or supporting a change launched by someone else(product, GTM, and customer industry changes). Controllables: "Controllables" is a term from Sales, which means hitting the goals of things in your control - # of dials being the biggest. As a CSM I applied this to my role and it's what separated me from the rest. Assess what controllables you could pursue for your portfolio. This can even be as simple as calling 10 unengaged customers per day.... do that for 6 months, you'll see yourself and your KPIs improve. This could also be calculating 3 customer ROIs daily. Be Quantitative and Data-Driven. This is similar to the above. It's easy to self-validate our success as CSMs with qualitative data - relationship pulse, customer tone, "my customers like me", etc. The best CSMs lean on hard data to help them identify their actual performance, and get honest with themselves about where and how to improve. This then feeds into what you focus on learning. even if your company doesn't use such metrics, you should do so in evaluating yourself. Loads of ways to become a world-class CSM, these are just four high-level ways I think would serve any CSM well.
