1 person CS or nothing?

pabloruiz

Hi All,

I just joined this beautiful community, thank you for existing!

I am very obsessed and in love with Customer Success, but my organization did not know or hear about it as a department until I started bringing it up and socializing the idea with senior management.

I am currently a "jack of all trades" guy doing analytics, presentations, sales support, market research, proposals, RFX, etc and I was hoping to grow with the company into a dedicated role but don't see that happening much since I keep getting pulled into random "special projects" and don't have the academic background similar to these old school guys that will get me a "proper role".

This is a telematics company that sells to dealerships, there are definitely reasons to worry about the post-sale process - especially considering that our software ends up with end-consumers.

I've talked with my CEO about the importance of having metrics for post-sales and how certain tools that are tailored for CS could help us map and automate customer processes, he sounds convinced enough to the point that I wouldn't shy away from presenting a plan. The only problem is, I'd be the only one doing this and would not be able to hire a team.

Would you do it? I feel like this is my chance at getting a foot in the customer success door.

I want to automate as much as possible and am aware that I'd have to involve devs in the process for data integration but even if I could automate customer communications and have actual visibility for the post-sale process would be a small win. Would I destroy myself doing it?

Please let me know your thoughts :)

I've been testing Totango, and will look into churn zero and others in the next few days.

Michelle Wideman

@pabloruiz, sounds like an exciting opportunity to build a team while developing the strategy. Having just joined my fourth startup, I understand the concern about destroying yourself. I believe if you align on clear goals and objectives with your CEO, and set proper expectations on what is achievable given you are one human, even if you are a superhuman, it could be a great opportunity! You can even outline the plan for what you need to accomplish in order to start hiring/building out the team. My advice would be don't boil the ocean, pick a few things that will be quick win and add value that you can build upon. Great at Work, is an awesome book that outlines the importance of focusing on a few things, and doing those things really well. Good luck! Keep us posted!

Marc Phillips

Agree - this is your opportunity to develop a comprehensive strategy, but that doesn't obligate you to execute it all on your own. Develop and present both (great practice for the future!), and then in a separate activity lay out a plan that is a nod to the grand plan but is achievable by your efforts alone. As you prove out specific areas and "MVPs" of bigger wins, the conversation can evolve toward building out a team when everyone agrees it is warranted and worth the greater risk of the unknown.