Customer Success in Security Space

I have found that those CSMs with domain knowledge in the security space tend to have a much easier time showcasing value to the customer. In fact, I’m on the look out now for a senior CSM and it is very important to me that I find someone with relevant industry experience.  With that said, others in this thread have made very good points regarding interpersonal skills. I’m not willing to trade off the interpersonal skills just to find someone with the right domain experience. 

I started off in a cyber security role and knew nothing. You can learn the domain knowledge. The CS skills are much harder to teach and I often saw a lot of great domain knowledge, but very poor interpersonal skills that doom a CS role. I would hire the for strong CS skills first. 

I work in a cyber services firm and in order to set goals and milestones, I need to understand cyber fundamentals.  There are a lot of ways to learn infosec and cyber best practices, but when we were last hiring for a CSM to join the team, it was a very important factor to us.

Hi Deb - I worked for a security company 3 years ago.  I had no knowledge of the space before, and they did a great job of getting me up to speed.  I would say if you are a good CSM and have experience it may not matter to a company if you have domain knowledge or not.  To be honest just because you have domain knowledge doesn't always make you a good fit.

Hi Deb Roy, I would suggest that for any space it is advisable to learn the relevant Domain Knowledge so can be the trusted advisor to your customers. It helps in identifying customer pain points and jobs to be done. It helps when engaging with key stakeholder to demonstrate that you understand their business and the outcomes the want to achieve.