Landing First CSM Role

Hi @Ariel Turner @Julie Pine Parker,

Back from vacation and resurfacing this thread, what if we hosted a call on this topic? Thoughts @Jay Nathan and @Jeff Breunsbach? I would be happy to share my story or moderate from the list of great CSM leads commenting below.

I just got off a call with a woman looking to transfer into CS, and I ran through the following:

Draft Agenda: 
1. Personal stories 
2. What makes a great CSM?
3. Transferrable skills
4. Looking for CS opportunities
5. Resources

@Mahesh Motiramani Thank you for providing those links and the detail. 

About a year ago I was interested in becoming a PM but opted out of it due to my lack of technical experience but reading what you put, I am glad I chose not to be a PM as the CSM role aligns more closely with what my passions are. 

@Zhenya Kuhne Here is the comment I was referring to.

@Ariel Turner There are indeed a lot of common skills between a CSM role and a PM role. The key differences are the Objectives, key results and PRIMARY metrics these roles are tasked to achieve. So, for the CSM, the objective is driving customer value, Company's growth and net-retention. Whereas, for the PM, the objective would likely be creating (and enhancing) the product value-prop and product-market-fit, drive company growth and overall product consumption.

There are many good sources to learn more about the intersection and divergence of these roles. You can look here and here.

That makes perfect sense and I really appreciate you finding and pointing that out. 

My early career was in construction and now I am in recruitment primarily for the tech space. I wonder what your thoughts are on the fact that I know the CSM role well from a recruitment standpoint rather than a specific product?

Thank you @Will Pagden Its so good to hear individuals in your position taking a holistic view of someones experience. 

I have connected and spoken with several Sr Leaders in CSM and consistently people have mentioned I have numerous transferable skills and after having networked with so many individuals I believe it. 

Now to find a company who thinks like you

It's the golden question. 

Here's what I'll say. I have attended so many Customer Success meetups and I am finding that CSMs are commonly created by one common thread. They were applying for a CS role in a field they have experience.

Fintech CSMs came from finance. My colleagues at RingCentral never did Customer Success before. They came from telecom who we compete against. I came from hospitality and worked for a hospitality tech company as a CSM.

But that isn't the only qualification, it just gets you past the pesky "must have SaaS experience" requirement that stonewalls so many applicants. But companies are willing to forego that requirement in exchange for industry experience. Why? Because if customers know you used to do their job, they listen to you more.

Hi @Ariel Turner - Feel free to connect on LI, happy to also have a chat. When I recruit for my teams I look at the much bigger picture than just previous experience. 

You have a good background and I would imagine some great transferable skills.

The most important thing to remember however, is to just be you! Stay true to yourself, dont become someone else, something you want to be as that cover will be broken. Be authentic, confident and go and smash it.

Love this, I have been hearing that a CSM position is a lot of cross functional work in the same way that a product manager is. How do you say those are similar or different in that aspect?

Official partners in crime to accomplish our goal! Let’s do this! 

Beautiful! Request sent, really looking forward to hearing more! 

I was beginning to think that I had to be a BDR before I could transition into a CSM position.

Request sent! 

That’s so great to hear so thank you in advance! Have a great vacation and request has been sent! 

Love this thank you! Request sent. 

That’s a really good point! Thank you, I’ll be sure to incorporate that into interviews and frame my resume to reflect. 
 

This happens to be a large part of my early career focus so I’m glad this is transferable because it’s also what I am passionate about doing. 

Hi @Ariel Turner I transitioned to CS after spending several years in Engineering, Delivery, Pre-Sales, Sales, Program Management, etc. While the past experiences in the Customer facing roles did come in handy while operating as a CSM, the experience of working with internal teams in my past roles, made the CSM role easier I think. In any case, I am happy to offer my insights and invite you to connect on LinkedIN here

Good Luck!

Hi everyone!
I am in a similar position to both @Ariel Turner and @Julie Pine Parker .
Glad to see several professionals offering their contacts!

Hi Ariel, I am in a similar position myself and really resonated with your post. Please feel free to connect on LI and perhaps we can help each other with our journeys! https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliepineparker

Hi @Ariel Turner have made the transition myself and happy to provide some insight. Feel free to connect and reach out on LinkedIn. 

Welcome! Having gone from CS to Sales/BD and now back to CS, happy to talk about some learnings I've had. Feel free to connect with me on LI here, would be more than happy to chat further. 

@Ariel Turner - Happy to help! I made this transfer and can advise. Let's connect on LinkedIn and chat. 

I'm OOO until 8/4, but would love to talk after my return. This is definitely achievable! I was in your boat 4 years ago.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauralakhwara/

Hi @Ariel Turner please connect with me on LinkedIn as well and I can look to connect you with one of my colleagues who came from "outside" the tech world or that didn't start their career in CS. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/travis-wheeler-4855a741/

Hi @Ariel Turner ! Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn! https://www.linkedin.com/in/alextran91/

If you have success stories of how you've made others successful and coached/guided them along, that would prove very valuable in Customer Success land. 

The skills between Sales and CS overlap quite a bit. Both roles require you to persuade and convince others to take a certain path and problem solve.