A successful first 90 days breaks down to focus across three key areas: (1) Deep learning and curiosity around the product and the experience of the customer within that product; relationship building, (2) Hypothesis based experimenting and feedback collection and (3) Planning and alignment of go-forward motions 30 days: * Dedicate ample time to learning about your product - both internally and directly with customers. Why do customers purchase the product? How does the product function within a larger tools ecosystem? What are the barriers to success in using the product? What's the value narrative or ROI in the customer's language? How does the product influence outcomes that customers care about? How is the product priced? How is it viewed in the competitive landscape? * Build relationships internally - meet with cross functional partners to orient yourself to their priorities and OKRs, and how their teams drive customer success (we all own this job collectively). Develop perspectives on how you can best partner with these cross functionals - how can your goals ladder to their goals, which ladder to customer goals and outcomes. * Consider how you will spend your time. Set initial and ongoing goals for time spent internally and with customers. Make it a priority to stay close to the customer either personally through customer advocacy or sponsorship programs, through customer call shadowing or listening strategies, or through skip level/team 1:1s. * Build a bi directional, prioritized relationship with sales. Understanding the organization's pre-sale strategy will be critical to building an effective post sales experience. * If leading an established CS function, assess current processes and measurement strategies 60 days: * Leverage learnings to begin building hypotheses around your ongoing strategy. If setting up a CS team from scratch - you might start building the customer journey and determining the most effective touchpoints for successful product optimization and adoption. If leading an established CS team, this may look like assessing where changes can be made to optimize customer and team outcomes. * Involve the team in priority setting or priority refinement - generate energy around shared goals * If possible, choose a 1-2 key areas of investment to test your perspectives and strategy * Gain buy in from critical cross functionals (sales, marketing, enablement, product/engineering) * Build perspective around a metrics and measurement strategy - how will you know the team is successful? Does the team have the right "skin in the game"? Are you influencing things both within the circle of control for a CS org (for example, team activity targets), but also extending beyond that into circle of influence metrics (customer use of product, value optimization)? 90 days: * Begin synthesizing your learnings from your ongoing internal and external engagements, coupled with anything you have piloted or tested. Refine your strategy across key areas: the customer journey, how other teams will contribute to this journey (marketing, digital teams, services teams), metrics and measurement for the CS org, team culture & morale * Focus on team morale and strategic alignment - host team conversations around how the CS strategy drives customer results, which in turn drives business results. Create clarity in R&R and how results will be measured * Spend time socializing how you are investing your time and focus - this can help to build trust with cross functionals and anchor initiatives to broader business goals (ex: retention, churn mitigation, customer ROI, etc)

KPIs are the ultimate indicator of where you want your team to spend their time. The old adage that people do what they're get paid to do holds true. If you're paying people to do QBRs, they'll do them. If you're not, it will be harder for them to do so. So as you're developing your KPIs, think about where you want your team to spend their time. If that's where they're spending their time today, great. Write some KPIs that will add motivation to their already busy days. If, however, they're spending times on areas where you don't want them to focus, use the KPI rollout to pivot their time and attention to an area that will be a better use of their time.

I think the most frustrating thing about Customer Success is that without agreement across the organization about the importance and role of Customer Success, it can become a catch-all. As the quarterback of the customer relationship, that means all things can fall to the CSM. If there are not very clear swim lanes, paths of escalation and role definition, this means the CSM may soon find themselves as; * Customer Support * Collections Specialist * Renewal/Contract Manager * IB seller * Product Specialist * Escalations Manager While a great CSM possesses skills that can help in each of those categories, they cant be all of those things without burning out quickly.

* I think customers will continue to expect quick yet complex answers - our products and platforms will need to be able to keep up by offering more access and self-service options. CSMs need to be able to respond with speed and accuracy, which means they need to know the product themselves. * I see CS moving to a multi-support model using chat (both chatbot and live-hosted), AI, and large language models, with CSMs for some accounts, pod support for others. * In my opinion, for CS to remain a highly valued function to the customer, we have to make sure products are stable, data is accurate, systems are integrated, access is easy, and privacy is protected.

Customer feedback can be a goldmine for improving product adoption rates. A wealth of information can be gleaned if you go about it the right way. A key point to note is that it is important to leverage both solicited and unsolicited feedback to continuously optimize your strategy: Solicited Feedback: Targeted Surveys: Conduct surveys at key points in the customer journey, like onboarding, feature adoption, and renewal periods. Tailor questions to gather specific insights on the user experience, their effort and satisfaction. In-App Feedback Tools: Embed tools within your product that allow users to easily submit feedback, report bugs, or suggest improvements. Unsolicited Feedback: Active Listening: Develop your active listening skills during customer calls, training sessions, or support interactions. Pay attention to user language, hesitations, or workarounds – these can reveal hidden challenges. Support Ticket Analysis: Mine your support tickets for common themes and recurring issues. Look beyond the specific problem to identify underlying factors impacting adoption. Social Listening: Monitor social media platforms, user forums, and industry review sites (example Gartner Peer Review). Analyze conversations to identify trends in user sentiment and pain points related to your product. Turning Feedback into Action: Actionable Insights, Not Just Data: Don't get bogged down in data. Analyze both solicited and unsolicited feedback to identify recurring themes and pain points. Focus on actionable insights that can be translated into concrete improvements. Prioritize Based on Impact: Not all feedback is created equal. Prioritize issues based on their potential impact on adoption. Address critical usability hurdles or roadblocks that hinder core workflows. Close the Loop: Communicate back to users how their feedback is being used. Demonstrate that their voice matters. This builds trust and encourages continued engagement. Targeted Onboarding: Use feedback to personalize onboarding experiences. Highlight features that address common pain points for new users of a specific segment. Focus on the "Why" Behind the Feedback: Don't just fix the "what." Understand the underlying motivations and goals behind both solicited and unsolicited feedback. This helps you solve the root cause of adoption roadblocks. Important Point: Establish a feedback loop with your Product Development and Product Management teams. Share customer insights directly with those who can translate them into product improvements. By actively soliciting feedback through surveys and in-app tools, while also being a keen listener for unsolicited feedback in conversations and online discussions, you'll gain a well-rounded understanding of your user base. This comprehensive approach enables you to continuously refine your product and the onboarding process, thereby creating a user-centric experience that drives product adoption and long-term customer success.

I love that you’re looking to break into tech as a CSM, here are a few strategies I would recommend: 1. Internal Promotion - Some of the best CSMs I have worked with have moved up internally from other roles in the company. Customer Support and Sales Development are two internal roles that I frequently recruit from. If you’re early in your career, look for entry-level roles in Customer Success-adjacent roles at a company that prioritizes internal mobility. A benefit to both you and your employer is you’ll already have a good understanding of the product. 2. Adjacent Industries - If you have experience elsewhere and are looking to make the switch, I recommend being strategic: Focus on companies where your previous experience would give you a unique advantage in understanding the customer. (eg: if you’re an accountant today, look at companies that make software for accountants). Don’t “spray and pray” - you’re better off focusing on a smaller set of companies that you think will be a great fit. 3. Entry Level CS Roles - I think this will be the hardest path for you, but it’s possible. I frequently receive hundreds or even thousands of applicants for entry level CS positions, so it’s important to stand out from the crowd. Network and attend CS meetups or events (meetup.org is a great resource) where you can. You’ll learn a lot and you’ll also start to meet people in your local CS community who can help you.

A top-notch sales enablement leader has a few characteristics that make them so awesome: * A broad knowledge of sales methodologies and techniques without being attached to any... a melting-pot of best ideas will likely be best * An obsession with iteration: measure, improve, measure again, improve again, and so on * A personable nature where sellers view them as a resource and not another TPS-report-demanding 8th boss These characteristics can then lead to their core contributions: * Run a cadence of sales trainings that sellers welcome (rare) since what is taught will clearly impact them making money (which leads to that rare embrace from sellers) * Follow up on the trainings: sales managers have too many things on their plate and will want a partner in the sales enablement leader and team to surface what is working and what isn't and for whom on their team

I've found two KPIs to be difficult to commit to: 1. Customer Health. If you have a robust algorithm to measure customer health (influenced by a number of inputs ), it can be hard commit to a certain outcome. To frame this another way, I've often observed customer health scores as being a bit of a black box where it's hard to tie the actions you take to specific outcomes when there could be a number of variables outside of your control that influence the ultimate score. I much prefer to commit to lead measures that are directly within the control of the team. KPIs related to customer engagement are a good example of things that are more directly within the team's control. 2. Upgrade rate. Many CSM teams are measured on Net Revenue Retention. As part of this, your CSMs may be responsible for identifying growth opportunities within the install base of customers. I find it's effective to measure the team on how many growth opportunities the team identifies but not the close rate or upgrade rate, especially if the Sales or Account Management team owns the closing motion. 

The best metrics to use to justify a pay raise are those that tie to revenue and direct value impact (internally and customer-facing). I like to keep a private list (for example, Asana) of the projects I've worked on and my contributions to them so I can refer to it during performance reviews, promotion advocacy, etc. Revenue metrics - must be quatifiable: * Net Revenue Retention in my portfolio * Expansion revenue * Renewal win rate (this is a ratio or percentage, not a $ amount) * CSQLs provided to sales (Customer Success Qualified Leads) Value Impact: * Significant contributions of customer advocacy events, including customer speakers / event participation, referencability, creation of case studies * Creation of 1:many customer-facing value drivers, such as webinars, podcasts, training series, enablement materials

You're going to want a well-rounded set of knowledge and tools to set you up for success in Success. These include the practice of Customer Success, business metrics, core components of Customer Success, and supplementary industry knowledge. Below are some of my favorites that I've treasured over the years: Community Seekers - Success Coaching If you want to network and learn alongside others, Success Coaching is an excellent place to start in your CS career or level up as you grow. https://successcoaching.co/ For the DIY’er - The Gainsight Blogs & CSM Certifications This content speaks all the love languages of Customer Success professionals and every post is relevant and insightful. https://www.gainsight.com/blog/ A MUST-have for all CSMs - Value-first Onboarding, the Product Adoption Academy Onboarding is crucial for the success of all customers and there is a refined art to crafting & measuring this experience for CSMs. Don’t skimp on this topic! https://academy.appcues.com/courses/value-first-onboarding CS & Business Metrics - Crash Course in Customer Success and SaaS Metrics Hands down, the main questions I hear from new CSMs are around business metrics. Dave Kellog is the LeBron James of SaaS metrics and will explain everything you need to know. Excellent video, grab a notebook! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8hKPfH1q88 Separate yourself from the pack - Jeanne Bliss Understanding business metrics and a product will get you far but what separates you from others is heart and no one on earth does this better than Jeanne Bliss. She has worked with the best customer-first companies and never lets you forget why we’re here…humanity in business. https://www.customerbliss.com/ Staying on top of industry changes - Dave Kellog & Tomasz Tunguz Being aware of what’s happening in Tech will be a massive advantage for you. There are so many great blogs and resources to help you stay on top of what’s happening in the tech world so find what speaks to you! What speaks to me are the Dave Kellog & Tomasz Tunguz blogs...I swear, they're fortunetellers. Dave Kellog - https://kellblog.com/ Tomasz Tunguz - https://tomtunguz.com/