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. 

Technical Support response targets! We’ve all been there, and being the first Success Hire is super exciting. You get to wear many hats, get involved all the way through the customer lifecycle and be scrappy to get customers what they need. For us at the beginning, that meant taking on a lot of Technical Support tickets for our EMEA customers, especially in the morning before our then US-based tech support team was online. On the one hand, this gives you a lot of valuable product knowledge that can help you be an impactful CSM, but on the other hand, it can mask the business need to expand technical support teams and can hurt your focus in the long term. If you can, explain early the difference between CS and Tech support KPIs and ensure that anything you take on is temporary!

With a self-serve product, you probably want to stay away from some of the more product-based KPIs (e.g., product adoption or health score if it's largely adoption driven) but retention, NPS, etc. are still critical metrics for Customer Success. The business has a value proposition for why it's investing in Customer Success despite the product being self-serve so it's incumbent to figure out what that investment thesis is and tie you and your team's KPIs around it.

The two areas I would recommend are 1) Sharpening your Sales skills and 2) Adopting some Product Manager mindsets. When working with customers and the further upmarket you go, the more enriched these conversations need to be and the immediate areas for many customers are to understand their contracts, how they can scale with your product, value alignment, and ROI. Supplementing this, customers want to know how your product will be evolving and how their feedback can influence the roadmap. Being able to cut right to the value of a product, requirements, outcomes, and how those align with the customer's values will set your customer and Product teams up for mutual success!

My philosophy is that I want everyone on my team to be eligible for a raise, so it’s my job to help them understand what they need to do so that I can make the case to the business. Just as they are the advocate for our customers, I am the advocate for them. It’s not just about the quantitative - there are many qualitative things I consider when recommending a pay rise. Some of the most common pieces of advice I give to my team are: 1. Make sure you are a master of your business. Exceed your metrics or have a clear explanation of where and why you fell short. It isn’t essential that CSMs are always over 100% on everything, but you should have a clear plan that addresses why you are behind. 2. Are you having an impact outside of your specific book of business? Are you helping others when you can? Are you seeking out and taking on additional projects and opportunities when they come up? 3. Are you upholding the values of the team and organization? Are you having a net-positive effect on the morale and engagement of your peers around you?

No technical skills are not always necessary to be an effective CSM, however having a basic understanding of technical concepts can he helpful particularly if working in certain subsegments of the tech industry. The level technical skill required is also to a degree dependent on the company and the scope of the role. Some CS roles in deeply technical companies may require you to have a level of familiarity with technical concepts however for many CS roles this is not the case. However in either scenario familiarity with the product or service being supported can be beneficial as as a CSM while you may not be responsible for technical troubleshooting you will be required to have a good understanding of the product offering and will need to be capable having conversations with customers about the products features, functions and capabilities.

While I have been at HubSpot for a long time (13+ years), many opportunities have come up over time that I have had to assess new opportunities. Here are the things I tend to look at when considering a role; * Market Evolution * Size and growth potential of the market the company plays in * Stage of evolution : is this a horizon that is in its late stages or on the cutting edge? * Potential : is this a single product/one trick pony or do * Product * Do customers love their product/service? * Who are their competitors and how does their solution stack up? * Are they a leader or laggard? Have they shown product/service innovation? * Leadership and Culture * Are they proud of their vision, values and culture, even if they are against the grain? * How visual/vocal is their executive leadership? * Do people love the company? Are they staying there or leaving after short periods of time? * How do they treat failure? * Skills and Growth * Does my past experience lend well to the role? * Are there opportunities for me to build new skills? * What is my potential for impact on the business priorities? * Does this role help me build skills for the next position I hope to achieve?

Working from personal experience here (I can't speak for everyone), what I've seen in small Customer Success teams is that they're scrappy. They've started as the "do anything to help" team and have had success in that. So much success, the org wants much more Customer Success. The downside, there's very little consistency or boundaries in their role. I recommend you start with taking an audit of the various roles/responsibilities that the CS team is owning or getting involved in. Chances are, you will find some opportunities to standardize and get the CSMs out of certain tasks/workflows through better internal partnerships and tooling. A great way to plan for what CSMs should be doing is to seek tons of feedback (internally and from customers) and build a Customer Journey from it. Clearly spell out the CSM role and expectations through that journey, and add tools where required. Also- consider the segments of your business. Should all customers be treated the same? Or would you want different CS motions for large vs. small customers, customers in different regions, industries, product lines or other? With very small teams it may not make sense to segment immediately, but having some thoughts on this early on can make the growing process smoother. All of the above helps you grow the team thoughtfully. As we're learning in today's market, we can't afford to overinflate headcount.

Core skills are a combination of both soft and hard skills. Communication skills, analytical skills, problem-solving skills, product knowledge, and inter-departmental and intra-departmental relationship building. Emotional intelligence is something you must have and believe at your core. This is the only thing that will bail you out when all else fails - your gut! Trust it! Adaptability, as I said, change is the only constant. Be fluid and nimble to customers changing landscape. Empathy puts you in the customer’s shoes. Active listening skills do give you an edge tom building trust. If you are new to your job, even more so. Remember, two ears and one mouth for a reason. Live in the zone, a customer-centric culture. You may need to play an instrumental part in influencing this change within the company.

* What does "Customer Success" mean to you? Customer Success as a field and profession is relatively new, and the term can mean different things to different people. A candidate's answer helps me assess their whether their experience is aligned to a proactive vs reactive approach, what kinds of customers they've worked with in the past, how they think about the customer experience, and more. * If you were constructing a CS team from scratch, what metrics would you use to gauge success? Both internally and customer-facing? While this is a highly debatable topic, the key is that metrics described cannot only be financial. Yes, at the end of the day (... or, quarter) we are all working towards financial outcomes. But Revenue Retention is a lagging indicator, and it's important to understand that leading indicators such as product usage, presence of risk factors, and engagement are critical for proactive customer success. * How do you know a customer is successful? The best candidates use this as an opportunity to talk about aligning the value a company's product and services drive to the customer's business goals. I'm looking for CSMs who focus on a customer's business-level outcomes at a strategic level, rather than those who focus on getting their customers to adopt our product or services.