There was another question similar to this, so including my answer here: I think the single worst KPI is 'customer touchpoints.' Customers don't want to be bothered unless you have information that is valuable to them that commands them to stop what they're doing and spend time with you. It's not enough to go about talking to every customer every month in a 'check-in.' It's much better to hold off for 3 months until you can have a value-driven conversation. Additionally, I find certain CS SLAs to be sub-optimal KPIs. If CSMs are supposed to be proactive, that means they can't live in their inbox responding to customers. So if they have a KPI that dictates how quickly they should respond to customer outreaches, you're giving the team conflicting information on where they should be spending their time.

I'd structure my thoughts tailored to the company's goals, customer needs, and product/service offerings, distinguish between leading and lagging indicators, establish the median metric numbers, and improvise as we go from time to time. 1. Understand Company Goals: I will start by understanding the company's goals. These could include revenue growth, customer retention, market share expansion, specific product adoption targets, and multi-product strategies. 2. Align with Business Objectives: Identify how we can contribute to achieving these goals. For example, if the company aims to increase revenue through upsells and expansions, we may focus on improving product adoption and identifying upsell opportunities. 3. Identify Customer Needs: It's important to monitor your customers' needs and expectations. Conduct customer surveys, interviews, and feedback analysis to identify key areas. 4. Milestones: Map the journey from onboarding to renewal/advocacy. If needed, develop the enhanced engagement model and ensure the impact is delivered from all perspectives. 5. Identify Metrics: Based on the above factors, select meaningful and actionable metrics. These may include retention rate, churn rate, NPS, product adoption metrics, expansion revenue, customer health scores, and Verified Outcomes. 6. Distinguish Leading and Lagging Indicators: Balance between leading indicators (predictive of future success) and lagging indicators (reflecting past performance). For example, while the retention rate is a lagging indicator, the product adoption rate may be a leading indicator of future retention. 7. Iterate and Improve: Continuously review and refine your customer success metrics based on feedback, changes in business strategy, and evolving customer needs. Be open to experimenting with new metrics and approaches that better align with company goals. 8. Communicate and Align: Communicate the selected metrics clearly to the customer success team and ensure alignment with their roles and responsibilities. Provide training and resources to empower them to drive success based on these metrics. By following this process, one can align with the company's goals and objectives, enabling your team to effectively drive value for both customers and the business.

I'd recommend starting with these key areas when creating a CS function: * Defining customer success - what does successful use of your product or platform look like? When a customer in successful in your platform, what are the outcomes? What is considered optimal use of your product, gathered from a variety of perspectives (product, leadership, marketing, beta customers)? * Defining the customer journey - considering how customer success is defined and what outcomes successful customers should strive for, what are the key touchpoints in the customer journey to promote that success? Examples include the onboarding experience, product adoption at certain time intervals, objective setting, progress check-ins, value-based discussions, renewal/commercial milestones. How does each customer-facing role engage in this journey? * Consider the overall team structure and the roles and responsibilities of CS - Based on the customer journey, what role will CS play in promoting customer success? Will CS train/enable customers on the platform or will this be done digitally/self-service? How will CS onboard/implement customers? What customer engagements/moments will CS own? * Establish team onboarding/training/upskilling - How will you ramp your CS team members? How will you ensure they maintain skills necessary for the job? * Consider necessary tools - What tools/internal platforms will be needed for the success of the CS function? How will customer outcomes be tracked? How will CS manage day to day responsibilities? How will CS stay connected to internal functions such as engineering and support? * Define measurements, reporting, and accountability metrics - Which customer metrics (adoption, health, sentiment) will best predict outcomes (churn, retention, renewal growth)? Which inputs (activities, customer engagements) promote those customer outcomes? How will your report on customer wins and risks? How will you hold the CS team accountable to these inputs/outputs?

It's important to understand the goals of your company and your part in them. Only then can you really have a well-thought and engaging interaction with a C-level leader regarding the business. I sometimes see folks early in their career eager to share new ideas, but without the relevance to the business. We want ideas, but make sure they're tightly aligned to the goals of your organization and well-vetted. Get feedback on your idea from others and test it out in a small way if possible before going to the top. First things first though: be really good at your job as a CSM. Manage your customers well, advocate for them within the business at your level, and make sure you're feeding accurate information back into the business. If you engage with executives on the specific accounts, make sure you're preparing them thoughtfully and thoroughly. This will create a strong brand for you and help get you the visibility you're seeking.

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.

The main hard skill that stands out to me for a Customer Success Leader is change management. Because really this hits in 2 different ways in a Customer Success team: 1. You need to coach and guide your team through how to successfully drive change in their customers 2. You will often need to drive change internally. Customer Success is one of the most change-heavy departments as it often evolves as the business and the market does, so being able to get your team on board to an internal change is key. For optional hard skills, I think project management feeds nicely into change management. Often as a CS leader you have a lot of moving pieces and knowing how to organise that and other internal stakeholders is key.

We conduct monthly CS All-Hands meetings for team updates. Quarterly, we extend this to include all teams under our Chief Customer Officer (CCO), along with company-wide All-Hands meetings. Additionally, we host Leader-level Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) where all teams are represented, allowing for deeper dives into metrics and trends.

Yes, it is absolutely possible for someone from a different field to transition into Customer Success. I have typically seen success from former Sales and Solution Consultants moving into Customer Success as well as former Support Reps being great in the role as well. The key when interviewing is to highlight experiences and abilities that align with the core responsibilities of Customer Success, such as communication, problem-solving, relationship management, and a customer-focused mindset. If you are interested in transitioning into Customer Success, I would start identifying overlaps between your current role and Customer Success. For instance, if you’ve worked in Sales, Support, or Solution Consulting, emphasize your experience managing client relationships, resolving issues, or delivering results. Next, invest time in learning about the field. Familiarize yourself with Customer Success methodologies, tools like CRM software, and strategies for customer retention and satisfaction. Consider earning certifications or taking courses on platforms like LinkedIn Learning. As I mentioned in a previous answer, networking is also crucial. Connect with Customer Success professionals to gain insights, ask questions, and seek mentorship. Tailor your resume and LinkedIn profile to showcase how your past experiences align with the goals of Customer Success, focusing on outcomes like collaboration, problem resolution, and customer advocacy. Finally, when interviewing, demonstrate your adaptability and eagerness to learn, which I love to see when I interview candidates. Show that you understand the value Customer Success brings to a business and that you’re committed to helping customers achieve their goals. With the right preparation, your unique background can be a tremendous asset in this field!

It sounds like you’re asking about how you move from being an individual contributor to being a people manager. The first thing I’ll say is that people management is not for everyone! There are plenty of career growth opportunities in Customer Success as an IC. That said, some of the reasons you might want to be a manager in CS are: 1. You want to help others grow 2. You want to expand your impact 3. You want a new challenge As a hiring manager, I would focus on internal candidates first if I’m considering a first-time CS manager. With that in mind, here are some things I consider about in CSMs who want to move into people management: 1. Are you already acting like a leader? Does the team already see you as a leader? There are many opportunities to assume informal leadership roles in most CS orgs. Maybe there’s a project you can lead? Maybe there are some more junior team members you can mentor? I would actively seek out these types of opportunities to develop your leadership abilities and gain recognition. 2. Do you have an opinion on how you can improve the business? Do you have ideas on how you can drive improvement across your team? Proactively share these with your manager if you haven’t already. 3. How have you performed as a CSM? Are you on top of your metrics? Do you XFN peers have positive feedback? 4. Can you advocate for Customer Success? Are you able to effectively advocate for your customers and team across the business?

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.