AMA: Appcues VPCX, Jessica Haas on Developing Your Customer Success Career

Scenario-based questions are my favorite but I especially like this one as it breaks the ice and allows the candidate to show their personality & you can have fun with the scenarios. Three emails hit your inbox, which do you answer first, second, and last and why?  No wrong answers here! You ordered lunch and the delivery person is running an hour behind and asks if you still want your order. (symbolizes a higher-value downgrade scenario) Your friend wants to reschedule your plans for the ev ...Read More

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 ...Read More

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://suc ...Read More

There are so many but below are the top-5 I've used and subscribed to for years. These skills are must-haves for the best of the best CSMs but apply to any role in the CX space:  Ownership. They feel ownership of the customer & product and treat their domain as their own business. They follow through on commitments with the agility to change priorities when circumstances change. Assertion. They regularly train and lead customers to an outcome and do so with empathy, not aggression. Emotional ...Read More