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Ben Terrill

AMA: Brex Senior Director, Customer Success, Ben Terrill on Scaling a Customer Success Team

January 18 @ 10:00AM PT

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  1. What does your customer success team org structure look like?

    Ben Terrill
    Ben Terrill

    Seso Head of Customer Success | Formerly Brex, Finn AI, Mobify • 3y

    We have our Customer Success organization broken into 2 groups - Strategic Customer Success and Scaled Customer Success. In the Strategic Customer Success group I have managers who are responsible for a team of CSMs and also serve as the DRI on customer success for one or more products. CSMs need to have a strong understanding of multiple products because we only have one CSM per customer, and customers ideally use more than one product. Each manager coaches and supports their CSM team, and they ...Read More

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    3 requests

  2. As a hiring manager, what do the best customer success candidates have in common?

    Ben Terrill
    Ben Terrill

    Seso Head of Customer Success | Formerly Brex, Finn AI, Mobify • 3y

    I find the best CSMs are:

    • Curious - they want to understand “why”. This translates well with customers as it means they have an innate desire to understand their business. It also means that they are likely to find the CSM role very rewarding.
    • Builders - especially in the early days.
    • Empathetic - Empathy has 2 components as a CSM: 1) it helps build a personal connection 2) it allows a CSM to more successfully advocate on a customer's behalf internally.
    4,802 Views
    1 request

  3. How do you communicate customer success updates and activities to the rest of the company?

    Ben Terrill
    Ben Terrill

    Seso Head of Customer Success | Formerly Brex, Finn AI, Mobify • 3y

    One of the most important responsibilities of CS is to ensure that we are sharing the stories and insights we hear from our customers with the rest of the business. To do this, I like to hold monthly presentations where CS presents our feedback from customers. These events are attended by product and marketing leaders, and CSMs present insights from their specific customers, with a theme for each session.

    4,788 Views
    4 requests

  4. Do you have any advice for a junior who is a first customer success hire?

    Ben Terrill
    Ben Terrill

    Seso Head of Customer Success | Formerly Brex, Finn AI, Mobify • 3y

    Firstly, good choice! You have picked a hot career and I only see CS becoming more prominent and important over the next decade. Be curious. Take time to understand your customer’s business - one of the best parts of this job is the exposure you get to so many different types of businesses. The more you understand this, the better a CSM you will be. Put your hand up. If there’s a new product / initiative you can be part of, volunteer for it. Lean in and maximize the learnings even if it scares y ...Read More

    3,858 Views
    1 request

  5. What is the best way for CS reps to manage relationships with accounts where the "champions" are always changing and the value of your business is always having to be restated to knew employees?

    Ben Terrill
    Ben Terrill

    Seso Head of Customer Success | Formerly Brex, Finn AI, Mobify • 3y

    This is a tough one. I generally view these as “lite sales cycle” which it sounds like you do as well. If the account is large enough - a multi-level engagement strategy extending 1-2 management layers above your main champion would help. I would also ask why these champions are changing - is the position being passed around in the organization because no one wants to own it? If so, why? Is it too time consuming? If so, perhaps there’s a way to reduce how time consuming it is or advocate for a d ...Read More

    3,751 Views
    1 request