AMA: LinkedIn Head of North America Customer Success, LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Steph Gerpe on Establishing the Customer Success Function

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 l ...Read More

This is one of the most critical components of customer success leadership both when establishing a CS function or joining a team with an already established CS org. If a CS team sits within the sales organization, there may be a natural alignment already anchoring the full team to joint business-based KPIs like churn reduction or retention/renewal outcomes. In this case, it's important to recognize how each team contributes to those shared outcomes - while the KPIs may be shared, the path to ac ...Read More

I think one of the biggest 'surprises' was that regardless of the maturity level of the CS organization, some of the same considerations held true in both cases: The role of CS is constantly evolving alongside other customer facing roles. Even if you have the ability to build a strategy at the start, the need to commit to regular check-ins on how CS strategically fits within the broader organizational goals remains present. Examples include: Are the measurements and incentives the right ones to ...Read More

There are many facets of CS that may differ based on the size of the organization. With differences in organizational size, come differences in priorities, growth strategies, cost measures and balance for scale, as well as customer journey architectures/needs. A few specific areas to note: At least initially, the size of the CS org is likely to grow based on the expanding customer pool. In the early days of an organization, more customers may equal more customers success managers until a balance ...Read More

This is a great and timely question, especially considering that most product/feature sets are evolving at an extremely rapid pace in a technology ecosystem becoming more expansive by the day as well (thanks, AI). One of the most important places to start is to consider what business objectives your product helps to serve, even if not considered critical to the customer's business. There's a reason your product is purchased across your customer base. What sets your product apart in the marketpla ...Read More

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 stri ...Read More