AMA: Oracle VP Customer Success & Solution Architect, Manil Vasantha on Customer Success Soft and Hard Skills

Some essential hard skills that are considered must-haves for a customer success leader include: (must have does not necessarily mean now - you can and should be trained on the job) • Analytical skills: the ability to analyze customer data and metrics to identify trends and opportunities for improvement, as well as a deep understanding of customer behavior and the ability to create actionable insights from that data. • Project management skills: managing customer projects and initiatives effecti ...Read More

The best customer success candidates: • Communication skills: The ability to communicate with customers and all stakeholders clearly and effectively. • Customer-centric mindset: The ability to put oneself in the customer's shoes and understand their needs, pain points, and goals. A genuine passion for helping customers succeed and a strong sense of ownership over their success. • Adaptability: The ability to adjust to changing customer needs and priorities and to be flexible in finding solutions ...Read More

Communication and mental fortitude are essential soft skills, and Product and Industry knowledge are essential hard skills one must have as a core strength. Customer Success Associates/Customer Success Managers/Director Customer Success - all need to have or eventually have some essential soft skills. • Communication: (both skills of speaking and active listing) • Verbal: the ability to communicate clearly in an individual or group setting. • Non-Verbal: In conversation with the customer - 1:1 o ...Read More

Retaining talent is a challenge for any company at any point in time. Customer Success is only a piece of the puzzle. Employees quit because they are unhappy with the culture, compensation, growth, and manager. Let us start with culture, specifically around Customer Success. To see a company’s customers succeed, it must be goal mandated top-down. The CEO and the e-staff aim to enable and empower the Customer Success team to create a holistic positive customer experience. Without this - there doe ...Read More

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 ...Read More

For me personally, the decision was easy. I moved from technical support to Customer Success. They combine in what we deliver called Customer Experience—transitioning a customer from pre-sales to post-sales and then a steady state followed by expansion. It is called the customer journey or roadmap. Influencing a ‘Promoter’ and a reference customer is a powerful and exciting feeling. This roadmap is driving thru an effective success program. It is essential to ensure that the customer journey tie ...Read More

For recent graduates who are interested in entering the field of customer success, there are a few critical pieces of advice to keep in mind: • Gaining relevant experience: Look for opportunities to gain experience in customer-facing roles, such as internships or entry-level positions in customer service or support. This will help you develop the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in a customer role. Or you could also apply to more junior roles, such as success associate, and learn on the ...Read More

Even fresh graduates come with some set of soft skills. A good communicator who worked in small groups on projects or even played on a team comes with valuable soft skills. Hard skills can be learned on the job and over time. Great question. However, it gives little room for new graduates. You either come in as a seasoned CSM or a fresh graduate/newbie CSA (Associate). Some are born with soft skills or are often on a debate team, drama, business classes, etc. But you typically pick these skills ...Read More

While it takes many qualities to be a good Customer Success individual, it takes a lot less to become one. You can transition into a Customer Success role from any role. In my career, I have seen many folks transition into Customer Success roles. Not because they were in a dead-end job but because they wanted to seek a different challenge. If you currently have a customer-facing job and managing some customer-centric projects. You should be able to pick any soft/hard skills required for the job. ...Read More