AMA: RocketReach Senior Director, Customer Success & Sales, Wynne Brown on Customer Success Interviews

May 16 @ 10:00AM PT

What is your favorite customer success interview question and the best answer you've heard?

Wynne Brown

Medius Enterprise Customer Sales • 3y

What problem have you solved in your work that you are most proud of? This is a great question for a few reasons: If they fumble for an answer, they haven't been reflecting on their experience and professional journey so that is an easy red flag to spot Their answer tells you a great deal about their real values - what is really important to them - and lets you get to know them more deeply. If they've said they value collaboration but then their story is all about them solving a problem on their ...Read More

1,299 Views

1 request
For customer success interviews, what are helpful resources you'd recommend and types of questions to prepare for from both hiring managers and cross-functional partners?

Wynne Brown

Medius Enterprise Customer Sales • 3y

The best resources are research on the folks interviewing you and the company itself. If someone shows up without understanding our history as people and as a company, that is a huge red flag for me. As far as general interview resources, practice with yourself out loud or with a friend. Only by practicing out loud will you know if you're giving good answers. The answer in your head isn't always the best to say! Practice! Redundant with another question, here is my list of questions I will cover ...Read More

665 Views

1 request
What are the most common mistakes you see candidates make during an interview for a customer success position?

Wynne Brown

Medius Enterprise Customer Sales • 3y

The most common mistake I see candidates make during an interview for a customer success position is a lack of direct and specific "data" whether that is literal data ("I managed a book of business that consisted of 100 customers. These 100 customers had an ACV of $55k and an average of 12 users.") or story data (describe the customer journey, a problem spotted in that journey, who I collaborated with to solve on what timeline with what milestones and how we knew we succeeded).

783 Views

1 request
As a hiring manager, what do the best customer success have in common?

Wynne Brown

Medius Enterprise Customer Sales • 3y

The most successful CSMs have these things in common: 1. Human-centric: a real level of caring and interest in helping others succeed 2. Curiosity: only a curious mind can lead to the best answers, not just the ones that are already created 3. Tenacity: an inability to let go until things are complete I firmly believe that most folks can learn any content, software, system or process. What cannot be taught is how a person is wired: what they're innately good at, how they think, their passion for ...Read More

874 Views

1 request
Do you generally recommend that candidates go 'above and beyond' in preparing for interviews?

In which situations do you recommend this approach or not?

Wynne Brown

Medius Enterprise Customer Sales • 3y

The phrasing of this question is interesting to me since I can't know what the asker's definition of 'above and beyond' is... so let me just say that there is a level of commitment in preparation that should always be fulfilled. However, if you go beyond this level, it can get weird (e.g. don't get weird with a hyperlevel of detail about my life as portrayed on LinkedIn, for example). The professional level of preparation for interviews: Research who you are meeting with. Notice their experience ...Read More

559 Views

1 request
What are some of the most common red flags you've come across either on a candidate's resume or initial interview that you'd advise future customer success managers to avoid?

Wynne Brown

Medius Enterprise Customer Sales • 3y

A red flag that worries me is a lack of detail and variety in the stories about your work. If you are a great candidate, you will have detailed stories that show collaboration and have a beginning, middle and end... and more than one story! It doesn't mean that you have to have direct experience with relationship management but any experience you have should showcase the key traits necessary to be a great CSM: collaboration with various colleagues focus on understanding the challenge and how to ...Read More

1,004 Views

1 request
How does one gauge autonomy in a customer success interview?

Wynne Brown

Medius Enterprise Customer Sales • 3y

This is a great question because autonomy is such a key trait for a CSM. And since CSMs come from a variety of backgrounds, getting a clear take on someone's autonomy is critical. Prompt the candidate to tell you about their autonomy by asking them directly: can you tell me about a work situation where you owned an outcome? What you're looking for here is their sense that they are responsible for driving outcomes - that ownership of outcomes is the autonomy you're looking for since they owe th ...Read More

1,057 Views

1 request
How can I improve my interviewing skills for a customer success role?

Wynne Brown

Medius Enterprise Customer Sales • 3y

The best way to improve your interviewing skills is good old-fashioned practice. And it is key to practice with another human so you can get feedback on how you are telling your stories. Customer Success is all about humans, so practicing in a vacuum won't give you what you need to improve. I love this expression: "Practice until you get it right; then practice until you can't get it wrong." You will want to have stories ready to showcase: 1. Your curiosity and aptitude for learning new things 2 ...Read More

1,942 Views

1 request
What are the key questions you like to ask and why? How would the proper answers to your questions look like?

Wynne Brown

Medius Enterprise Customer Sales • 3y

Here are the key questions I will cover with candidates. Typically I will meet with candidates in the first round for thirty minutes to cover the basic "wiring" - are they collaborative? are they human-centric? are they curious? - and the rest in a final round when we have a few finalists. There is no proper answer except an authentic one. What is the best customer relationship you built? What is the worst customer relationship you built? How do you think about measuring customer success? What i ...Read More

1,240 Views

1 request

AMA: RocketReach Senior Director, Customer Success & Sales, Wynne Brown on Customer Success Interviews

View AMA Answers

What is your favorite customer success interview question and the best answer you've heard?

For customer success interviews, what are helpful resources you'd recommend and types of questions to prepare for from both hiring managers and cross-functional partners?

What are the most common mistakes you see candidates make during an interview for a customer success position?

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

Do you generally recommend that candidates go 'above and beyond' in preparing for interviews?

What are some of the most common red flags you've come across either on a candidate's resume or initial interview that you'd advise future customer success managers to avoid?

How does one gauge autonomy in a customer success interview?

How can I improve my interviewing skills for a customer success role?

What are the key questions you like to ask and why? How would the proper answers to your questions look like?