AMA: RocketReach Senior Director, Customer Success & Sales, Wynne Brown on Customer Success Interviews
May 16 @ 10:00AM PST
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RocketReach Senior Director, Customer Success & Sales, Wynne Brown on Customer Success Interviews
Top Questions
Wynne Brown
RocketReach VP of Sales & Customer Success • May 17
What problem have you solved in your work that you are most proud of? This is a great question for a few reasons: 1. 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 2. Their answer tells you a g......Read More
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Wynne Brown
RocketReach VP of Sales & Customer Success • May 17
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.......Read More
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Wynne Brown
RocketReach VP of Sales & Customer Success • May 17
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 ......Read More
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Wynne Brown
RocketReach VP of Sales & Customer Success • May 17
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 situat......Read More
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Wynne Brown
RocketReach VP of Sales & Customer Success • May 17
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 ......Read More
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Wynne Brown
RocketReach VP of Sales & Customer Success • May 17
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 ......Read More
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Wynne Brown
RocketReach VP of Sales & Customer Success • May 17
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 ......Read More
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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
RocketReach VP of Sales & Customer Success • May 17
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 g......Read More
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Wynne Brown
RocketReach VP of Sales & Customer Success • May 17
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. The......Read More
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