AMA: Sitecore Senior Director, Head of Customer Success APJ, John Brunkard on Developing Your Customer Success Career

There are many possible paths for a Customer Success Manager. Some examples are; Individual Contributor (IC) Path Associate Customer Success Manager => Customer Success Manager => Senior Customer Success Manager (Enterprise Accounts) => Principal Customer Success Manager (Large Strategic Accounts) => Senior Principal CSM or CSM Director  As a CSM progressing through the IC path, the more senior you become the larger and more strategic the accounts that you are assigned to.  People Ma ...Read More

I have many different questions and always include some scenario based questions to see how they would handle those. Often I start with a very fundamental question along the lines of;"Tell my why you want to be a Customer Success Manager? What motivates you for this type of role?A good answer to the question would be one that demonstrates a genuine passion for helping customers achieve their outcomes and a desire to be part of a dynamic collaborative team that strives to make a positive impact o ...Read More

Here are a few areas to consider. Financial Factors: Is the overall economy healthy. A salary increase may be dependant on how the company is performing; Are the financial objectives at or above target and can the company therefore allocate budget for salary adjustments Performance Assessment: An employee's performance is evaluated based on their ability to meet or exceed their set objectives (OKRs), their productivity, the quality of their work and the value they bring to the company. Does the ...Read More

Here are some of the things that can frustrate CSMs from time to time. When the role is misunderstood or confused with that of Customer Service or a single point of contact for everything. When everything related to the Customer is dumped on Customer Success.   When internal teams are unresponsive or uncooperative. This can hinder the CSMs ability to provide high-quality engagement with the customer and be the trusted advisor. When sales teams fail to do a proper handover when the booking is com ...Read More

I am assuming this question is about career progression and movement to the next grade level. You should have a growth mindset and a desire to continuously improve, develop and learn. Here are some areas to consider focussing on. Focus on results that matter for your current role (OKRs / MBOs) and look to exceed expectations on KPIs. Demonstrate the positive impact you are having for your company in what you do. Develop a deep understanding of your customers, understand their goals and pain poin ...Read More

Business Model. For me the company should be a SaaS based company. I.e. selling cloud-based software for a subscription fee. If the company is hybrid i.e. has some older products that are still perpetual / on prem but mostly moving to SaaS then that is for the most part acceptable. Is the company's philosophy and strategy of Customer Success aligned with my own. I would also assess the maturity level of the Customer Success Organization and where it reports into. Ideally Customer Success reports ...Read More

What makes a great Customer Success Manager? Comfortable in a customer-facing role – Customer First Mindset, a passion for Customer Success Has a Growth Mindset and excellent aptitude - looks to continuously learn, develop and improve Excellent Communicators – spoken and written, also when presenting and facilitating meetings Relationship management and interpersonal skills Teamwork & Collaboration Strong business acumen – strategic thinking Empathy – active listeners Ability to work autonom ...Read More

This somewhat depends on the company and its products. In general I  would say that having technical skills can be helpful for a CSM…an additional plus in the trusted advisor role. The CSM's primary responsibility is to develop strong relationships with the customers key stakeholders, understand their business objectives and requirements, and ensure they are achieving their desired outcomes and obtaining value from the company's products or services. Having some technical knowledge can be an adv ...Read More

Great question. Customer Success is continuing to grow & mature. I see more of a focus on customer value and actual quantifiable outcomes and how these drive the customers company financial performance. Customers are looking to customer success to help them articulate and measure value. Leveraging customer advocacy to drive expansion and new logos  is also becoming more important. Scale continues to be a challenge and focus area. How to segment the customer base and appropriately assign CSMs ...Read More

Let me answer this from the perspective of some of the things that frustrate me and my team. When the role is misunderstood or confused with that of Customer Service or Single point of contact for everything. When internal teams are unresponsive or uncooperative. This can can hinder their ability to provide high-quality engagement with the customer and be the trusted advisor. When the partner responsible for the solution implementation does a poor job and throws it over the wall for the CSM to t ...Read More

I am assuming this is while maintaining an individual contributor role. Consistently meet and exceed your KPIs.  Be the go to person for Customer Success within your organization. Mentor and Coach other CSM team members globally. Be the subject matter expert within your department for all matters related to customer success. Proactively share best practices and learnings across the department.  Leadership skills - motivate and inspire others in the team. Support management in driving continuous ...Read More

Here are some suggestions that come to mind? Gain relevant experience in other customer facing roles to build up the skills that can be reapplied and are relevant to the role of a CSM. Also be prepared to start at a lower level and work your way up. Develop a strong understanding of the Subscriptions business model, SaaS and Cloud computing.There’s a wealth of online courses available including with LinkedIn Learning as an example. Read up on Customer Success. There are many great books availabl ...Read More