How does customer success differ between a small and large company?

Small Company CS

• Generalist roles: CSMs handle everything from onboarding to renewals to support

• Direct executive involvement: Founders/C-suite often engage with key customers

• Rapid iteration: Can quickly adapt processes based on customer feedback

• Limited resources: Creative solutions with minimal tools and headcount

• High visibility: Each customer represents a significant percentage of revenue

• Relationship-driven: Heavy reliance on personal connections and flexibility

• Reactive tendencies: Often addressing issues as they arise rather than proactively

• Minimal segmentation: Similar service levels across most customers

• Shared responsibility: CS functions overlap with sales, support, and product

Large Company CS

• Specialized roles: Dedicated onboarding specialists, CSMs, renewals managers

• Structured processes: Standardized playbooks and escalation paths

• Tiered service models: Clearly defined engagement levels based on contract value

• Data-driven approach: Sophisticated health scoring and predictive analytics

• Platform investment: Purpose-built CS tools with extensive integration

• Scale-oriented: Designed to handle hundreds/thousands of customer relationships

• Cross-functional teams: Dedicated resources from product, support, and services

• Global coverage: Regional CS teams aligned to customer geographies

• Revenue focus: Clear metrics on retention, expansion, and CS-influenced growth

In small companies, you have closer cooperation with the majority of your customer base. When you grow into a large company, by also growing your customer base, you need to scale also and automate some of the customer interactions and change the touchpoints and frequency of your interactions based on the customer segment