What are the key processes you'd set up when expanding the customer success team from 1 to multiple people?

This will depend on how fast the team is expanding. 1 to 3 people will need a different approach than 1 to 10+

Generally, you will want enough processes to quickly get a team member up to speed. Yet, if you are adding only one more in the near term, onboarding could be done via shadowing and close collaboration rather than a heavy process.

Here are some recommended processes;

• Team member onboarding checklist - description of what the new members need to get started. This should include introductions to all the functions and people relevant to the role.

• Set up a buddy system so that the next team member can ask questions

• Customer assignment - clarify who the customers they will engage with initially

• Design a how-to-work with a new account team and customer process

• Create monthly, quarterly and annual expectations and goals

• Think about the future roadmap for the team, run scenarios around new customer acquisition and what that means for the specific processes covering segmentation, compensation plans, additional processes and documentation

• The future state will have many detailed playbooks for scenario-based customer and internal interactions

Do things that scale.

I had a CEO who said the perfect sized organization was an org of exactly one. Once you went beyond that, communication became critical because you had to share information and gain alignment between two people, then three, then four...

So when going to multiple people, establish:

1. Consistency: concern yourself with areas such as playbooks, how/when you reach out to customers

2. Operations: ensure there's an agreed-upon funnel or customer journey that everyone uses (again, for consistency)

3. Trust: make sure that each person trusts one another, is an advocate for each other, and is willing to ask questions when they don't know the answer

4. Insights/analytics: more functional than above, but with more people you need reporting and insights to know how and when to connect with customers. Also, what metrics/KPIs are we aligned to and targeting?

5. Team lead/ownership: when questions arise, is there someone who makes the final call? Is it decision by committee? Voting?

6. Planning/direction: as individuals, we need direction. We need to know where we are going and what we need to do. Paint the future, establish the plan

Key initiatives for a nascent Customer Success team to establish include:

1. Implementation of a robust Health Score framework capable of forecasting both risks and opportunities for growth.

2. Implementation of a streamlined risk identification process enabling Customer Success Managers to promptly flag problematic accounts to leadership.

3. Development of a comprehensive Value Framework allowing CSMs to articulate to customers where value is being derived and identify areas for future enhancement.

4. Establishment of Success Plans enabling CSMs to set and monitor customer goals, ensuring progress is tracked effectively.

5. Implementation of an Effective Business Review (EBR) or Quarterly Business Review (QBR) process to facilitate the creation of tailored content for executive-level engagements.

6. Development of Renewal processes that provide CSMs with clear visibility into upcoming renewals, allowing them to align efforts with Sales partners and monitor progress seamlessly.