What is your least favourite thing about being a CSM

When CSMs are being asked to give the same updates to different people in different channels because: 1. Either there is no clear system of choice for the customer updates 2. If there is a system of choice, leadership is not enforcing its adoption, so people are doing their own thing 3. Leadership themselves are not in that system of choice If the leaders don't do what they preach and expect CSMs to update spreadsheets, slack channels, CRM, create PPTs, give 1:1 updates, etc, it is a sign of poo ...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

It’s been a number of years since I’ve been a CSM (which I still believe is one of the most difficult customer-facing roles!), but as a Leader, I think it’s wildly important to stay on top of how your CSMs are feeling about their work and their place in the organization. Two common themes I hear from CSMs regarding what frustrates them are: 1. The Internal Scavenger Hunt Chasing down internal people and/or information just to address a customer's question or challenge. It's incredibly rewarding ...Read More

Honestly, this hits harder for me as a CS leader than as a CSM. The thing that drains me most is constant change at the exec level. When leadership turns over every quarter, you spend an enormous amount of time re-litigating the same conversations: why CS matters, why your team needs the headcount you’ve already justified, why this metric is the right one to measure against. Every new exec wants to put their stamp on post sales, and you’re starting from zero on relationships, context, and trust. ...Read More