What should a CSM focus on in regards to leveling up in their career?

The two areas I would recommend are 1) Sharpening your Sales skills and 2) Adopting some Product Manager mindsets.  When working with customers and the further upmarket you go, the more enriched these conversations need to be and the immediate areas for many customers are to understand their contracts, how they can scale with your product, value alignment, and ROI. Supplementing this, customers want to know how your product will be evolving and how their feedback can influence the roadmap. Being ...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

Some of the things I would focus on to up level my CS career: Sales Skills - Developing your sales skills will really elevate you as a CSM. Your ability to influence and strategically drive a conversation to mutually beneficial outcomes is the key to your effectiveness as a CSM.  Understand How You Are Measured - You need to fundamentally understand how your individual performance is measured and be able to effectively tie that into your day-to-day activities. Leadership Skills - Leadership skil ...Read More

Levelling up will also mean ensuring you consistently deliver excellent work against your core competencies in your role. If you are unsure whether you are doing this, ask your colleagues and manager for feedback. Make sure you put in regular reviews to discuss this if the company doesn't have a cadence. My main suggestion to level up is to focus on developing business acumen. Understanding how the business works will help you tie your day-to-day activities to outcomes and impact on the business ...Read More

Two Key Factors That Have Accelerated My Career in Customer Success 1. Network Building and maintaining a strong professional network has been invaluable. This means staying in contact with colleagues, leaders, and team members from previous roles, attending industry events, meeting peers in the Customer Success space, and joining mentoring or sponsorship groups. You never know when you might need your network's support-or when they might need yours. Networks don't just open doors; they create a ...Read More

Understanding value creation in every activity you engage in. If you don't, you will be seen as a cost center. For example, at the customer's strategy level, learn about how your services and products create value for customer's business strategy. At the day-to-day level, learn to understand what brings value to your client and convey it in every customer engagement. Can start by the simplest action where you avoid stating the obvious and provide insights on deliverables whether it'd be onboardi ...Read More