Who do you align yourself with to gain momentum in the leadership organization?

As a Customer Success leader, there are a handful of alignments that I have prioritized.

Sales - Aligning CS & Sales is the most important thing an organization can do and if you be the tie that binds these groups, it will pay significant dividends. 

Support - Bugs happen, tickets and escalations are part of our day-to-day but if you do not have a strong relationship with Support you will not have a lifeline when you need something prioritized, or eyes on an issue impacting your customer. 

Services - Most SaaS companies are dependent on Services to stand up the instance and make incremental improvements through the lifecycle. Building relationships with the team will make tricky situations easier to work through and will also you to offer procedural improvements that they would otherwise not appreciate. Getting in the trenches with Support and Services is something a great CSM / CS Leader does but you also need to know when to get out of the way!

Product teams - No one knows the way your product is used and the gaps that exist like Customer Success and Product teams thirst for this knowledge. Either through technology or a spreadsheet, find a way to aggregate feedback and get it to Product. Also, invite them to meet with your customers! Most Product teammates love seeing their work in the hands of customers, but do not have the relationships, make it happen for them! Once this relationship is built, then you can introduce a little scope creep into their backlog :)

Here are some key people to consider aligning with:

1. Your Manager: Your direct manager is a crucial ally in your growth. They can provide guidance, feedback, and support, as well as advocate for you within the organization.

2. Mentors: Seek out mentors who can provide guidance, share their experiences, and offer a different perspective. Mentors can be inside or outside of your organization.

3. Senior Leaders: Building relationships with senior leaders can provide you with a broader perspective on the organization, its challenges, and its strategic direction. They can also be influential advocates for you as you progress in your career.

4. Peers: Your peers are also important allies. Building strong relationships with your peers can provide you with a support network, as well as opportunities for collaboration and knowledge sharing.

5. Cross-Functional Partners: Building relationships with colleagues in other departments can help you gain a broader perspective on the organization, as well as provide opportunities for collaboration and cross-functional projects.

6. Sponsors: A sponsor is someone in a senior position who can actively advocate for your career advancement. Building relationships with potential sponsors can be extremely valuable for gaining momentum in the organization.

7. Influential Stakeholders: Identify key stakeholders who have influence within the organization. These could be individuals in leadership positions, key decision-makers, or respected subject matter experts.

Is it okay to say all of the other execs?

I'm not joking when I say the Customer Success / Customer business is central to the company and needs to align with everyone.

• Sales - We need to tightly align on what kinds of deals we want to bring in and how we'll serve them. I need to get Sales excited about post-sale life so they can get prospects excited about it.

• Product - I joke with our Head of Product that we need to be besties, but we are serious about collaborating. I share trends I'm seeing in the customer base and involve him in retention strategy. He joins me on many customer calls and shares how our roadmap is aligned to our strategic retention/growth initiatives.

• Marketing - So much synergy here! We discuss how we can boost advocacy in our customer base to help drive demand, how we can market to existing customers to drive product adoption and engagement, and what content needs to exist in the market to support existing customers as they change leadership, expand use cases, etc.

• Finance - We're always talking about retention forecasts, GRR, NRR, and the cost to serve customers. I need support from Finance to try new models of serving customers, and they need confidence that I'm doing my best work.

• Engineering - Engineering needs to hear from us where customers are having issues with bugs or need creative solutions to their problems. I need confidence that our platform will perform and scale with our most demanding customers. We will often take calls with customers together in escalated situations.

• Everyone Else - They need the confidence that my team is taking care of our customers and will lead our company to strong GRR and growth within our customer business.