Customer Success
Customer Success Career Path
Customer Success Career Path
VP of Customer Success • Tue
Discovery, discovery, discovery. The more you can learn about their business, why they use the product the way they do, what's important to them or their boss right now,...
213 Views
What are the key questions you like to ask and why?
How would the proper answers to your questions look like?
VP of Customer Success • Tue
Q: What does your first 90 days look like> Demonstrates strategic thinking, awareness of renewals, risk, unique circumstances, what data sources they can leverage, how...
208 Views
When hiring- what do you look for in a candidate- that will influence your opinion on future performance most?
Are you looking at skillset? The manner in which they display their thought process? Previous experience? We can all acknowledge all the above is important which is most influential?
Zendesk Director, Customer Success • 5mo
For me, the strongest indicator of future performance is a combination of skills that consistently show up in top CSMs.Clear Ownership MentalityI look for candidates who ...
697 Views
Do you generally recommend that candidates go 'above and beyond' in preparing for interviews?
In which situations do you recommend this approach or not?
Narvar Director, Customer Success • 3y
This question is a bit subjective as going "above and beyond" can mean different things to different people. If a candidate truly wants a role, in my opinion, they should...
4322 Views
Salesforce Director - Customer Success | Formerly HSBC, DELL, DELOITTE, AGILECRM, GAINSIGHT • 2y
Unlocking Success: Key Traits for a Stellar CSM! Proactiveness: Anticipate needs and take initiative.Adaptability: Navigate changes seamlessly in a dynamic landscape.Zeal...
230 Views
Upcoming AMAs
mParticle by Rokt Senior Director, Customer Success - North America • 3y
Question:
What does customer success mean to you? What is it, what is it not?
Why it's good:
It's open-ended, and gives the candidate a big opportunity to talk about C...
6309 Views
Medius Enterprise Customer Sales • 3y
The most common mistake I see candidates make during an interview for a customer success position is a lack of direct and specific "data" whether that is literal data ("I...
768 Views
VP of Customer Success • Tue
Here are some suggestions that come to mind;Use a miro board or a white board and organize your story. Accomplishments, 'star stories', metrics, approaches etc. The act...
225 Views
Medius Enterprise Customer Sales • 3y
This is a great question because autonomy is such a key trait for a CSM. And since CSMs come from a variety of backgrounds, getting a clear take on someone's autonomy is...
1021 Views
ScaleUp CS Partner | Formerly Apollo, Lob, Canary Technologies • May 7
Five tactical skills I look for:Discovery and listening. Most CSMs talk too much. The best ones ask better questions and follow the thread. If you can’t surface a custome...
373 Views
Udemy Vice President Global Customer Success • 2y
No technical skills are not always necessary to be an effective CSM, however having a basic understanding of technical concepts can he helpful particularly if working in ...
2046 Views
Zoom Head of Scaled Customer Success, Onboarding, Learning and Adoption • 3y
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 update...
1885 Views
ScaleUp CS Partner | Formerly Apollo, Lob, Canary Technologies • May 7
Three things in priority order:Ownership. If you’re crushing your current role, ask for more. Take on a piece of team reporting. Own the EBR template. Own onboarding for ...
394 Views
mParticle by Rokt Senior Director, Customer Success - North America • 3y
There are so many career paths for a Customer Success Manager! I don't view the CSM's path as necessarily linear, but a "typical" one might be:
Customer Success Associat...
7768 Views
Jellyfish Director of Customer Success • 7mo
I believe that these are the must-have skills for every Customer Success Leader:Being business minded: As your scope grows, so does your responsibility to monitor perform...
707 Views
Salamander Advisory Customer Success Advisor | Formerly Adobe, Sitecore, Red Hat, Symantec, Blue Coat, Intel, Dell, Dialogic • 3y
Here are some suggestions that come to mind?Gain relevant experience in other customer facing roles to build up the skills that can be reapplied and are relevant to the r...
924 Views
Salamander Advisory Customer Success Advisor | Formerly Adobe, Sitecore, Red Hat, Symantec, Blue Coat, Intel, Dell, Dialogic • 3y
Here are some of my favourite links.
Web Sites
Customer Success Box – Top 50 resources for customer success
Customer Success Network
Customer Success Association
Gain G...
1376 Views
ScaleUp CS Partner | Formerly Apollo, Lob, Canary Technologies • May 7
Most PIPs are not recoverable. I know that’s hard to hear. The data inside companies is usually that 70-80% of PIPs end in exit. In 15+ years in leadership roles, I've do...
392 Views
ScaleUp CS Partner | Formerly Apollo, Lob, Canary Technologies • May 7
Depends on what you actually like doing. Here’s how I think about it:AM (account management): Right move if you love commercial conversations and relationship work but wa...
375 Views
ScaleUp CS Partner | Formerly Apollo, Lob, Canary Technologies • May 7
If your team isn’t there yet, it will be. The era of “CS is a cost center, sales owns the revenue” is mostly over at strong companies. The teams I’m building today own re...
335 Views
ScaleUp CS Partner | Formerly Apollo, Lob, Canary Technologies • May 7
Both paths are valid. They are not the same job, and a lot of people pick management because it sounds like the next step, then hate it. Don’t do that. Management isn't a...
361 Views
ScaleUp CS Partner | Formerly Apollo, Lob, Canary Technologies • May 7
This market is brutal and I don’t want to sugarcoat it. I’ve reviewed reqs with 600+ applicants for a single CSM seat. You have to be deliberate.What is actually working ...
352 Views
ScaleUp CS Partner | Formerly Apollo, Lob, Canary Technologies • May 7
Short answer: AI is replacing parts of the job. It is not replacing the job. The CSMs who get cut in 2026 are the ones whose work product looked like AI output already: c...
378 Views
ScaleUp CS Partner | Formerly Apollo, Lob, Canary Technologies • May 7
It depends on stage. The KPIs change as the team matures.Early stage teams (under ~$10M ARR): anchor on GRR and LRR. You’re proving the product is sticky and that custome...
501 Views
Narvar Director, Customer Success • 3y
In my experience there are a few characteristics/skillsets that the best CSMs I have hired all have in common:
1. Organizational skills - This is #1#1 for me. I have nev...
4463 Views
Enable Customer Success Director • 2mo
Preparation for a Customer Success interview should be intentional and strategic. This is not a role you “wing.” It is a discipline that rewards clarity of thought, emoti...
486 Views
Confluent Senior Director of CS & Account Management • 3mo
I'd learn about the product in a few phasesMarket fit - looking at the product market fit and total addressable marketUnderstand the user journey - if possible sign up fo...
376 Views
Eightfold Director, Customer Success • 3y
As with any time you join a new company, listen, listen, listen, and THEN ask, ask, ask! I highly suggest driving those 1:1s if they aren’t already scheduled for you, and...
3999 Views
Eightfold Director, Customer Success • 3y
These might be more generic than what you are looking for, but in your first 3 months, there is so much to learn, and every organization is different. Some of the best ad...
5395 Views
Zoom Head of Scaled Customer Success, Onboarding, Learning and Adoption • 3y
As the Head of Customer Success in a startup that did not have Customer Success Managers before, your primary objective would be to establish a successful customer succes...
1577 Views
Jellyfish Director of Customer Success • 3mo
First, determine what your signals are going to be. The most obvious choice would be direct customer feedback—specifically, customer verbatim from CSM calls. Feedback cou...
428 Views
Jellyfish Director of Customer Success • 3mo
My "Hot Take" - If adoption is low, your sponsor may not be doing their job (well)!Strong sponsors have the opportunity, authority, and ability to activate users. Usually...
401 Views
Vertalo Head of Customer Success • 3y
Jumping into tech from another industry is super common and some of my most talented CSMs had zero customer success experience before being hired. The perspective and ski...
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1 Views
Jellyfish Director of Customer Success • 3mo
I’ll start by saying two things:The tools themselves aren't the "secret sauce." It’s not just about being a "math person." CSMs need to be "problem solvers" who happen to...
532 Views
Confluent Senior Director of CS & Account Management • 3y
What I enjoy most about the customer success role is the lens of seeing customers grow from their initial commitment to successful renewals and expansions where the custo...
1491 Views
Eightfold Director, Customer Success • 3y
I’ve been at Eightfold for just over 2 years now, moving over to customer success from a 20+ year career in Talent Acquisition, so remember that my experience is unique v...
5549 Views
Salamander Advisory Customer Success Advisor | Formerly Adobe, Sitecore, Red Hat, Symantec, Blue Coat, Intel, Dell, Dialogic • 3y
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, devel...
1460 Views
Where do you see the future of customer success heading?
What skills will a future customer success manager need that he/she doesn't have today?
Jellyfish Director of Customer Success • 7mo
I think Customer Success is just going to keep going down the road it's been on for years: splitting into a dual focus. On one side, we'll have the massive volume of long...
464 Views
mParticle by Rokt Senior Director, Customer Success - North America • 3y
The most important things to consider when assessing a new opportunity with a different company are:
The company's trajectory. Is there a viable path to success for the ...
3684 Views
HubSpot Senior Director, Customer Success • 1y
I think the most frustrating thing about Customer Success is that without agreement across the organization about the importance and role of Customer Success, it can beco...
1807 Views
Eightfold Director, Customer Success • 2y
It depends on the level, but the main ones for us are retention (making renewal a non-event), increased customer usage and adoption/engagement, connection to the company ...
1215 Views
Jellyfish Director of Customer Success • 7mo
I think about risk in a couple different categories. If we're talking about the beginning of the journey, I tend to lean more on monitoring stakeholder behavior for signs...
1615 Views
Salesforce Director - Customer Success | Formerly HSBC, DELL, DELOITTE, AGILECRM, GAINSIGHT • 1y
My focus is on learning, optimising, and driving impact. Here’s my structured 30-60-90 day approach:30 Days – Learn & AlignDeep dive into company goals, customers, an...
1323 Views
Salesforce Director - Customer Success | Formerly HSBC, DELL, DELOITTE, AGILECRM, GAINSIGHT • 1y
Retaining good Customer Success talent requires a mix of growth opportunities, strong culture, and meaningful work. Here’s how to keep your best people engaged and motiva...
777 Views
Customer Success Consultant • 2y
Before I start, know this is a difficult question to answer.Here is how I approach it:Review the job description and make sure I understand itReview it with my manager to...
1735 Views
Zoom Head of Scaled Customer Success, Onboarding, Learning and Adoption • 1y
First 30 Days: Assessment & FoundationDeep customer discovery: Interview 15-20 key customers across segments to understand their success metrics, pain points, and whe...
623 Views
Zendesk Global Head of Customer Success Specialists • 1y
Based on my experience, here are the most important soft and hard skills CSMs can build to be successful:
Soft Skills
Empathy: Building trust through understanding of c...
1222 Views
Confluent Senior Director of CS & Account Management • 3y
Learn about the role. I have included some links below that can help with this.
Network (don't be afraid, I've found the majority of people are more than willing to off...
1275 Views
Appcues Chief of Staff & VP of CX • 3y
These are the top-5 characteristics I look for and interview around! I've also found these traits to be useful and necessary for any CX role, giving your team member opt...
787 Views
Salamander Advisory Customer Success Advisor | Formerly Adobe, Sitecore, Red Hat, Symantec, Blue Coat, Intel, Dell, Dialogic • 3y
Looking at this from the perspective of a Customer Success Manager versus say a software developer.I focus on the core of attitude, aptitude and values alignment.For atti...
197 Views