Customer Success Interviews

7 Answers
Christine Vienna Knific
Christine Vienna Knific
mParticle Senior Director, Customer Success - North AmericaJanuary 17
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 CS as a field, the success of a customer on an individual basis, and more.  Example of a great answer: "To me, Customer Su......Read More
3838 Views
12 Answers
Manil Vasantha
Manil Vasantha
Freelance Information Technology ConsultantJanuary 17
The best customer success candidates: • Communication skills: The ability to communicate with customers and all stakeholders clearly and effectively. • Customer-centric mindset: The ability to put oneself in the customer's shoes and understand their needs, pain points, and goals. A genuine pa......Read More
2756 Views
3 Answers
Christine Vienna Knific
Christine Vienna Knific
mParticle Senior Director, Customer Success - North AmericaMay 2
* Show that you're a team player! It's a huge red flag when a candidate demonstrates a lack of willingness to work as a team. The ability to work cross-functionally to drive customer results is critical. If a candidate conveys the message "that's not my job," they aren't a good fit for ......Read More
1074 Views
3 Answers
Brett Milstein
Brett Milstein
Narvar Director, Customer SuccessFebruary 7
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 do whatever they feel puts them in the best position to receive an offer. I cannot remember ever walking out of an interview a......Read More
1887 Views
2 Answers
Brett Milstein
Brett Milstein
Narvar Director, Customer SuccessFebruary 7
Rather than just asking a candidate about their background, I prefer to ask about real situational questions. Here are a few of my favorites: * Tell me about a time you had an unhappy customer. What was the issue and how did you resolve it? * Take me through a time when a customer provide......Read More
3121 Views
1 Answer
Wynne Brown
Wynne Brown
RocketReach VP of Sales & Customer SuccessMay 16
Here are the key questions I will cover with candidates. Typically I will meet with candidates in the first round for thirty minutes to cover the basic "wiring" - are they collaborative? are they human-centric? are they curious? - and the rest in a final round when we have a few finalists. The......Read More
670 Views
3 Answers
Brett Milstein
Brett Milstein
Narvar Director, Customer SuccessFebruary 7
Here are a few mistakes I see most often: 1. Not doing their research on the company/role they are interviewing for. It is surprising how many interviews I have participated in where the candidate had clearly not reviewed our company's product offering or job description. One of the keys to in......Read More
2493 Views
2 Answers
Brett Milstein
Brett Milstein
Narvar Director, Customer SuccessFebruary 7
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 never seen a CSM who was not organized be successful. As a CSM requests are being thrown at you left and right, and you are bein......Read More
2078 Views
2 Answers
Christine Vienna Knific
Christine Vienna Knific
mParticle Senior Director, Customer Success - North AmericaMay 2
To gauge autonomy of Customer Success Manager candidates, I like to ask: * Describe what role the CSM plays with the customer, in your experience? This helps me see the candidate's willingness to be strategic or tactical (hopefully both, when necessary!), how they work with internal cr......Read More
799 Views
1 Answer
Wynne Brown
Wynne Brown
RocketReach VP of Sales & Customer SuccessMay 16
The best way to improve your interviewing skills is good old-fashioned practice. And it is key to practice with another human so you can get feedback on how you are telling your stories. Customer Success is all about humans, so practicing in a vacuum won't give you what you need to improve. I ......Read More
728 Views