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What cadence and artifacts (standups, shared dashboards, postmortems) do you use to maintain ongoing alignment?

Twinkle Bandla

Gainsight Associate Director, Client outcomes • Thu

1. Weekly CS and Support syncs: We regularly get together to discuss at-risk customers, ongoing escalations, and accounts with upcoming renewals. This helps us stay align...

238 Views

How do you prioritize and route feature requests from Support and CS to Product to avoid duplicate or conflicting inputs?

Twinkle Bandla

Gainsight Associate Director, Client outcomes • Thu

I think the key is having a structured Product Improvement Request (PIR) process so Product receives one consolidated request instead of duplicate or conflicting feedback...

242 Views

How do you align capacity planning between CS and Support ahead of product launches or seasonal peaks?

Twinkle Bandla

Gainsight Associate Director, Client outcomes • Thu

I think capacity planning starts well before the product launch—it starts during the Beta phase.Beta launches give us a good understanding of the kind of questions custom...

253 Views

How do you coordinate communications during incidents so customers receive consistent, non-duplicative updates from Support and CS?

Twinkle Bandla

Gainsight Associate Director, Client outcomes • Thu

Building a simple accountability matrix helps in ensuring consistent customer communication and avoiding duplicate ownership.One of the ground rules I like to establish i...

223 Views

How do you measure the business impact of CS–Support alignment on retention, adoption, and customer advocacy?

Twinkle Bandla

Gainsight Associate Director, Client outcomes • Thu

CS and Support alignment is only valuable if it translates into better customer outcomes. I like measuring it across three areas.1. Retention Are at-risk customers recove...

241 Views

What playbooks do you use for at-risk customers first identified by Support, and how do you measure their effectiveness?

Twinkle Bandla

Gainsight Associate Director, Client outcomes • Thu

The first step is understanding why the customer is becoming at risk based on the patterns coming from Support—not just because they've raised multiple tickets.Based on t...

232 Views

What role does automation or AI play in triaging tickets and surfacing actionable insights for CSMs?

Twinkle Bandla

Gainsight Associate Director, Client outcomes • Thu

Fantastic question. Automation and AI are non-negotiable now.Imagine the amount of effort saved when AI can automatically triage support tickets and surface meaningful in...

237 Views

What soft skills are must-haves for customer success managers in your experience?

Steph Gerpe

LinkedIn Head of North America Customer Success, LinkedIn Talent Solutions • 1mo

In my experience, the most effective Customer Success Managers lead with curiosity. At the surface, customers will often articulate symptoms, but the real value comes fro...

329 Views

What's your advice on improving a historically tense relationship between functions?

Roopal Shah

Guidewire Software Vice President Product Marketing • 5y

We're all human after all so taking the time to understand the baggage but also find a path forward. Find a champion on both sides willing to go on the journey with you ...

813 Views

Do you approach stakeholder management differently based on the team you're talking to? And if so, how?

Kanchan Belavadi

Snowflake Director Field Marketing - GCC, India • 2y

Absolutely! Not only the team, but also the individual. Every team has its own goals and challenges and to work effectively with them, you need to first understand their ...

458 Views

What are some tried and true strategies to drive alignment cross-functionally for a remote team?

Lindsey Weinig

Twilio Director of Product Marketing • 4y

In my experience, preferences need to be considered here. I personally have found success by adopting a variety of strategies across communication channels and with varie...

533 Views

What's a good way to approach decisions that other teams feel they should own vs. customer success feels they should own?

Ed Sowden

Splunk EMEA Director of Customer Success • 5mo

This is type of situation can often arise in the business world with cross functional teams.The key is to focus on the business / customer outcomes. What is it we are try...

396 Views

How do you approach building successful partnerships across multiple functions?

Rishabh Dave

Stripe Product Lead, Financial Infrastructure • 3y

Product Management is centered around people and the effectiveness of a PM in cultivating relationships with others directly impacts the quality of the product. Some of t...

726 Views

How do you define and enforce a clean handoff from Sales to CS, and what artifacts are required?

Natasha Evans

Hook VP Customer Growth • 8mo

This is tricky to answer, because it will look and feel really different in every organisation. For us it looks like this:Pre-close: Sales team are to set up an internal ...

426 Views

How do you split ownership of upsell vs. cross-sell opportunities, and what triggers route opportunities to Sales vs. CS?

Conor Holmes

Confluent Senior Director of CS & Account Management • 1mo

This strategy is highly nuanced depending on the product complexity, customer segment, and total addressable market. However, to keep it simple, operationalise quickly, a...

387 Views

How do you run joint forecast and renewal pipeline reviews across Sales and CS leadership?

Natasha Evans

Hook VP Customer Growth • 8mo

We each run our own motion, but then we come together at the LT to present a combined number. I have 3 core components to how I run my renewals:1. Forecast call - bi-week...

417 Views

What does your RACI look like across Sales, Solutions Engineering, and CS for complex implementations?

Conor Holmes

Confluent Senior Director of CS & Account Management • 1mo

Honestly, I’ve rarely seen a traditional, rigid RACI matrix actually work. My preference is to map out responsibilities visually against the customer journey. The simpler...

377 Views

What is your feedback loop from CS to Sales on churn and downsell reasons, and how does it influence qualification?

Conor Holmes

Confluent Senior Director of CS & Account Management • 1mo

This should be captured structurally in a CRM with a hard requirement for any churn or downgrade to be categorised via standardised reason codes. Once captured, this data...

369 Views

How early do you involve Customer Success in the sales cycle, and for which deal types or segments?

John Brunkard

Salamander Advisory Customer Success Advisor | Formerly Adobe, Sitecore, Red Hat, Symantec, Blue Coat, Intel, Dell, Dialogic • 7mo

I suggest that there are two completely different playbooks depending on whether it’s an existing customer or a new logo. Existing customers (expansion / upsell / cross...

436 Views

How do you align territory and segment coverage so Sales and CS assignments map cleanly without gaps or overlaps?

Aishwarya Dwivedi

Adobe Director Customer Strategy & Success • 3mo

We align territory and segment coverage by anchoring Sales and Customer Success to a single, consistent segmentation model, reinforced through clear governance and system...

401 Views

What fields and data in the CRM constitute a complete handoff for CS, and how do you validate data quality?

Aishwarya Dwivedi

Adobe Director Customer Strategy & Success • 3mo

A complete Sales to CS handoff in CRM is defined by clear customer context, what problem are we solving, what was sold, what success looks like, and what happens next sup...

446 Views

How do you align internal Stakeholders?

Ed Sowden

Splunk EMEA Director of Customer Success • 5mo

Aligning stakeholders is essential for a successful project or making an informed decision. Things to to consider include:Identify all key stakeholdersUnderstand their vi...

401 Views

What are some tried and true strategies to drive alignment cross-functionally for a remote team?

Ed Sowden

Splunk EMEA Director of Customer Success • 5mo

It's not easy to do this but it is feasible and it's something I've done successfully in the past when leading a CHR project at Cornerstone. Thinks to consider include:Se...

403 Views

What's your advice on improving a historically tense relationship between functions?

Ed Sowden

Splunk EMEA Director of Customer Success • 5mo

I think it's important to understand what has caused the historical challenges.Having seen this myself in the past, from my own experience it generally occurs when there ...

380 Views

What is the best cadence for gathering stakeholder feedback in preparation for a launch?

Ed Sowden

Splunk EMEA Director of Customer Success • 5mo

Clear and regular communication is key for any successful launch. Once the go live has been set and the project or product completed for go live it's fundamental that y...

367 Views

Do you approach stakeholder management differently based on the team you're talking to? And if so, how?

Ed Sowden

Splunk EMEA Director of Customer Success • 5mo

No matter who the stakeholder is or what function they lead it's important to understand what drives them as an individual and what the goals of their function are.Unders...

415 Views

How do you keep Sales and CS narratives (decks, ROI models, value hypotheses) consistent across the customer journey?

John Brunkard

Salamander Advisory Customer Success Advisor | Formerly Adobe, Sitecore, Red Hat, Symantec, Blue Coat, Intel, Dell, Dialogic • 7mo

This is an interesting questions. Here some ideas to consider. Consistency starts with one rule: one single, shared, always-up-to-date library that everyone actually uses...

374 Views

What change management practices have worked when shifting responsibilities between Sales and CS (e.g., moving renewals to CS)?

John Brunkard

Salamander Advisory Customer Success Advisor | Formerly Adobe, Sitecore, Red Hat, Symantec, Blue Coat, Intel, Dell, Dialogic • 7mo

My core belief: Renewals are a shared outcome, but negotiation is a specialist skill. CS should make renewal a complete non-event through value delivery and risk removal....

449 Views

Which tools or integrations best support Sales–CS alignment (CRM, CPQ, success plan templates, handoff forms)?

Natasha Evans

Hook VP Customer Growth • 8mo

I think all of the above can be great for this. Most companies us their CRM and a handover doc. Ideally in that handover doc is the business case they worked on with the ...

454 Views

What advice would you give to your younger self as a customer success manager on influencing the C-Suite?

Jeff Beaumont

Customer Success Consultant • 3y

This is tough because it's easier said than done.Hit your target. Prove your capability with what's expected of you (e.g., renewal rates, engaging with customers...), and...

944 Views

What are the top 3 things that will provide value to C-Suites as a customer success manager?

Farhad Bharucha

Truveris AVP, Customer Success + Customer Operations | Formerly Zendesk, Khoros, SS&C Advent • 10mo

I absolutely love this question. When you think about what the C-suite truly values from Customer Success, it boils down to what makes the business run stronger (opportun...

869 Views

What are some ways that junior and newer customer success managers can get greater exposure to the C-Suite?

Farhad Bharucha

Truveris AVP, Customer Success + Customer Operations | Formerly Zendesk, Khoros, SS&C Advent • 10mo

If you’re newer in Customer Success, remember: the C-suite started where you are. My advice...start thinking like an executive now.Bring insights and a point of view, not...

977 Views

How do you influence the C-Suite to get more resources?

Nicole Alrubaiy

Jellyfish Senior Vice President, Customer Success • 10mo

The default answer to 'more resources' is almost always 'No,' unless you can prove the impact. The key is to stop talking about your needs and start talking about the bus...

456 Views

What metrics/data points have you found to be the most successful in providing the C-suite adequate insight into the customer base and its health? What are the top 3 questions you get from the C-suite on the CS organization?

Farhad Bharucha

Truveris AVP, Customer Success + Customer Operations | Formerly Zendesk, Khoros, SS&C Advent • 10mo

Great question! and I'm going to split this question up into two pieces..When looking at data (which my middle name starts with a D and I joke around that it is Data...) ...

1,401 Views

What signals tell you you’ve earned an executive’s trust — and what signals tell you you’ve lost it?

Ryan Fixell, MBA

Saviynt Director, Customer Success • 10mo

A clear sign that you’ve earned an executive’s trust is when they reach out to you directly. Executives can contact anyone they choose, so if they choose you, it means yo...

792 Views

How do we differentiate ourselves in a down market like we are today

John Brunkard

Salamander Advisory Customer Success Advisor | Formerly Adobe, Sitecore, Red Hat, Symantec, Blue Coat, Intel, Dell, Dialogic • 10mo

Showcase ROI with Metrics: Demonstrate CS’s impact on revenue retention and growth (e.g., “CS cut churn by 5%, saving $500K” or “Upsells added $300K”). Focus on high-val...

390 Views

What are the best habits to do when working with C-Suite?

Michael Maday

Payscale Vice President - Customer Success & Implementation • 3y

Always try teaching them someone that they don't already know about the business, product, or customers. Keep your communications tight, both verbal and written! Never ...

1,791 Views

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

Jeff Beaumont

Customer Success Consultant • 2y

For CS Ops, it includes pretty much everyone but that's important as Ops is extremely cross-functional.CS Leadership: This is pretty obvious, but you must be connected wi...

1 Views

How do you ensure alignment when you have two senior executive stakeholders who disagree with each other on the proposed strategy and you are stuck in the middle?

Meenal Shukla

Zoom Head of Scaled Customer Success, Onboarding, Learning and Adoption • 2y

Ensuring alignment between senior executive stakeholders who disagree on a proposed strategy can be challenging but is crucial for the success of the project and the orga...

423 Views

How do we work with our Exec team to help narrow down what we focus on?

Customer success managers often get pulled in several directions and everything feels urgent.

Meenal Shukla

Zoom Head of Scaled Customer Success, Onboarding, Learning and Adoption • 2y

Customer Success Managers (CSMs) indeed often find themselves pulled in multiple directions with everything feeling urgent. It’s important to work with the executive team...

500 Views

How do customer success key stakeholders from other departments change as your company grows?

Ben Terrill

Seso Head of Customer Success | Formerly Brex, Finn AI, Mobify • 10mo

As a company expands, the way decisions are made and the people who influence them will evolve. In smaller organizations, the chain of responsibility is usually very clea...

598 Views

What do your interactions with the C-Suite look like on a regular basis?

Amara Okoli

MURAL Director of Customer Success • 3y

On any given day my interactions with the C-Suite could look like the following: Proactively reaching out to new customers and keeping the customer’s C-Suite informed of...

2,022 Views

What are some pointers for how to get the executive team's agreement on something important to you?

Ben Terrill

Seso Head of Customer Success | Formerly Brex, Finn AI, Mobify • 10mo

Winning executive buy-in starts with preparation and perspective. Before bringing an idea forward, test it with your manager or trusted colleagues to refine your thinking...

506 Views

Earlier in your career, how did you work with the C-Suite?

Ben Terrill

Seso Head of Customer Success | Formerly Brex, Finn AI, Mobify • 10mo

Early in my career, I deliberately sought out opportunities that would allow me to work closely with executive leadership. I volunteered for projects that required C-suit...

449 Views

How do online communities drive product adoption and customer success?

Meenal Shukla

Zoom Head of Scaled Customer Success, Onboarding, Learning and Adoption • 2y

Online communities play a pivotal role in driving product adoption and enhancing customer success. When done right, they serve as vibrant hubs where users can engage with...

974 Views

What do customer success managers get wrong when trying to influence the C-Suite?

Nicole Alrubaiy

Jellyfish Senior Vice President, Customer Success • 2y

It's important to understand the goals of your company and your part in them. Only then can you really have a well-thought and engaging interaction with a C-level leader ...

662 Views

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