Influencing the C-Suite

Senior Executives love to learn things that they do not already know about the company, your product, or your industry. When an opportunity arises for you to interact with them, give them an opportuni

Here are a few tried and true ways to gain greater exposure to the C-Suite: Get curious about the space, not just the product, and build your knowledge base.  Ask to shadow meetings with other CSMs,

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 let them walk into a risky/neg

Always be clear on the purpose of the meeting and involve agendas and share relevant documentation with their EAs well in advance Center conversations with a key headline - what is most important and

In this current economic landscape, the only teams that are going to be allocated resources are the ones that are able to show and substantial return on investment (ROI) to the organization. For examp

Help the C-Suite understand how additional resources will achieve company goals in addition to core CS goals (retention rates, expansion targets, reduction in churn). If you can leverage a data-driven

The most important things are the impact on business and product objectives, relevance to the market and the competitive position of the company and the cost to implement / change. Here's how to prov

As CSMs we are expected to be trusted advisors to our customers.  We gain trust by helping our customers address their challenges and achieve their business objectives. We become advisors when we lear

If I were to give younger me advice about influencing the C-Suite I'd say to take your time, learn as much as you can, and look for connections. More detail below:  Don’t be in a rush. As CSMs, we en

I started my career in sales. As an Account Executive, my job was to gain an in-depth understanding of my customer’s business objectives and advise them as to solutions that could address their challe

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 who’s who and what we will do

What most customer success managers get wrong in my experience is not using the right data or framing the story specifically to the needs of the C-Suite. If you're looking for investment, make sure t

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

This is a tough one! In this situation, I would do my best to flex my diplomatic skills. Draft up communication that includes both Execs  (with some other relevant stakeholders if possible) and do yo