Caoimhe Carlos

One of my favourite CS interview questions is some variation of "Can you share a time when you received constructive feedback from a peer, manager, or cross-functional partner in your previous role as a Customer Success Manager? How did you deal with it, and how did it impact your actions after the fact?" The reason I like this question is that the way the candidate answers it tells me a lot about their self awareness, intelligence, their ability to handle difficult situations with maturity, humility and professionalism, their communication skills and their growth mindset, all of which are skills that are valuable in your role as a CSM and also make someone a great colleague and team member. The best answers I have heard to this question have been thoughtful, honest, clear and have all resulted in genuine impact for the person in terms of how they have grown and developed.

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 certain subsegments of the tech industry. The level technical skill required is also to a degree dependent on the company and the scope of the role. Some CS roles in deeply technical companies may require you to have a level of familiarity with technical concepts however for many CS roles this is not the case. However in either scenario familiarity with the product or service being supported can be beneficial as as a CSM while you may not be responsible for technical troubleshooting you will be required to have a good understanding of the product offering and will need to be capable having conversations with customers about the products features, functions and capabilities.

The future for customer success is incredibly bright! The role of CS is becoming increasingly important both for organisations and for customers. Customer retention and loyalty are the lifeblood of healthy organisations and CS directly drives these outcomes through making sure customers derive value from their investment. Exceptional customer success can act as a core differentiator in market and by investing in CS, organisations can realise benefits not only in terms of retention and engagement but also in terms of expansion and net new customer sales as superior service can be a compelling reason to buy. For the organisation this means CS is pivotal to both revenue growth and customer experience. On the customer side customer success often acts as they key conduit for customer feedback and insight, this data informs product development decisions, continuous improvement investments and improves the organisations ability to anticipate customer needs. Customer success can also be powerful partners in terms of sharing industry best practice, connecting customers with one another and ensuring the customer achieves their outcomes and can demonstrate ROI fro their investment. The advancements in AI should also free up time for CSMs to add additional value to their customers through automation and efficiency gains in administrative tasks.

The biggest frustration for me as a customer success manager was the lack of a shared success plan with my customer. My objective was always to make the customer as successful as possible and ensure they felt their investment was worthwhile and directly contributed to the company achieving its goals. Not having clarity on what that success looked like for the customer made it challenging to deliver on this and so I had to invest heavily in building the relationship, asking effective open ended questions and setting clear objectives and milestones from the outset. This didn't always work however it definitely helped me deal with more ambiguous situations.

The tech industry is broad and the role of a CSM can vary widely depending on the type of role or company you are interested in however below are some tips which may be helpful: * Focus on skills - review job postings to determine the skill set your target companies are looking for in their CSMs. Previous experience and titles are less important that the right skill set - many of the best CSMs I have worked with did not come from CS or tech backgrounds; however they all had the right skill set that was directly transferable to the role. Identify the skills the company is looking for in a CSM and then make sure those skills are apparent on your resume and you are capable of speaking to them in the interview. * Do your research - make sure you have an understanding of the industry or sub section of the industry you are interested in before you start applying. Learn about the market, the key players the current trends and the emerging themes and technologies, look at both short term and long term prospects and leverage online resources such as Linkedin, Glassdoor, Crunchbase, AngelList, Forbes Tech Council, the Deloitte Fast 500 and Product Hunt to gain a deeper understanding of the companies you are interested in. This will help you slim down your target roles and companies and will benefit you when it comes to applying and interviewing. * Apply strategically - CS roles can vary broadly, some are heavily relationship management or commercially focused, others lean more towards product specialist or technical support. Before you start applying to CS roles make sure you have a clear understanding of which type of CS role you are most interested in and what companies have this kind of model. * Leverage certifications or training programs where appropriate - there are a number of industry certifications which you can take that demonstrate an interest in and commitment to the field, similarly depending on the tech company you are applying to there may be product specific certifications which you can obtain which would benefit you in an interview process e.g. Google analytics certifications, AWS certifications, SFDC certifications etc * Networking - get to know other tech industry or CS professionals in your existing network, ask them for advice or introductions where it makes sense. Join industry associations and professional bodies and attend industry events and networking groups where you can.

There are a number of key skills that will assist in making the transition from Senior CS Manager to Director+, that range from strategic thinking and decision making to leadership and critical thinking however I will elaborate on three of the core soft skills which have a high propensity to positively impact career development in the context of CS. * Change management - change is constant and effective change management is a highly valuable skill for leaders at any level and especially for senior leaders who are responsible for large teams or departments. Yet despite this many leaders struggle in this area. Leaning into change management and investing in building your skills set here is worthwhile investment. You can gain change management experience by offering to work on strategic change initiatives or projects across the business or within your current team or department and can also develop your skillset through more targeted learning such as this great Udemy course . * Cross functional alignment and collaboration - Building great cross functional relationships may seem like an obvious skill for any role however it is critical in customer success as the quality of customer experience is largely dependant on how effectively internal teams and stakeholders collaborate and work together. Stretching your cross functional collaboration muscle allows you to build your network, gives you a more holistic understanding of how the business works and ultimately enables you to have greater impact and influence. * Growth Mindset - Cultivating a growth mindset allows you to embrace challenges as opportunities as opposed to obstacles, to seek feedback and learn from others regularly which is critical as you progress in your career and to maintain a high level of adaptability - developing growth mindset as a skill is quite broad and requires a combination of attitude shift, behaviour change and regular practices that together build the capability. Some tactics that have helped me personally with growth mindset are approaching situations with curiosity first and flipping the narrative on setbacks or failures so that I view them as learning opportunities and something which fuels growth.