Jay Aaron Yeong

Understanding value creation in every activity you engage in. If you don't, you will be seen as a cost center. For example, at the customer's strategy level, learn about how your services and products create value for customer's business strategy. At the day-to-day level, learn to understand what brings value to your client and convey it in every customer engagement. Can start by the simplest action where you avoid stating the obvious and provide insights on deliverables whether it'd be onboarding, product knowledge, operation policies, etc. In terms of CSM certifications, there is no point completing courses just to add more credentials under your belt, unless, you're going to demonstrate what you've learned. Practice what you've learned and record the results even the impact isn't that great. It will create a platform for you to review and grow your experience. Lastly, hone salesmanship as CSMs are the closest to customers, we stand a good chance to bring in revenue to our company. Some XaaS companies do not tie Sales/Revenue KPIs to CS, thus if you're in it, it's a good opportunity for you to pitch change for revenue-holding CSM function.

Getting straight into Customer Success roles right out of college/university can be very daunting. On top of that, CS roles are rarely available for freshers. However, with some persistence and strategic effort, freshers can break out into CS roles. Here's my 4-point advice: 1. Apply STAR method or any better framework in problem-solving anything S: Situation, T: Task, A: Action, R: Result If you've not learned any problem solving frameworks in school, please learn this ASAP as it will help you to become structured, logical in your problem solving approach. 2. Measure and record your impact and make it a habit Once you've started using a STAR or equivalent framework, measure results and use data analytics to analyze your impact. Then apply Google's famous X-Y-Z method in recording your impact. This will come in handy when you write resumes for job applications. 3. Master interpersonal communication skills and especially networking Learn to read verbal and visual cues, body language in all sorts of context. Join CS-related networking events to get to know people in the industry and learn how they communicate and the jargons that comes along with. The Dale Carnegie's book, "How to Win Friends and Influence People" is a timeless classic on building relationships. I highly recommend reading it a few times. 4. Reach out to your network and ask for a demo of skills Once you have a network, reach out to potential hiring managers and ask to do a Value Validation Project. A Value Validation Project is a short-term project for helping potential employers becoming aware of a value you created through an agreed collaboration in turn becoming a job opportunity for you. If you are in desperation of a job, this method would not work. I suggest spending a lot of time researching the people and companies you want to work with deeply in order to make this success.