The definitive “Customer Success Manager How-To-Guide” for the CSM profession from Gainsight, who brought you the market-leading Customer Success
The Customer Success Manager has become a critical asset to organizations across the business landscape. As the subscription model has spread from the cloud and SaaS to more sectors of the economy, that pivotal role will only grow in importance. That’s because if you want to compete and thrive in this new environment, you need to put the customer at the center of your strategy. You need to recognize you’re no longer selling just a product. You’re selling an outcome. Customer Success Managers (CSM) are committed to capturing and delivering those outcomes by listening to their customers, understanding their needs, and adapting products and services to drive success. Although several existing resources address the customer success imperative, there is no authoritative instruction manual for the CSM profession - until now.
The Customer Success Professional’s Handbook is the definitive reference book for CSMs and similar roles in the field. This practical, first-of-its-kind manual fills a significant gap in professional customer success literature, providing the knowledge every CSM needs to succeed - from the practitioner level all the way to senior leadership. The authors - acknowledged experts in building, training, and managing Customer Success teams - offer real-world guidance and practical advice for aspiring and experienced CSMs alike. The handbook is written by practioners for practioners. An indispensable resource for front-line Customer Success Managers, this much-needed book:
- Demonstrates how to build, implement, and manage a Customer Success team
- Helps new CSMs develop their skills and proficiency to be more employable and grow in their careers
- Provides clear guidance for managers on how to hire a stellar CSM
- Presents practical tactics needed to drive revenue growth during renewal, expansion, and customer advocacy opportunities
- Explains proven methods and strategies for mentoring CSMs throughout their careers
- Offers valuable insights from Gainsight, the Customer Success Company, and the broader customer success community with more than a dozen of the industry’s most respected leaders contributing their perspectives
Currently, with over 70,000 open positions, Customer Success Manager in one of the fastest-growing jobs in the world. The Customer Success Professional’s Handbook: How to Thrive in One of the World's Fastest Growing Careers - While Driving Growth For Your Company will prove to be your go-to manual throughout every stage of your CSM career.
Table of Contents
Contributors xvi
Foreword xvii
Part I What is Customer Success and Why is it a Great Career? 1
Chapter 1 Customer Success Management: The Birth of a New Profession 3
The Age of the Customer 9
The Critical Missing Function 12
The Birth of the Customer Success Manager 15
Endnotes 18
Chapter 2 Defining the Customer Success Manager Role 21
Goals: Increase Retention, Reduce Churn, Drive Growth 21
The Consumption Gap 23
The Customer Success Equation 24
What Customer Success Management is Not 27
A Career or a Springboard to a Real Profession? 29
Endnotes 33
Part II The Core Skills of a Great CSM 35
Chapter 3 A Day in the Life of a Customer Success Manager 37
Putting Customer Success into Practice 37
Being a Customer Success Manager - A Personal Testimonial 44
The Three Core CSM Competencies 46
Chapter 4 The CSM Skills Required in an Ever-Evolving Business World 51
How to Develop Your Industry and Category Knowledge 52
Network with Mentors and Industry Experts 54
Product Expertise is Your Ticket to Greatness 57
Endnote 60
Chapter 5 Learn How to Empathize and Build Relationships with Customers 61
1. Be Introspective and Self-Aware 63
2. Communicate with Intent, Precision, and Persuasion: Be a Trusted Advisor 66
3. Consistently Follow-Up to Create and Grow Trust 68
4. How to Respond When You Don’t Know the Answer 69
5. Stay Focused and Positive When Situations are Difficult; Learn From Them 70
6. Read People In-Depth and With a #HumanFirst Lens of Compassion 71
7. Genuinely Connect with Customers: it is Personal and it is Your Business 73
Endnotes 76
Part III Operationalizing Customer Success 77
Chapter 6 Preparing for Your Engagements and Asking Questions Like a Problem-Solving Consultant 79
The Need for a 360o View of the Customer 80
Do Your Homework: Prepare for Every Customer Engagement 83
The Art of Discovery: Asking the Right Questions to Get to the Heart of the Customer’s Problem 87
Endnotes 94
Chapter 7 Defining the Journey to Customer Outcomes 95
Customer Lifecycle, Journey Map, Customer Journey 96
Segment Your Customers 104
Endnotes 110
Chapter 8 Operationalize Your Customer Journey with Moments of Truth 111
Identifying Your Moments of Truth 112
Sales-to-Onboarding Handoff 114
Welcome the Customer and Onboarding Kickoff 115
Launch or Go-Live 116
New Customer Executive or Champion 116
Business Reviews: For the Executive and More 117
Renewals 122
Endnotes 124
Chapter 9 Using Customer Health Scores to Manage Your Customers 127
Health Scores: How to Know If Your Customers are Doing Well 127
Designing Your Outcomes Health Score 129
Designing Your Experience Health Score 133
Setting the Right Thresholds 135
Other Frameworks to Design Your Health Score 136
Putting Health Scores to Work for You 139
The Future and Human-Element of Customer Health Scorecards 142
Endnotes 146
Chapter 10 Voice of the Customer and Your Tech-Touch Strategy 147
How to Get Meaningful Customer Feedback 147
The Hidden Value of Customer Feedback 151
Tech Touch: The Secrets of Low-Touch Customer Success 154
Onboarding Tech-Touch Workflow 155
Renewals Management Tech-Touch Workflow 158
Risk Management Tech-Touch Workflow 158
Advocacy Management Tech-Touch Workflow 161
Endnote 163
Chapter 11 Help Customers Achieve Their Business Goals 165
Adoption Management: How to Proactively Manage Product Use and Adoption 166
Success Planning: Make Sure the Customer Gets the Long-Term Results They Expect 172
Identify Business Objectives 173
Strategy Session 173
Document the Plan 175
Track Value 175
Product Experience - Improving Your Product is Your #1 Priority 176
Endnote 180
Chapter 12 Drive Revenue Growth Through Engagement, Proactive Risk Management, Churn Analysis, Expansion, and Advocacy 181
Stakeholder Alignment: How to Manage Executive Sponsors and Other Customer Stakeholders 182
Risk Management: What to Do When a Customer is Trending Toward Cancelling: How to Proactively Escalate Risk and Save the Customer 185
Reduce Churn with a Deep Understanding of Why Your Customers Have Left 190
Expansion Management: Understanding White Space in Your Customer Base to Upsell and Cross-sell Your Products and Services 199
Advocacy Management: How to Turn Your Best Customers into Evangelists 202
Endnote 205
Part IV Retaining and Developing the Best CSMs 207
Chapter 13 Managing a Customer Success Team 209
Segmentation and Aligning a Customer Success Manager to the Right Customer 209
Determining the Best Customer Success Manager-to-Customer Ratio and CSM Profiles 214
Compensating Your Customer Success Managers 219
Dashboards to Manage the Customer Success Team 222
Chapter 14 Creating Career Paths for Your Customer Success Managers 229
Designing CSM as a Career 229
Creating Career Paths within the CS Function 230
Conducting a Comprehensive Talent Review Process 238
Creating Career Paths Between Functions 240
Conclusion 243
Acknowledgments 245
About the Authors 251
Index 253
