What is a Customer Success Manager (CSM)?

So, what is a CSM? The tech world is filled with acronyms and you may find yourself drowning in them. You might see this role or title on job listings and at networking events, but what does it really entail? And what does it stand for? Welcome to the world of a Customer Success Manager!

Customer Success Manager (CSM for short) is a position in the Customer Success / Sales department and — though it can seem confusing — doesn’t manage a team of employees in a typical management” position but rather manages customer relationships. Hence, the C and S of CSM.

As demands for customer personalization grow, CSMs are becoming crucial parts of the buyer journey, both during the path to purchase and beyond. Increasingly, companies are looking for individuals with strong interpersonal skills who can complement and support their post-sales strategies and grow their bottom lines. A Customer Success Manager is responsible for guiding customers through the sales process and into the support phase. By taking a more comprehensive and personal approach than a customer support agent, they form a direct relationship with each buyer.

While the majority of CSMs work in the software or IT sector, this field is rapidly growing in other industries, including retail, manufacturing, and travel. The average salary for this position ranges from US$66,157 to US$75,953 in the United States and CAD$61,817 and CAD$64,567 in Canada.

But there’s more to it than that, so let’s take a deep dive.

Download The 2022 Customer Success Manager Salary Guide!

What Does a Customer Success Manager Do?

Companies have recently realized that it isn’t only prospecting new clients that generates growth, but fostering relationships with current ones to make sure they continue to use, upgrade, and promote a product internally. When someone purchases a product from your company, their interaction with your brand doesn’t abruptly end there. Instead, they transition from a buyer into an active user. If you can engage them during this critical phase, then you can help them understand the value of your products.

This is where a CSM comes in. Once an individual completes a sale, the CSM will reach out to make sure that everything continues to run smoothly after the purchase. From there, this CSM will become the buyer’s main point of contact.

They may explain how to use each product in new and innovative ways or listen to a client’s company goals to see if we can be of further service. By taking this approach, CSMs can often identify and mitigate pain points before they turn into customer support issues. If a customer has a question, they can simply reach out to their CSM for a quick resolution. It's this attention to service that fosters long-term loyalty and builds a brand's reputation.

Key Tasks of a CSM

Walk The Line Between Sales and Customer Support

As soon as someone becomes a customer, the CSM starts bridging the gap between sales and support. They help acclimate the buyer to the company and act as their one-on-one product mentor. As the buyer engages with the product, the CSM is on hand to help them discover all of its features. As they do so, they’ll monitor a client’s satisfaction levels and make sure they feel supported at every turn.

Onboard New Customers

One goal of a CSM is to help clients find success with the product as quickly as possible. If too much time passes between the time they purchase a product and the moment its value becomes apparent, it can lead to churn. Churn is the turnover of clients. Much like employee turnover, client churn can be a sign that a company is not reaching their potential, and that something is wrong.

The CSM will listen to each client’s goals and then focus on the key product features that can help them get there. They’ll educate clients on how to use each function and answer any questions that arise as they get started.

Facilitate Ongoing Product Use

The more a client uses a product, the more valuable it becomes to them. They’re also more likely to purchase from a company again because the return on their investment is high. Alternatively, if a product sits unused, resentment and frustration can grow.

A CSM will check in with their clients to see if they’re consistently using a product. If they aren’t, a CSM will work to understand why. They’ll share the benefits that a product can provide, offer support, and help clear up any confusion that might be holding them back from full product integration.

Build Customer LoyaltyThrough Relationships

Research shows that existing customers are 50% more likely to try your new products. They also spend 31% more, on average, than net new customers.

A CSM understands the value of customer loyalty and works hard to cultivate it. They keep lines of communication open and build client relationships on trust and understanding. They know what each client needs, and serve as valuable advisors to them as both companies grow. This includes keeping an eye on their product expiration dates, and making the process easy and seamless when it’s time to renew. Whether those dates occur monthly, quarterly, or annually, they’ll promptly follow up to set the gears in motion.

Increase Customer Lifetime Value

In their quest to fulfill customer goals, CSMs have the unique opportunity to upsell and cross-sell, introducing premium products and services that can meet client needs. They can also explain the benefits of upgrading, and the functionality a customer could achieve by doing so.

Unlike a direct sales pitch, these suggestions will feel more genuine and organic because they’re coming from an expert the client already knows and trusts.

Build Customer Support Relationships

Questions around functionality and benefits will fall to the CSM. However, there may be more technical issues, product problems, or basic business inquiries that the customer support team should handle instead.

A Customer Success Manager can help clients find the appropriate support representatives, establish that relationship, and make it easier for a client to troubleshoot and find answers down the road. 

7 Key Skills For Customer Success Managers

Customer-Focused Mindset

A CSM should understand that their success hinges on their customers’ success. They’ll know how to put them first in every interaction, investing in their needs and goals to deliver long-term value. This can be the difference between pushing a company agenda and blanket feature set onto a client, or taking time to understand their goals a little bit more post-sale to ensure they deliver on the actual value expected from the customer.

Proactive Problem-Solving

CSMs don’t wait for a problem to occur before they act. Rather, they anticipate their client's needs and work proactively to solve any pain points that might occur in the future. Think Minority Report with a lot less crime and a lot more good outcomes. CSMs are excellent at foreseeing future hurdles and working with a client to avoid them. They’ll monitor their client’s happiness and satisfaction, identifying weak areas, and fortifying them early.

Excellent Communication

This is a role built on communication. If a Customer Success Manager cannot speak clearly and comfortably about why a client should take a certain action or purchase a particular product, their intentions can seem either nefarious or too eager. Customers need to understand how the products work, why they’re important, and how they can use them to improve over time. A CSM should be prepared to talk about all of these points and answer questions as necessary.

Confident Leadership

A Customer Success Manager is often tasked with leading a small team when they work with their clients. They can train these teams on product-related items, general training, or improvement initiatives. They should be able to assume these roles with confidence and tie business or personal improvements back to the usage of a product or service in a measurable way.

Product Knowledge

For CSMs to be seen as trusted advisors, they must possess a strong knowledge of the products and services their business provides. Not only should they know the basic technical details of how each system works, but they should understand their company’s policies and processes. This way, they can assist with troubleshooting and offer insight into the best practices that can help a client get the most value out of their purchase.

Empathy

It can be difficult to differentiate empathy from sympathy but it’s also crucial to customer success. Being sympathetic allows you to analyze a situation from your own perspective (i.e., if I was in this position…”). Empathy, however, requires you to step into someone else’s perspective and fully understand why they are feeling how they’re feeling. A successful CSM will understand that client issues are often high-stakes, and they must be able to see them as such. This helps them move away from being just a sounding board for the problem and allows them to take an active and participatory role in the solution.

Active Listening

Through active listening, a Customer Success Manager can build client rapport and respect. Allowing the other party to talk, and then repeating back to them what you understand the problem to be can help a client feel properly heard. Instead of holding a one-sided conversation, CSMs show that they genuinely care about the client, understand the problem at hand, and are invested in finding the answer.

And more…

These are only a few of the skills that a successful Customer Success Manager should possess. Some of the others include:

• Problem-solving
• Time management
• Expectation management
• Collaboration and teamwork

Are you interested in becoming a CSM? If so, Uvaro can help.

Our 4-week Customer Success Management Course allows you to work directly with experienced managers and directors to identify your management style, hone key CSM skills, and develop your techniques.

To learn more about this course, as well as our other tech-based courses, workshops, and resources, feel free to download our Career Success Catalog.

Your future awaits, so let’s take the first step forward together towards becoming a Customer Success Manager!