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Customer Success Management
- Do you enjoy working with people?
- Are you empathetic and want a job that helps other people?
- And are you good with technology and figuring out how to make things work?
- Do you like to teach and coach?
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CLICK HERECustomer Success Management could be your future career path
Are you the kind of person who says they will only use - for example - an Apple product, or drink Pepsi or wear Nike sneakers, and you’ll never use the competitor? 3
If so, you are a Customer Success Manager’s dream!
The Customer Success Manager (CSM) role is a combination of a technical and communication skills role. Typically in a large company a CSM makes sure that customers are satisfied with the product or service, use it correctly and want to remain paying customers.
The goal of CSM is to get the client so hooked on the product that they will never use anything else!
Watch this video for a good overview of CSM
Want to try it out now?
Have you ever been in a situation where you have to teach someone how to use something that you know well? For example, learning how to use a new app, or a new appliance, or teaching a kid brother/sister to ride a bike. How do you go about teaching them? How much hand-holding do you do? Do you explain and show them or do you have them try first and then patiently explain what they should do differently? How much of your coaching is direct support, and how much is helping build confidence?
If you enjoy doing this kind of teaching and coaching, the job of a Customer Success Manager could be a good career path for you.
Try it out - Customer Journey Mapping
The goal of a Customer Success Manager (CSM) is to ensure that customers are satisfied with a product they purchased. Satisfaction usually comes from being able to use a product effectively - you feel good when you know how to level up. People who are effective users of a product are termed ‘power users’ because they can turn others on to the product or using the service. A CSM plans for this - they hope that every new user will become a power user. How do they do this?
CSM’s often use a tool called a ‘customer journey map’. This is a representation of the experience a user has with a product or service. It tells the story of a customers’ experiences with a brand across all touchpoints. A CSM will map the experience visually. Whether customers interact with a company via social media, email, livechat or other channels, mapping the customer journey helps ensure that the customer stays engaged with the product or service.
Here’s an example of a Customer Journey Map of someone shopping online for a gift for a friend:
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Notice how the customer’s actions, emotions and expectations are tracked from the point of interest to the point of sale. The CSM analyzes this process to improve the customer experience. The goal is to get someone to buy the
Here’s an example of a Customer Journey Map of someone shopping online for a gift for a friend:
Notice how the customer’s actions, emotions and expectations are tracked from the point of interest to the point of sale. The CSM analyzes this process to improve the customer experience. The goal is to get someone to buy the product or use the service, and in turn convince others to use the product.
Create your own Customer Journey Map
Search for something you want to buy online OR track your use of a new app:
Doing this exercise is part of the work that a CSM does with other people.
Did you find this exercise interesting?
Meet a few Professionals who work in the Field
Watch these videos of various Customer Success Managers talking about their jobs.
The Job Outlook
The majority of CSMs work in the Software and IT industries. Since tech companies often rely on a subscription model for people to purchase their products and services, they need CSMs to build brand loyalty.
About three quarters of all jobs advertised for CSM roles are in the IT and Software industries. Other rapidly growing sectors that employ CSMs are Health & Fitness sectors, as well as Recreation and Travel services.
The industries that hire the most number of CSMs are:
- Software Services
- Media and Communications
- Corporate Services
- Educational Services, including educational technology (ed tech)
- IT, Hardware and Networking Services
CSM roles are growing fastest in NYC, Boston, LA, Chicago & Atlanta.
Customer Service Managers are called by a lot of titles, depending on the company. These are some equivalent titles
- Technical Account Manager
- Client Services Manager
- Client Success Manager
- Client Solutions Manage
Demand for these kinds of roles is increasing. According to LinkedIn, postings for associated roles grow by 30% each year. With an increasing presence of Software as a Service (SAAS) the role of customer relations and success has taken on new urgency in hiring in tech, IT and digital service companies.
Salaries for junior positions range between $36k - $49k. The median entry level salary is $42k. According to Glassdoor, average annual salary is in the $65k range.
Career Paths
Customer Success Management is not sales. But sales can be a pathway to and from the role. Any sales experience - especially selling technical products - is a good pathway into a CSM role.
Customer success is more like a training role. Experience coaching, teaching or training is a good entry point to the job. Companies will train you on the technical aspect of their product.
Starting on a path of Customer Success can lead to more formal training roles with a company, or into more technical roles bringing your user experience. From CSM it is possible to move onto a technical team or into a Human Resources/training role within a large organization.
Skills to Pay the Bills
Take stock of the skills you already have
The ability to be patient, understand what motivates people and communicate clearly are essential skills.
There are many technical tools to learn along the way. These are commonly referred to as Software as a Service (SaaS). Technical products to become proficient in:
- Google Workplace/Microsoft Office Suite: Slides/Powerpoint, Sheets/Excel, Docs, Email, etc.
- Platforms: Zendesk, Intercom, HubSpot, ZOHO
- Customer Relations Management tools such as Salesforce
Work experience, rather than a degree, is generally a step into a CSM role. Training organizations like KindWork in NYC offer a 6 week training course and job assistance - the requirement is a year of satisfactory work experience. This Kindwork promo will give you a sense of what this training is about.
Review a Job Description
Job Descriptions are the way a company recruits and hires talent. You can learn a lot from a Job Description about the skills and qualifications you need to prepare for the job. Even if you are not ready to apply for a job now, learning to read the Job Description can help you prepare for what you need to learn after high school.
This company (name withheld) is hiring a CSM. This is an entry level job. Read the job description and take note of all the skills you need to apply for the job. As you read, look for the technical skills that you will need to learn, and the human behavior skills that you are already good at.
GET PREPARED
Make Your Plan
Be ready to apply to this job in a few years by writing a paragraph of less than 250 words explaining why you want the job and why you will be a good fit for the company.
- Why you want to pursue a career as a Customer Success Manager and specifically what aspects of the job interest you
- What skills you have that will be an asset for this kind of job
- What skills you need to learn after high school
- What is the career path you see for yourself in the future?
Keep this paragraph as part of your career plan.
