As SVP of Global Customer Success at Totango, I’m at the forefront of leading and advising customer success teams everyday. It is my responsibility to both build a best-in-class customer success function, and at the same time help leading enterprises do the same.
The challenge that I and many customer success (CS) leaders face is that the goal of customer success as a function and the role of a customer success manager (CSM) are both evolving in real time. Businesses globally are shifting business strategy and growth models to be customer-first versus acquisition-first. Gone are the days of customer success as the “happiness department” and when CSMs were primarily reactive and there to “customer-please” at any due time.
In a customer-first, or customer-led growth world, as we call it, CSMs play a critical role in driving revenue, fostering strategic relationships, and ensuring long-term customer value for the business. They are at the center of revenue growth, with a direct impact on expansion, renewals, and customer advocacy.
If you are a customer success leader or looking to stand-up a new customer success function in your organization, here are the 6 skills I prioritize when hiring for a CSM role, and why I prioritize these attributes for our CS team as a whole:
- Strategic thinking and ability to problem solve quickly
- Executive presence and proficiency in relationship management
- Demonstrated ability to be adaptable and agile to changing needs and circumstances
- Commercial acumen and eagerness to assume revenue responsibility
- Clear understanding of how to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams
- Above average passion for customer value and advocacy
1. Strategic thinking and proactive problem-solving
The best CSMs think beyond immediate customer needs. In fact, they think before customer needs — they anticipate challenges and opportunities before the customer does. This requires:
- A clear ability to identify and drive achievement of business outcomes in collaboration with customers to show the value of your product, while keeping value at the forefront of customer renewals.
- A consistent consultative approach with customers, helping them align product usage, product features and cross-functional integrations of their daily activities with long-term business goals.
- An analytical approach to identifying and acting on data-driven insights, like an unexpected change in product adoption or a macro change in the industry, that may signal a potential risk or new opportunity for your customer to utilize your product or service.
This strategic mindset transforms CSMs from being perceived as support resources into trusted business advisors.
2. Executive presence and ability to manage-up or across customer relationships
As customer success moves upmarket, CSMs will likely assume responsibility to interact with senior stakeholders, including C-suite executives, VPs, and board members. To build effective relationships with these stakeholders, CSMs need to:
- Be confident discussing business outcomes in terms of quantitative metrics, and show the role of the product or service in achieving those outcomes.
- Effectively illustrate business metrics with success stories that resonate with executives.
- Drive alignment on tactical customer strategies that ladder up to the primary goal of why the customer bought your product in the first place.
- Persuade and influence decision-making, especially with internal sales and product stakeholders, to champion customer needs.
A strong executive presence enables CSMs to earn the trust and confidence of key stakeholders, positioning themselves as enduring, strategic partners.
3. Adaptability and flexibility to adjust to changing circumstances
As mentioned earlier in this article, the role of the customer success function and the CSM is evolving. Businesses are shifting to a customer-centric motion at the same time when markets, economies and technologies are equally dynamic. This confluence makes it imperative that CSMs be adaptable and agile to new circumstances. CSMs who thrive during these moments are those who will:
- Embrace change with curiosity and action; whether it be a change in stakeholder or a change in process, the ability to adapt is paramount.
- Stay curious about industry trends, customer challenges, and product advancements; the expectation to be a strategic advisor to customers depends on this intersection.
- Demonstrate empathy, especially during moments of concern or escalation, as communicating bad news or tough decisions is likely to come up both with customers and internal partners.
Adaptability is also crucial as businesses increasingly adopt AI to increase automation to enhance customer interactions. There’s a lot that we as an industry and as leaders don’t know, and a lot that we are adopting into new processes. CS leaders and CSMs who harness experimentation as a role objective to improve efficiency and processes while maintaining focus on outcomes will thrive.
4. Commercial acumen and revenue ownership
To effectively drive a customer-led growth strategy, CSMs can not just be relationship managers; they have to be revenue drivers. They need to understand how customer success from pre-sale to post-sale impacts both customer outcomes and the business’ bottom line. This means:
- Having a deep understanding of customer lifetime value (CLV), net revenue retention (NRR), and expansion opportunities.
- Demonstrating the ability to identify upsell and cross-sell moments, and the expertise to position solutions that help customers reach their goals and drive measurable results.
- Showing willingness to partner closely with sales and account management teams, and ensure smooth hand-offs to set the foundation for future growth.
CSMs who can connect customer outcomes with business success are invaluable, and for a customer success leader, help you demonstrate value to the organization.
5. Collaboration and cross-functional influence
It is often said that customer success is a team sport — demanding exceptional collaboration with cross-functional partners in Sales, Marketing and Product. A great CSM knows how to work effectively across teams, presenting opportunities that are critical to customer and business success. This means:
- Partnering with Sales from pre-sale to post-sale to ensure continuity in the customer journey.
- Advocating for customer needs with product managers, success engineers, and implementation managers to influence product roadmap decisions.
- Sharing customer insights and best practices with Marketing to refine the ideal customer profile (ICP), along with targeted messaging and engagement strategies.
The ability to build internal alliances and navigate organizational dynamics is crucial for most functions, but it is absolutely necessary to be a successful CSM.
6. Passion for customer advocacy
At its core, Customer Success is about helping customers achieve their desired outcomes. The best CSMs are committed to their customer outcomes and creating unparalleled customer advocacy. They:
- Take ownership of customer outcomes, like their own, ensuring customers are set-up and stay on a path to success.
- Celebrate customer milestones, and turn successful customers into brand champions.
- Foster a customer-centric culture within their organization, ensuring they also embody a customer-led strategy. .
This genuine passion for customer success drives engagement, loyalty, and long-term business growth.
Build your CS team for the results you want to achieve — for your business and for your customers
Industry leading companies recognize Customer Success as a strategic function that drives revenue for the business, and is integral for executing a customer-led growth strategy. This shift — from acquisition-focus to a customer-focus — requires CSMs to be strategic advisors to customers while identifying, guiding and championing their path to measurable outcomes. Yes; this is a shift in responsibility and skills required to succeed in a customer success role.
At Totango, we’re on a mission to help businesses grow by investing in their customers. We want our CSMs and customer success managers to be supported, skilled and confident in guiding customer-led growth for their organizations.
Recurring revenue is a rhythm — not one note. It’s a commitment to continuous improvement and innovation, led by the customers you’ve got. So, they meet their goals, and you meet yours.
Learn how Totango can help your business put revenue on repeat.
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