What to expect being the 1st Customer Success Manager of an organization?

5 things to keep in mind when beginning a Customer Success function

Customer success has become an increasingly important function in organizations. It’s more than just helping customers set up their accounts and offering a couple of FAQs when they need them. In order to retain users and drive loyalty, it’s critical to understand what your users need and how they’re using your product so that you can tailor new features accordingly and help them reach their desired outcome faster. What this means is that being the first CSM (Customer Success Manager) of an organization is a challenging feat.

Being first in your organization as the CSM can be tough, but it’s also an incredible opportunity to set the tone for the role moving forward. Here are some things to remember when taking on this challenging but exciting role.

1. The role begins with understanding the organization

There’s a limit to what you can prepare before beginning Customer Success strategies when you can only know so much. You may find yourself at a loss and discover that some functions exist within an organization that may need to change or sometimes remove a plan altogether if done without assessing the company’s current status. Hence, when starting your role as a Customer Success Manager, specifically in organizations that didn’t previously have it, it is essential to step back and understand the whole organization itself.

How does the sales team work? What systems do they have in place, and how do they collaborate with other teams? How do the employees treat the customers, or how does the organization view its customers? Where do they want to go, and what do they want to achieve?

It would be best if you first tried to answer many questions before laying out a plan that would help the company reach the places they want to be. In the first few weeks, expect you to be a sponge absorbing all the information to develop a tailored plan and move the business forward. So, talk to people within the organization, get to know them, and be the social butterfly that paves their way up to success.

2. CSM sits at the center of all strategies

Unlike other business functions that focus only on one thing and rarely notice another, Customer Success can see everything. Sales may have implemented a new strategy with a positive outcome; you must now prepare onboarding kits for the new customers. The development team updated the system; you must then study what changed and how it may affect the customers and relay both the information and the plan.

As you can see, the organization’s movement dictates the role of Customer Success and vice versa as you influence the customers to reach set outcomes and retain these customers. Hence, having the ability to anticipate and prepare what needs to be done would be beneficial, along with your ability to build trusting relationships with the customers and within the organization to influence these changes.

3. Trust plays a significant role

Being trusted within an organization is a great thing, not only emotionally but, most importantly, professionally, as you can do more of what you think would be the best action for the organization. To influence people to act and make a change, you would require a level of trust that would make them think: “I think what they said is a great idea!” Whether taking new customers or building trust within the company, your knowledge will define how far you can go. Hence, it’s essential to:

• Learn the product and the market
• Listen to your customers and colleague
• Show empirical evidence of the value you bring

Your knowledge of the business and the customers’ objectives would help develop Customer Success strategies that fit and would bring desirable results. So, go ahead and study the product and how the customers should use it to generate value and listen to their concerns and goals to respond and proactively take action.

The same goes within the company; learn everything you need and devise a strategy to bring them closer to their goals, whether it be a higher customer retention rate or an increase in account upgrades. Most importantly, ensure that you have the relevant KPIs tracked so you can effectively help them visualize the product of your hard work. Their trust in Customer Success becomes more significant as they achieve their ultimate goals.

4. Introducing new products? Sell it to yourself first

Introducing new products to customers is always challenging as people are naturally wary of change, and being the first Customer Success Manager won’t make it easier. Before going out to meet the customer, take your time to sell the new product to yourself.

Selling it to yourself means understanding what it is and what needs can be of help because you are a Customer Success Manager. Your priority is bringing customers closer to their expectations (not having unnecessary additional costs). So, why is the new product great? How does it work? And how does it apply to the customers?

Talk to multiple departments and help yourself be a product expert. Gain a deep understanding of the value proposition it brings; this would help you believe that it is needed, and should you see a customer in need of it, you would be able to provide an adequate reason as to why they need it and how it can help them get closer to their needs.

5. Take initiative and be a leader.

Being the first CSM means you would also be the first CS Leader to onboard and train your department as it grows. To prepare for what is ahead, developing what it takes to be a leader from the beginning is essential. Templates and checklists are helpful, but they should wait until you understand everything about your organization, products and services, market, customers, and their needs.

Establish a measurable CS department
By this, we mean that you should select a few important KPIs showing the value you bring and the potential it would deliver should the organization scale it.

Collaborate and actively listen
You are not alone, especially in Customer Success. You work with multiple departments to devise an impeccable Customer Success journey for your customers and your organization. You talk to many people; hence, use it as leverage and get feedback on what you do well and can do better. Ensure that you are on the right track both being the first CSM and a possible CS Leader, by having an open dialogue with your colleagues with the aim always to be better.

Jump in and get involved
You will find things needing to be taken care of; sometimes, waiting is not an option. Take control of things you know need improvement that no one is handling.

In short,

The success of any company is dependent on the satisfaction of its customers. With the advent of technology, customer satisfaction has become increasingly important. Being the first Customer Success Manager means that you would find yourself amidst the chaos trying to find order. You would need to identify what customers want, their needs, and how they can help them achieve their goals while also proactively identifying potential customer issues before they become big problems.

Learn more about how you can develop the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitude to become the best Customer Success Manager. The next best step is to check out our Customer Success Basics course.