The Practical CSM Academy Certification Syllabus

• What is meant by the term “business fundamentals”
why an understanding of business fundamentals is essential to many (if not all) customer success managers

• Why businesses exist and how they fulfill this purpose

• How value is generated for the business’s owners

• Who (besides owners) businesses generate value for, and why this is important

• How businesses calculate both their expenditure and their profits in order to generate an “annual return” statement

• Understanding customer segmentation

• Understanding value propositions

• How customer segmentation relates to value propositions

• How businesses are structured and managed

• Management Levels and Decision Making

• A review of a typical company org chart

• What is meant by the term “business capability”

• How the concept of business capabilities can be used to define and understand everything that a business does

• Why businesses are constantly needing to change, with examples to illustrate how this works in real life

• Vision and strategy formulation and how it occurs in a modern business

• An overview of the BMM (Business Motivation Model), including discussion on each component of the BMM and how they come together to create meaningful change within a business

• What is PCSMF Phase 1: Preparation all about?

• Defining the customer engagement

• Accessing information

• Internal handover

• Customer information

• Solution information

• Initiative information and customer outcome requirements

• CSM outcome requirements

• Stakeholder information

• Third parties and project status

• Managing information gaps

• Formulating an engagement strategy and roadmap

• Tools for PCSMF Phase 1: Preparation

• Providing a Joined Up Customer Experience

• Sources for Researching Customer Information

• Selecting & Validating Customer Information

• Information to Research

• The Customer Research Checklist Tool:

• Overview

• The Customer Research Checklist Tool: Customer Tab

• The Customer Research Checklist Tool: Solution Tab

• The Customer Research Checklist Tool: Initiative Tab

• The Customer Research Checklist Tool: Stakeholders Tab

• The Customer Research Checklist Tool: Progress Tab

• The Customer Research Checklist Tool: Utilization

• Engagement Planning & Engagement Strategy Tool

• Engagement Strategy: Priority, Complexity & Maturity

• Engagement Strategy: Outcomes, Milestones & Measurements

• Engagement Strategy: Activities & Roadmap

• What is PCSMF Phase 2: Commitment all about?

• The customer commitment process

• Communicating with the customer

• The initial customer meeting

• Developing a stakeholder management strategy

• Tools for PCSMF Phase 2: Commitment

• Working With the Customer: Key Concepts

• Working With the Customer: Credibility & Rapport

• The Customer Success Proposal

• Meetings Best Practice

• Consultative Questioning

• Using the RACI Matrix

• Using the Stakeholder Management Matrix

• Creating a Stakeholder Management Plan

• Completing the Customer Success Proposal

• What is PCSMF Phase 4: Adoption

• Planning all about?

•Understanding Impacted Users

• Research Techniques

• CSM Involvement in Adoption Research

• Working with multiple stakeholders

Step 1: Determine Adoption Requirements
Step 2: Identify Process Changes
Step 3: Define Impacted Groups (IGs)
Step 4: Document Practical Considerations
Step 5: Determine Communication, Training and Support Requirements
Step 6: Capture Adoption Barriers and Risks
Step 7: Create Outline Adoption Plan
Step 8: Create Adoption Proposal and Gain Acceptance
Step 9: Complete Full Adoption Plan and Publish Adoption Roadmap

• Activities and Outputs for PCSMF Phase 4: Adoption Planning

• Defining Adoption & the Importance of Adoption

• Adoption Pilots and Phases

• Adoption and Change Management

• The ADKAR Change Management Model

• Knowledge Skills & Attitude (KSA) Concepts

• Directly & Indirectly Impacted Users

• Research Techniques: The Workshop

• Getting the Adoption Requirements Agreed

• The Role of the CSM in Adoption Planning

• The Adoption Planning Process

• Adoption Planning Tools: Existing Tools

• Adoption Planning Tools: General

• Adoption Requirements

• Adoption Planning Tools: Capabilities & Processes

• Adoption Planning Tools: Impacted Groups

• Adoption Planning Tools: Adoption Activities

• Adoption Planning Tools: Practical Considerations

• Adoption Planning Tools: Adoption Barriers

• Adoption Planning Tools: Adoption Risks

• Who Benefits from Customer Success Management?

• Common CSM Traps and Pitfalls

• Customer Success is the Jewel in the Customer Experience Crown

• The Future of Customer Success

• Glossary of Essential Customer Success Management Terminology

• The Customer Success Knowledge base

• Using a Best Practice Framework

• Using Tools & Templates

• Customer Success Management as a Sales Feature

• The Partnering Approach

• The “Shared Risks, Shared Rewards” Model

• Pitfall 1: Doing Too Much for Each Customer

• Pitfall 2: Not Leaving Time for Continual Professional Development (CPD)

• Pitfall 3: Not Understanding Your Own Company’s Customer Success Strategy

• Pitfall 4: Focusing on Technical Instead of Business Issues

• Pitfall 5: A Lack of Insight Into Your Customer’s Business

• Pitfall 6: Too Much Time Spent Doing Admin

• Pitfall 7: Lack of Best Practice Resources Such as Frameworks, Tools & Templates