Why is CPD (Continuing Professional Development) important?
Training can be provided either proactively or reactively. Reactive training is where you (or your team) identify a specific need – a gap in knowledge or skills – and then look for the right training package to fill that gap. But proactive training is where you already have a comprehensive training program in place so that when a learning requirement is uncovered the training is right there, instantly ready to be learned.
Better still, because the training is already there, and because (as a proactive and progressive team leader) you encourage your team to continue to grow their knowledge and skills on an ongoing basis rather than waiting until they have a specific need, many times the necessary knowledge or skill has already been absorbed.
What is “CPD Advantage Membership”?
Put simply, CPD Advantage Membership is the Practical CSM Academy membership level that full Academy members transfer onto in Year Two onwards. The difference with Advantage Membership is that it enables your team members to retain and renew their existing Certified CSM Professional (CCSMP) certifications and continue with their CPD activities without the need to pay for the CCSMP program a second time.
Below are the core benefits of 1 year CPD Advantage Membership for your team members:
★ 100h+ of CPD Paths content (Mini Courses)
★ 700+ CS Training Assets in the library
★ Access to our schedule of Live Training events
★ Access to our Successopedia functionality
★ Retain your existing CCSMP certifications or continue to complete the CCSMP program (if necessary)
★ Renew your Level 4 certification for a further 12 months
Contents of the CPD Advantage Membership
See what you get by joining the Practical CSM Academy
Live Learning
Interact with peers and instructors.
Every month, we provide a smorgasbord of all sorts of live events for our members to select from and register to attend. These include training lessons, skills workshops, lectures, interviews with senior thought leaders, mentoring sessions, and much more.
2023 Live Events Series
CPD Library
Within our content library, we have thousands of bite-sized learning assets including videos, podcasts, articles, checklists, templates and more. The content includes not just core learning about Customer Success Management but also broader and deeper learning on a wide range of connected topics. Our fully indexed and searchable database allows you to quickly and easily access all sorts of learning assets relating to the precise subject matter you need.
CPD Paths (Mini Courses)
With so many learning assets to choose from, how do you know which content to select for your own studies? For Team Managers, how do you make sure your team are maximizing the ROI from your investment by learning the right things, in the right order, and at the right time?
A CPD Path is a list of training assets on a specific topic that we have pre-assembled. You can use CPD Paths to quickly access training on topics of interest and importance to you. As a Team manager, you can use CPD Paths to assign learning assets on a chosen topic to your team members with one button press.
Learners can track their progress through their CPD Paths in the Dashboard, and all hours completed will contribute towards CPD targets. Similarly, Team Managers can monitor each team member’s progress through each CPD Path they assign.
CPD Paths takes a lot of the guesswork out of using the CPD library and enables more time to be made available for doing the learning by reducing the time taken to decide on what learning to do.
Essential Skills for CS Professionals CPD Path
Basic Skills for CSMs
Our Basic Skills for CSMs program covers each of the fundamental skill areas that a successful Customer Success Manager will draw upon to do their job well. Containing a wide range of skills from problem identification to dealing with difficulties, the Basic Skills for CSMs program is a comprehensive range of courses, teaching you the basics of each essential skill to help you achieve value for your customers.
Begin your journey to becoming an effective CSM who drives growth, reduces churn, and generates rapid value for customers and your own company!
★ Change Management
★ Listening & Questioning
★ Stakeholder Management
★ Data Analysis & Reporting
★ Problem Solving
★ Leadership & Negotiation
★ Time Management
★ Storytelling
Becoming the Best Possible CSM CPD Path
The basics are the foundations, and now that you have built your foundation, it is time to grow to the next stage and become the best possible CSM that you can be.
In the first section of the Essential Skills for CSMs program, you were introduced to the essential personal skills necessary for a Customer Success Manager to succeed in their role. But now you have learned these skills, how can you put them into practice and start generating value for your customers and (ultimately) for your own company? Becoming the Best Possible CSM discusses how to utilize those skills to drive value – the best way.
★ Become the Best Possible CSM
★ Understand Customer Success Best Practices
★ Develop the Right Personal Qualities
★ Understand Your Customer
Ask a Coach
The “Ask a Coach” section is your students’ new best friend! Here is where they can look up jargon in our comprehensive glossary of CS-related terminology and get personalized help on any CS-related topic by sending their Customer Success Management-related questions to our panel of experts.