What does a customer success manager do?

What is a Customer Success Manager?

A customer success manager represents an online company or brand, and is the primary point of contact for any customer concerns regarding product, support, or billing.

Their purpose is to provide the best customer experience possible, which in turn results in customer retention and expansion. This is a fairly new and vital role that has been created due to the need for a relationship product in the SaaS/Cloud space.

What does a Customer Success Manager do?

The customer success manager's first priority is to be in tune with what the customer needs and what their challenges are. The ultimate goal is to sustain a company's profitability and growth; this can only be done by keeping the customer satisfied, and by making it easy for the customer to take maximum advantage of the product or service they have purchased.

A customer success manager will integrate:

• Technology - by working with the technology department to create the tools the customer needs
• Sales & Marketing - by working with the marketing department to find leads that will turn into valuable assets, and/or by creating and implementing lead generation campaigns and monitoring their success
• Training & Support - to make sure that all customers are taken through the system and trained in the product's use, ensuring a fully engaged, positive and valuable experience
• Data Analysis - to collect, analyze and use data to make the customers' experience consistent and seamless
• Policies - to help meet company goals - these policies will help to ensure customer satisfaction so that customers continue to purchase from the company, and recommend others to do so as well
• Campaigns - so as to obtain feedback/suggestions from customers in order to determine what the company is doing right or wrong, and what might need to change in order to increase customer satisfaction and retention

For any online business, acquiring a customer is only the beginning in what must be a long-term, data-driven, and strategical relationship. By integrating technology, sales & marketing, training, support, and exceptional customer service, the customer success manager (and team) can build a successful and long lasting relationship between the customer and the business. This role is a growing company's solution to customer development, customer retention, and customer expansion.

What is the workplace of a Customer Success Manager like?

Customer success managers are mainly found in technical companies, specifically in software. They typically work in an office-type setting — the work environment is usually quite casual, but very focused and driven. Communication with customers is done through remote channels, such as telephone and Zoom.

Customer success managers may also supervise other staff and report to a general business manager. They may be asked to perform basic human resource tasks such as hiring and training new hires.