I have been thinking a lot about the unique dynamics of the Customer Success Manager (CSM) role lately, and I believe many of the dynamics are not well understood. I’ve come to some new realizations that I look forward to outlining in upcoming articles. Let me know what you think.
I have always known that CSMs are rare birds. Customer Success sits in the middle of the organization managing customers every day, and this requires a skill set that is very diverse and unique. It is a skill set unlike any other role because of what is asked of the people who sit in the role. Customer Success teams need to have strong internal relationships with just about every other functional team and in turn manage all of the customer dynamics that surface cross-functionally. From knowing the ins and outs of the product, to putting out a support fire, addressing and fixing billing issues, teaching customers how to do something new, and managing growth and renewal conversations. They do it all and when you think about it, this reality for CSMs requires good project management skills.
Typically the role and title of Project Manager lives within Services organizations. This can manifest itself in a few ways with two of the most popular being an Implementation Manager or a Program Manager. I contend that CSMs are also project managers. They may not have the project management title or certifications but they are doing project management-like work. Think about it. Managing the transition from Sales to CS is a small project. Managing a QBR (quarterly business review) or EBR (executive business review) is a project. Managing a customer’s success plan throughout the lifecycle is a project. Managing an upsell cycle is a project. Managing the promotion and adoption of a new solution and business outcome is a project. Managing a renewal cycle is a project. Not to mention the management of time overall across these use cases. Practically everything they do is a project and with this, project management is required.
The CSM role is rooted in use cases that require the orchestration of work with internal and customer stakeholders. They are constantly juggling customer needs, product training, billing questions and issues, sales and renewal goals, and adoption and optimization. We ask them to do a lot, and in the future I believe it will be more important to train them on how to effectively manage projects. I anticipate project management becoming a core skill set for successful Customer Success Managers in the future.
