Four Needs to Succeed in a Customer Success Role + How Their Leaders Deliver Them

What CSMs need is similar to what Customers need in their CSMs - they need support, they need coaching and guidance, they need to be challenged, they need tools and training, they need someone advocating for their success. In short, they need what I’ll call an Employee Success Manager (ESM). This isn’t a formal title or position. This is the role of the leader(s) responsible for the success of the CSMs at your company. And depending on the growth stage of your company, you may have supportive roles that also need to be measured by their ability to help CSMs succeed in their role with Customers (e.g., enablement, operations, advocacy).

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This is the fifth post in a series of articles about the “5 Questions to Answer to Clearly Define the Role of a Customer Success Manager”.

The first question: “Why Does a CSM Exist at Our Company?”

The second question: “What is a CSM Responsible For?”

The third question: “How Do CSMs Do Their Job Really Well?”

This article is focused on the fourth question to ask when clarifying the role of CSMs:

What do CSMs need to do their job well?

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I recently finished a fantastic book by CX expert, Jeanne Bliss, that I got from my friends at UserIQ, Ashley Michael and Erika Childers. After the introductory chapter of “Would You Do That To Your Mother?: The ‘Make Mom Proud’ Standard for How to Treat Your Customers”, the very first point she makes is that you can recognize the best Customer service companies by the way they treat their employees.

“The power of all of the ‘make-mom-proud’ companies is that they find people whose upbringing and values align with what they want their company to stand for. And then they enable them to bring that version of themselves to work…. Selecting who will, and will not, become members of these companies is job number one…. But after that, the focus is on helping them prosper.” ~ Jeanne Bliss

As we enable our CSMs to give their best and to focus on the Customers, they deliver indisputable value and exceptional experiences to Customers. And when CSMs deliver that value and those memorable experiences to Customers, we position the company to achieve its greatest outcomes through retention and expansion of revenue, a reputable brand in the market, and the extension of our company’s mission.

In essence, when we, as leaders, act as Multipliers, as author Liz Wiseman calls it, and extract the full capabilities of every CSM, we maximize the value they bring to Customers, to the company, to the team, and to themselves. Employee outcomes lead to Customer outcomes, which lead to company outcomes.

So, if enabling CSMs to be at their best is at the core of driving these various outcomes, how do we practically do that?

Below is an operating framework I’ve created to regularly assess our maturity as a team and to develop our team in critical areas (which obviously depends on company growth stage). These are the essential four operational dimensions that CSMs need to prosper.

* There are obviously other cross-functional factors that contribute to the overall experience of CSMs. The expectations of what we can deliver that are initially set in marketing messaging and then again in the sales cycle impact the level of expectations the CSM must manage to. How the product delivers the expected value impacts the reliability and trust of Customers and will impact the type of work that a CSM must focus on with any given Customer (i.e., fixing vs. solutioning).

Organizational Alignment for Clarity and Unity:

• Do your CSMs have a clear understanding of your company “why” (or vision) - the BIG pain you’re trying to solve or the BIG gain you’re trying to create for your target market?
• Do your CSMs have a clear understanding of company mission and strategy - how you will accomplish your big “why”?
• Do your CSMs have a clear understanding of your team purpose - the critical part your team plays in delivering on the big “why”?
• Do your CSMs have a clear understanding of the unique expectations of their role in fulfilling the mission? (And this is what this whole series of articles is all about!)
• Do your CSMs have a clear understanding of the operating principles that comprehensively reflect your distinct cultural expectations?

Operational Infrastructure for Efficiency and Scalability:

• Are your CSMs equipped with the technologies they need to act quickly and consistently for Customers?
• Are you CSMs equipped with the data and insights they need to prioritize their work based on real-time Customer data?
• Are your CSMs equipped with clear processes for common tasks to eliminate guesswork and to enable focus on high-value work?
• Are your CSMs equipped with reliable documentation that they can go back to and fully trust to use?

Team Enablement for Quality and Consistency:

• Are you careful and intentional in who you invite to represent you, your team, and your company in your hiring? (This is one thing I will always slow down for to make sure we’ve made a solid decision. If this is rushed and there are eventual regrets, it can be very expensive.)
• Are you enabling your CSMs with the same messaging and content that is used in Marketing and Sales and regularly practicing how to clearly articulate the value of your product and solutions? Are they equipped with the stories to tell, the objections to handle, and the questions to answer with the Customers?
• Are you regularly enabling your CSMs with training and coaching related to industry knowledge, product knowledge, client knowledge, company knowledge, and the core mindsets and skillsets for your CSM role?
• Are you enabling your CSMs with the tools and templates of practices that you know work based on your multiple years of experience working with your specific Customer base (e.g., playbooks, guides, email campaigns)?
• Are you enabling your CSMs with data-based feedback (e.g., performance dashboards) on how well they are performing in relation to the role expectations and target metrics (the topic of my next post)?

Relational Engagement for Longevity and Loyalty:

• Are you developing a sincere, supportive relationship with each of your CSMs?
• Are you fostering a cohesive environment for your team so they feel a sense of community, belonging, and support?
• Are you regularly providing personalized recognition and rewards to your CSMs to positively reinforce desired behaviors?
• Are you regularly providing unexpected delight to your CSMs to show that you value their contributions and your relationship with them?

What is the purpose of all of this?

The one-word summary: Productivity.

Matt Plummer and Jo Wilson define productivity as “the amount of impact that the work you produce in a given time can have” (Harvard Business Review, Winter 2018). By creating clarity and unified direction, operational infrastructure to be efficient and to scale, training and tools for consistent quality of services, and authentic, meaningful relationships, we provide the best-possible situation for our CSMs to thrive and prosper. And when CSMs prosper in their role, there is incredible opportunity for incredible impact - on Customers, on the company, on the team, on their own careers.

“Genius is in the idea. Impact, however, comes from action.” ~ Simon Sinek

So, let’s get to work. This takes patient persistence to build. Leaders are Employee Success Managers and should treat their CSMs as their Customers to provide the greatest possible employee experience so that they are driven to produce the greatest possible outcomes. That is impact. That is employee success.

Organizational Alignment + Operational Infrastructure + Team Enablement + Relational Engagement = Productivity = Impact = Employee Success.

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Bonus Content:

One of the most reliable tools for measuring employee engagement is a simple 12-question assessment created by Gallup called the Q12. Gallup defines engaged employees as “those who are involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace.”

Below are those 12 questions within the framework used above to demonstrate that this framework includes proven ways of identifying and developing employee engagement.

Organizational Alignment

• The mission or purpose of my company make me feel my job is important.
• I know what’s expected of me at work.

Operational Infrastructure

• I have the materials and equipment I need to do my job right.

Team Enablement

• I have the materials and equipment I need to do my job right.
• In the last year, I have had experiences to learn and grow.
• There is someone at work who encourages my development.
• My co-workers are committed to doing quality work.
• At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do very best every day.
• In the last six months, someone has talked to me about my progress.

Relational Engagement

• My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
• My opinions seem to count.
• I have a best friend at work.
• I received praise or recognition for doing good work in the past 7 days.