Jason Munk’s Post

What choice does this CSM make? It’s the end of the quarter, and a CSM and her teammates are under pressure to finish strong. As part of the transition to handling more Account Management responsibilities this year, her VP instituted quotas and commissions for renewals and expansions. She’s coming up short. One of her accounts is up for renewal this month, and while she’s enjoyed a wonderful relationship with them, product reliability problems have recently complicated matters. She quoted a new add-on product, but that up-sell is now at risk, along with the contract extension. She must get with Product to escalate the issues and arrange a series of meetings with the account’s decision-makers to convince them the bugs will be fixed in short order. Renewing $100K this month will beat her quota. She’ll receive a much-needed bonus and lavish praise from her boss. At the same time, however, she was just assigned a new, monster $500K account. The sales rep worked for months to get it over the line, and she needs to begin onboarding as soon as possible. An experienced CSM, she knows what starts right, stays right. Meeting the key players, learning how each defines value, and ensuring her team delivers it quickly makes all the difference. Time is of the essence, but under the new compensation system, anything she does now won’t pay off until a year from now. The CSM’s time is extremely limited. She can’t get additional help because her peers are just as busy. She only has time to focus on one account during the final two weeks of the quarter, and trying to juggle both puts each at risk. It’s a dilemma. What does she do? #customersuccess #customersuccessmanagement #cco #revenueoperations

For the last 10 months, I have been leading a project to help a brand buy and implement SaaS products to completely transform the way they operate and improve their customer experience. In that time, I have been interacting with CSM's and Implementation Consultants. Here are my observations now that I have lived both sides of these roles. 1. CSM's have way too many accounts to do a good job. The amount of layoffs and conversations in CSM communities tell this story anecdotally. It is also now my experience as a customer who knows what a great CSM with a manageable workload can accomplish. 2. As the CSM role has shifted to a heavily revenue focused one, the voice of the customer has suffered when it comes to operational and usability challenges. Their comp plan drives their behavior. The issue here is that unhappy customers don't grow. 3. A poor sales to services handover process is immediately obvious. The post-sales team should already know why a customer bought the product, and the outcomes they hope to achieve. Alignment in the GTM team is critical. 4. Get on a call! I have been on so many email threads that go back and forth multiple times without meaningful progress. Days have been lost troubleshooting, testing, and waiting. A 30 minute live session would have fixed the issue and led to a different perception of the "partnership" B2B companies claim to want. 5. Have a documented escalation path. On more than one occasion, I have had to use LinkedIn to find someone in a senior leadership position and ask for help as a current customer. This is also in the best interest of the account team. No one wants to get blindsided by bad feedback from multiple levels above. Walking a mile in a customers' shoes has been an invaluable learning opportunity. If I find myself leading a post-sales team again in the future, these are the experiences that I will be bringing with me.

This is where mapping out the customer lifecycle- from prospect to churn- is so crucial. If you cannot establish the success metrics at each stage, and ensure customer buy in of the goals associated with those metrics, how in the world can you hold ANYONE accountable for outcomes? DM me for my answer :-)

Everyone is asking whether CS should own renewals and upsell.  Here is what happens if it doesn't. 👇 It’s not good.  I spoke to an Enterprise CSM yesterday about some changes happening in her company. → Renewals and upsells are moving out of CS and back into Sales. → Account Managers will now handle the commercial part of CS’ role. This move is interesting, as it runs counter to what most CRO’s are doing. → Renewals and upsells are increasingly owned by CS, which in some cases means they own a quota for the first time. → Sales continues to own new business and cross-sell to new business units in existing customers. ________________ My friend wanted to know what I thought of this.. First, I don’t have nearly enough information to comment on whether this is a good move or not. I assume they have capable leaders and they have their reasons. There is no right answer. That said, I told her what I would tell my son or daughter if they found themselves in this situation. Get out. I’ve been a part of two companies that did this and this is what I saw… → CS becomes the dumping ground for everything AMs don’t want to do. → CS becomes the scapegoat for every customer that down-sells or leaves. → CS becomes a cost center that will do nothing but shrink. But perhaps the most interesting question behind this move is…why? Because in my experience, if you ask why enough times to understand the rationale behind the move, you eventually end up at… → Leadership does not trust CS. → Leadership does not understand CS. → Leadership does not respect CS. And if those things are true, things are about to get a lot worse before they get better. CS stepping up with more commercial responsibility is not a trend or a nice-to-have. It’s the only way to survive. 📩 Want more? Try my free newsletter. Click the link in my profile. 🔔 Follow me, Bob Mathers, for more. 🎙 Listen to the Growth Mixtape Podcast with Bob Mathers.

I've run #CS teams with a $10m ARR base. With $50m. With $300m+. Here are 3 difference and 3 similarities to be prepared for as you scale throughout your career in post-sales: 𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 1️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 "𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬" We often measure things in % or per unit numbers, i.e. "NRR target is 110 %", "5 logins/customer". But when the scale of the renewal base increases substantially, each %-point NRR is massive in real numbers. 1 %+ NRR on $20m is $0.2m, which is very different than +1 % NRR on $300m, which is $3m. Even if you have more people etc, planning for adding an extra +3m ARR is different than +0.2m ARR. 2️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬. As things scale, your ability to impact results changes, and most importantly, the 𝐰𝐚𝐲 you impact results changes. You can no longer "control" things on the ground, or "jump in" on customer cases at a high rate. Instead you need to go from 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩, and you need to impact results through your managers and people. 3️⃣ 𝐒𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬. As you grow, you have to move from "figuring it out" to methodologies. From the "art of CS" to the "science of CS". Inevitably, as your CS org. and customer base grows, you will need to ensure that the systems put in place will ensure a baseline level of standards and results. 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 1️⃣ 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. The different parts that make up the whole - regardless if you have a $10m ARR or $100m ARR renewal base - is at the end of the day always customers. Customers that you need to create value for. Value that is proven out when they renew or grow with you. Don't forget that. 2️⃣ 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. Ok, if you are in a rare company where the product is truly self-serve/PLG, awesome and no CS is ever needed...then this doesn't apply to you. But for most CS orgs, the importance of people is always there. Don't forget to build your team around the right people and structure them to best serve your customers and goals. On all levels, that can make or break your success. 3️⃣ 𝐍𝐑𝐑 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐒 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜. Even though we like to overcomplicate things sometimes, or pretend that context doesn't matter, the truth is that Net Revenue Retention (NRR), is the best unifying metric in CS. And yes, of course, good NRR that is based on terrible GRR and massive expansion is not a good thing. But outside of these examples of "of course's", NRR is still king at all sizes. What are some other differences and similarities you have seen as part of different-sized CS orgs? Share! 𝘗.𝘚. 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘚 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘙𝘙, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘋𝘔 𝘮𝘦! *** 🛎️ If you enjoy my content, follow me for more ♻️ Repost to share with your network #customersuccess #saas #revsetter

When was the last time the CSM for a product you use reached out to you for any of the following reasons: 1) to inquire about a role on your website that you're hiring for, and ask if they could maybe send any candidates your way 2) to congratulate you / your team on top notch usage or milestones of the product 3) for a heads up that they sent you a small gift in the mail through Sendoso just cuz... 4) to recognize you / your company around positive news / PR / award recently won 5) to reference a recent post you made on linkedin + share their thoughts on it 6) with a suggestion or recommendation to another vendor you might consider using, based on the needs you have expressed within your business Perhaps the really really good CSMs have engaged in this sort of interaction with you recently. But I'm assuming you are not on the recieiving end of it very often. Any CSM can send an email at 90 / 180 days to do a check-in / QBR, and share some sort of usage report. and YES, that's a critical part of the role. But if you really want to establish better relationships with clients, set aside the CSM checklist now and then, and engage human to human. Friends, this is a huge unlock for CSMs - leading to stronger relationships, generating better responsiveness from clients, increasing ability to multi thread, and positioning your service to be "taken with" if your POC leaves for another company. If my CSM interacts with me in some of the ways above, I view them as a partner (not a vendor) and thus... -when they wanna do a QBR, I inherently agree -when they reach out, I respectfully reply post haste -when they ask for a referral, I strongly consider it -when they inquire about agreed upon implementation / adoption milestones, I'm accountable. PS - this type of work does NOT have to require lots of time. If you're smart with alerts / zaps / time blocking, you can gather the info you need on your book of accounts with ease, and then spend the meat of your time in thoughtful, personal engagement.

CSMs make or break your experience with a software vendor but with much less glory and recognition (and $$) than their sales counterparts. Similar to how employees don't leave companies, they leave managers... the same can be true with customers and account management of their SaaS. This is your reminder to recognize an effective CSM by emailing their manager and getting really specific on why they should be recognized for their hard work. I typically do this right after a supportive biweekly sync (that didn't feel like an obligatory time sink) or when a CSM has gone out of their way to make my life easier. It's not hard to spot the CSMs that actually care VS the ones that don't. REWARD the ones that care. --- Example email addressed to your favorite CSM's manager that you should send right now: "X has been putting in extra work to make me successful with Y platform (include example). I feel much better about our partnership with them in place. Just wanted to send a quick note to encourage you to recognize and reward them accordingly for their strategic approach."

Let’s nerd out and talk about the metrics in your comp plan for #CustomerSuccess managers. I’ve been thinking about this as we work together with our new Chief Customer Officer Brent Krempges and new Chief Revenue Officer Marilee Bear at Gainsight on our 2025 strategy. If a CSM is paid with 80% base and 20% bonus, the question is - what are the measures to calculate the bonus? Here are a few options we’ve considered: 💰 CSMs Incentivized Purely On Renewals: This one is attractive, in that it ties CSMs clearly to financial performance. Indeed, the reason many companies have cut CSMs is a belief that they don’t tie to the bottom line. The downside is that in companies with multi-year contracts, a comp plan tied 100% to renewals could lead CSMs to focus 100% on the near-term and miss out on long-term risk. Of course, this can be counteracted with actively weekly management of the team. In addition, if a CSM inherits accounts (e.g., from a departing teammate) that are already going to churn, it can feel punitive to the individual. Some companies manage this issue through exceptions. 🤝 CSMs Incentivized Purely On a Shared Renewal Target: In this approach, CSMs share a collective target - perhaps across a segment or region. The upside here is to reduce the short-term focus and mitigate the issue of a CSM inheriting un-saveable clients. The downside is each CSM has a minimal impact on the overall number. 🚦 CSMs Incentivized Purely On Leading Indicators: Here, CSM bonuses are calculated based upon metrics like adoption, NetPromoter Score, ROI delivered and executive alignment. This approach focuses CSMs on the future. But skeptical CFOs might consider the CSMs in this model to be a cost center. 📈 CSMs Incentivized On Renewals AND Leading Indicators: This is a good blend. However, if the plan has too many “levers,” it can become dilutive. For example, if there are 5 metrics and the bonus is 20%, each metric only represents 4%. ❤️ CSMs Are On 100% Base: While this might sound crazy, some companies have chosen to believe CSMs are “intrinsically motivated,” versus driven purely by compensation. That being said, the goal for CSMs can be confusing for teammates. 💲 CSMs Are On the Company Bonus Plan: Here, the goal is to align CSMs with corporate goals. But this model can suffer from the same dilution as #2 above - but worse. There are many more considerations too: 🙋🏾♂️ Do CSMs get incentives for upsell and cross-sell - e.g., a SPIFF for leads? 🙋🏾♂️ Do CSMs get compensated for customer advocacy? 🙋🏾♂️ Do CSMs receive “accelerators” for overperformance? How do you measure the bonus calculation for your team?

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝟭 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿: - Ask the CSM who took over an account which has been in a year-long implementation, only to hear how inadequate, underwhelming the support from your org has been - Ask the CSM who meticulously prepared for the EBR/QBR, built great relationships with the “previous” champions & sponsors only to be ignored by the “new” exec who didn't bother to show up/ worse, openly questioned their competence, product ROI - Ask the CSM who worked hard to identify & put ARR retention strategies into play but was repeatedly undercut by market conditions, pricing changes & internal politics, making them look inept - Ask the CSM who worked tirelessly to retain customers, only to see them churn due to the product's failure to deliver on basic promises 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝟭 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵: - Ask the CSM who had to restart an entire month's work on implementation because the sales team over-promised capabilities - Ask the CSM who had to reschedule a crucial QBR multiple times due to customers' indifference, turning a strategic account red - Ask the CSM who watched multiple accounts' renewal month unleash hell(on ARR) because of a tech/support glitch that could have been avoided 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝟭 𝗱𝗮𝘆: - Ask the CSM who spent a full day on a conference call trying to explain why the latest software update ruined the customer's setup, why your bugs are a priority - Ask the CSM who lost a significant account in 24 hrs due to a careless mistake by another department, turning retention efforts into a farce - Ask the CSM who had to do damage control for a day when a key account threatened to pull out, all because of a billing error 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝟭 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿: - Ask the CSM who wasted the last 60 mins listening to a customer's complaints just because the customer was not trained properly on the product(right features & how to use it) - Ask the CSM who lost a customer's trust within an hr. due to a botched product demonstration that showcased not the product's strength but the org's lack of coordination - Ask the CSM who spent an hr. trying to reach a higher-up for an urgent decision, only to realize that their urgency matters to no one else in the org 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝟭 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 - Ask the CSM who, in 1 fleeting second, realized that all their efforts to retain, nurture that account could have been saved with 1 timely follow-up & action - Ask the CSM who knew instantly that this logo will churn eventually because of wrong sale You see Time in the SaaS world is a mirror reflecting not just failures & successes but the very soul of an org. Each tick of the clock is a judgment, each second a verdict, in the unrelenting court of business. #customersuccessmanager #csleaders #founders #b2b #saas #CS #CSM #customeroutcomes #customersuccess #CX

For all my CS warriors, past and present... You hold one of the most challenging, yet crucial and often underappreciated roles in a company. I want you to know that I see (or saw) and deeply value the vital work you do (or did). So, a simple Thank You. 💖🙏👊💪 #customersuccess #CS #CSleadership