This content was presented to a group of Customer Success Professionals at the Customer Success Toronto MeetUp in March 2019. Description: Whether you’re a new CSM or experienced in Customer Success, this session is focused on what you need to know to transform your career in CS and why taking a job in Customer Success will be the smartest move of your career! Join us to learn how to craft your own personal plan to success.

1. TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 2019
TRANSFORMING
YOUR CAREER IN
CUSTOMER
SUCCESS
Andrea Webb
Sr. Customer Success Manager
LinkedIn Talent Solutions

2. • About Me / Things You Should Know
• Why Customer Success?
• Set Your Intention
• Tips for Success
• Your Mission
• Q & A
TODAY'S
AGENDA
WHAT WE'LL COVER

3. Who is Andrea?
• Prior to joining LinkedIn I was a Recruiter for 4 years!
• Been a CSM for 4+ years – worked with customers across
multiple segments and company sizes. Currently partnered
with Staffing.
• Part of a small team of facilitators that host New Hire
Onboarding for the Global Talent Solutions Customer Success
team.
• Passion for community and empowering others to achieve
their full potential.
• Pursuing a Certificate in Adult Learning & Development at
OISE at U of T.
• I have a rescue cat named Riff.
• Just started watching Game of Thrones. Boo Joffrey!

4. Other things you should know

5. CUSTOMER SUCCESS

6. CUSTOMER
SUCCESS
LANDSCAPE
WHY CUSTOMER SUCCESS?
• Number 6 on LinkedIn's Most Promising Jobs of 2019
• Career Advancement Score (out of 10): 9
• Top Skills: Customer Relationship Management, Salesforce, Software-as-a-Service,
Customer Satisfaction, Cloud Computing
• “Customer success is the biggest emerging growth opportunity in business.” – Hubspot
• ~193,000 professionals with “Customer Success Manager” title on LinkedIn
https://blog.linkedin.com/2019/january/10/linkedins-most-promising-jobs-of-2019
https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-success

7. What is your goal?
SET AN INTENTION

8. IDENTIFY GAPS TO YOUR GOAL. CREATE AN ACTION PLAN.
TIPS FOR SUCCESS AS A CSM.

9. 1) I.P.A.
...No, not the beer
INQUISITIVE
Ask questions to uncover pain points and
understand customer needs.
Understanding = providing the right
solution.
PROACTIVE
Practice proactive engagement with
customers. Demonstrate value early.
Proactive = customer success, reactive –
customer support.
ADAPTABLE
The best CSM's excel in an environment
of change.
I
P
A

10. 2) INVEST IN YOUR INTERNAL
RELATIONSHIPS
• Customer success is NOT solely the job of the CSM
• Sales <-> CSM Relationship is critical
• Develop a strong partnership with Product,
Customer Marketing and Customer Support
• Act as SME for your team, share what you learn,
find ways to elevate & recognize your teammates

11. 3) FOCUS ON YOUR TRUE NORTH
• Metrics that matter – Metrics should be an
indicator of customer health, actions taken by
the CSM should impact these metrics
• Listen to your customer and anchor on the
success plan - CCP
• Focus on what you can control
• Document everything

12. 4) SCALE WITHOUT SACRIFICING EXPERIENCE
• Territory Planning & Account Prioritization - ~2100 end users, identify big bets & risk accounts, low touch
accounts
• Sendbloom

13. 5) CELEBRATE YOUR
CUSTOMERS

14. 6) BUILD YOUR NETWORK, SHARE &
COLLABORATE
• Attend CS & Industry Events – Grow
your network through live events.
Build your brand by presenting or
sitting on a panel!
• Create an internal CSM Community –
Created to foster collaboration and
sharing of best practices.
• LinkedIn Groups – Nearly 600
Customer Success groups on
LinkedIn

15. 7) Close your skills gap & identify
your differentiators
Make your intention known
• Share your intention & action plan
with your manager and mentor(s).
Seek opportunities to work on
projects to fill any skills gaps.
Stay one step ahead
• Know what your competitors are up to
• Monitor industry trends
• Brush up your soft skills & get creative
LinkedIn Learning
• Extensive online learning library with
thousands of videos and professional
learning content to help you get where you
want to be.

16. 8) WORDS TO PONDER
"Become a master of
your current role before
looking to advance."
MIKE GAMSON

17. 9) Your mission…
Make your intention known
• Share your intention with your manager,
mentor(s) and trusted members of your network
• Identify gaps to achieving your goal and create
an action plan
Build your network
• Speak to at least 2 other CSM’s at this
MeetUp
• Connect with those 2 people for a future
coffee meeting or collaboration opportunity
• Where to start with Customer Success
• Specialization in Customer Success
• Prevent Customer Success from being a silo, and
make it part of the culture
Access these LinkedIn
Learning courses – on us!

18. Let’s connect!
THANK YOU!
INSTAGRAM
@ay_dub
TWITTER
@andreawebb1
LINKEDIN
linkedin.com/in/andreawebb1