Robert Statsky

I think of account allocation as an art. How you determine how to structure the customer base, and make sure your customers are cared for is paramount to how you execute your engagement model.

First you need to determine what type of customer base you have, what they are paying, what the average contract value is and what type of experience is necessary for your product or service. You can be a company that makes $5,000,000 in ARR but only has 50 customers. Or you could have the same amount of ARR and have 1000 customers or even just 25 customers.

So, understand your business, and what requirements are needed of a CS team.

Do you care about the customer experience? What are you going to have your CSMs do? What are their responsibilities and why do you feel you need a team.

If you are only at a point where it is, “keep everyone happy” you allocation could be a lot simpler and not require that much thought. You could use your healthscore to prioritize the customers.

Organizing your allocation in excel or in google sheets is the first step.

In addition, its important to develop a strategy for how you will handle new accounts coming in and churned accounts coming out.

Make sure to setup a regular cadence where someone will audit the book of business to ensure its balanced across the team and accurate.

Once you know what capacity is for your team, what you want your experience to be, and how you want to ensure you are covered you should prioritize your accounts into tiers.

Align that up with the experience you currently have or plan to hire based upon the needs of the business.

What qualities and characteristics are needed for your CSMs? What do they need to be good at? Could they have generalist skillsets or do they need to be more specialized?

You can work on allocation endlessly and still not segment your customer base in a way that moves the needle. So make sure to think through a number of these scenarios and then test it out over time to see if it creates and impact on your numbers.

Do not get stuck overanalyzing the data. There are oftentimes a number of ways you can allocate the accounts successfully.

However, you must think through all of this before you begin the process and then once you commit, stick with it for a period of time at least long enough to measure impact before you change the books of business again.

As always, here is what Chat GPT has to say:

I’ve used the following example: Here’s a suggested approach for allocating customer accounts based on your $10,000,000 in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) and a team of 10 Customer Success Managers (CSMs). Now that could be a lot of CSMs, or a small amount of CSMs. You will probably have a small team if you are only at $10,000,000 ARR. That said, if you are an enterprise company, its possible you have a small number of customers, so you might plan your headcount and account allocation based upon the type of accounts you have and the needed headcount.

Before you allocate, do capacity planning, or at least do it at the same time.

Allocating customer accounts across your Customer Success team is a critical decision that impacts customer engagement, satisfaction, and ultimately, retention.

1. Segment Customers:

• Segment your customers based on factors such as ARR, industry, complexity, and strategic importance. This segmentation helps in assigning appropriate attention and resources to different customer groups.

2. Define Customer Tiers:

• Create tiers or categories of customers based on their ARR or other relevant criteria. For example:
  • Tier 1 (High-Touch): Top revenue-generating and strategic accounts.
  • Tier 2 (Mid-Touch): Mid-level revenue accounts with growth potential.
  • Tier 3 (Low-Touch): Lower revenue accounts with standardized needs.

3. Assign Strategic Accounts:

• Assign your highest-revenue and most strategic accounts to your most experienced and skilled CSMs. These accounts require personalized attention, proactive engagement, and strategic planning.

4. Distribute Workload Equitably:

• Ensure an equitable distribution of customer accounts among CSMs. Consider factors such as account complexity, industry specialization, and the individual strengths of CSMs to balance the workload.

5. Consider Specialization:

• If your SaaS product serves multiple industries or has specific features relevant to certain sectors, consider assigning CSMs based on specialization. This allows CSMs to develop expertise in a particular domain.

6. Promote Collaboration:

• Encourage collaboration and knowledge-sharing among the CSMs. Implement a culture where CSMs can collaborate on strategic accounts, share best practices, and collectively contribute to customer success.

7. Implement a Hybrid Model:

• Consider implementing a hybrid model where each CSM manages a mix of high-touch and mid/low-touch accounts. This approach allows CSMs to balance their workload and provides exposure to different types of customers.

8. Monitor Customer Health:

• Regularly monitor customer health metrics and adjust account assignments based on customer needs and satisfaction levels. Proactively identify accounts that may require additional attention or intervention.

9. Utilize Technology:

• Leverage customer success software and technology tools to optimize account management. Automation can streamline routine tasks, allowing CSMs to focus on high-value interactions and strategic initiatives.

10. Regularly Review and Adjust:

- Conduct regular reviews of customer account allocations. As your ARR and customer base evolve, be prepared to adjust the allocation strategy to align with changing business priorities.

11. Invest in Training and Development:

- Provide ongoing training and development opportunities for your CSMs. This ensures that they stay informed about product updates, industry trends, and customer success best practices.

12. Customer Feedback Loop:

- Establish a customer feedback loop to gather insights into CSM performance and customer satisfaction. Use this feedback to identify areas for improvement and recognize outstanding contributions.

13. Cross-Functional Collaboration:

- Foster collaboration with other departments, such as Sales, Marketing, and Product Development. Cross-functional collaboration enhances the overall customer experience and contributes to long-term success.

14. Promote Customer Advocacy:

- Encourage CSMs to identify and nurture customer advocates within their accounts. Satisfied customers can become valuable references, case study participants, or contributors to marketing efforts.

15. Monitor and Manage Renewals:

- Assign CSMs responsibilities related to renewal management. Ensure that each CSM is actively engaged in understanding customer needs, addressing concerns, and promoting the value of your SaaS product for renewals.

By following these guidelines, you can create a balanced and strategic allocation of customer accounts across your Customer Success team, ensuring that each CSM is equipped to deliver exceptional value to your customers and contribute to the overall success of your SaaS company.