In CS leadership you are constantly selling value to your team, the customers and to your own executives.
It’s one of the only positions where you consistently have to prove your job is relevant. The wins are never great enough, and the losses sting and you hold that responsibility each and every time.
I do not want to say it is a thankless job because you are helping customers, you are leading a team, you are driving efficiency and growth and value and you are an important part of the SaaS organization.
But you must be honest with yourself, and understand that it can be difficult at times to fully define the value you bring. When hard numbers are at play, you must have that data available and it must be tied to the revenue otherwise you will get more questions than praise.
Customers want to see clear ROI on their investment. Executives want to know how Customer Success impacts retention, expansion, and revenue. Your team wants to believe the activities you have them doing make sense. You want to break through to your team and make sure you’re not getting eye-rolls or “this person just doesn’t understand the reality of the situation.”
Get the narrative right and CS goes from “cost center” to growth driver. But you must make sure there is validity to what you are doing, you’re not using fuzzy math and that you are pushing forward on all your interactions.
I think it can be an incredibly rewarding position if you are firing on all cylinders. The good times outweigh the bad, and you can really make an impact with customers and on the company if executing the right way.
But you must be vigilant and you must make sure your activities are highly publicized internally, on your team, and with the customer.
Share the customer outcomes, share the impact to the bottom line, share the value, and make sure to praise and support your team.
Robert Statsky 