What this book covers
Chapter 1, Optimizing Your Key Metrics for Growth, starts with the essential plank in any Customer Success platform, measurement. Why measurement? Because it is the only way that task execution and value delivery can be proven. And it’s the proof that ultimately validates for customers that they made the right decision in choosing a company to help them solve a business problem. So, this chapter discusses the various ways that CS measures progress in order to make iterative improvements on an ongoing basis. By Peter Armaly
Chapter 2, Building a Strong Foundation – Key Knowledge for Success, shares how to develop a foundational knowledge of the company’s product portfolio, something you will be assigned to support, along with what it takes to acquire and leverage industry knowledge that is relevant and can enhance the guidance you will provide to customers for how they can realize value from your company’s products, and finally, how to deepen your understanding for the technologies that underpin the products and the processes of your company and that are relevant to the customer’s journey toward success through your company’s product. By Peter Armaly
Chapter 3, Strategies for Effective Book of Business Management, explores what it means for a Customer Success Manager to effectively manage a book of business, which is the set of responsibilities and activities they are assigned for a group of customers. The chapter does this by explaining the differences between proactive and reactive activities, describing strategies for effective customer segmentation, explaining how the Customer Success practice can be scaled up to drive success for many more customers, and finally, crucially, how to build truly effective and collaborative sales partnerships. By Jeff Mar
Chapter 4, Streamlining Onboarding and Boosting Engagement, explores the pivotal role of onboarding processes and ongoing engagement strategies in ensuring sustained customer success. It emphasizes the need to provide a smooth transition for clients while continually nurturing their engagement to maximize the value they derive from the product or service. By Jeff Mar
Chapter 5, Building Referenceable Customers, underscores the significance of cultivating strong relationships with clients who can serve as references, testimonials, and advocates for the business, showcasing real-world success stories and fostering trust with prospective clients. By Jeff Mar
Chapter 6, Leveraging Data for Customer Success, emphasizes harnessing the power of data-driven insights and analytics to drive proactive strategies, personalize customer experiences, and deliver measurable value that aligns with each client’s unique needs and objectives. By Peter Armaly
Chapter 7, Building Your Customer Success Inner Circle, starts with a discussion of which relationships CSMs need to build internally, why each one is key to success and the success of the customer, and how to nurture each relationship with the end goal of providing combined value for the customer. You will come away with an understanding of how to build your internal dream team to amplify your impact on your clients far beyond what you could accomplish on your own. The way to weave together the efforts of disparate teams is to unlock the secret for getting them to relate to each other. This chapter breaks it down into four steps. Which relationships should you build? How should you build them? How should you leverage them? And how should you nurture them? By Jeff Mar
Chapter 8, Strategies for Retention and Expansion in Your Business, outlines strategic approaches to retaining customers and driving expansion opportunities. Through personalized strategies, value-driven engagements, and proactive account management, CSMs can nurture customer relationships, fuel growth, and unlock new opportunities. By Peter Armaly
Chapter 9, Mastering Crisis Management for Business Resilience, explores the types of crises you will experience as a CSM and how to partner with your peers internally and to ensure we maximize these opportunities to build trust and confidence with your clients. You will also come away with an understanding of how to prepare proactively and respond reactively to our clients when a crisis occurs. By Jeff Mar
Chapter 10, The Exciting Future of Customer Success, talks about why the future of customer success is exciting. The reader will learn why career growth opportunities in Customer Success, while suffering through a bit of the doldrums in 2023 and 2024, will rebound and improve. They will also learn that CS roles will reflect changes in the way business looks at CS. As more and more companies will be forced into prioritizing customer-centric strategies, CSM roles will become both different than they were and more vital than how many of us came to view them over the last decade. Finally, the reader will learn that the evolving landscape of customer success will require CSMs to acquire a diverse skill set, including data analytics, AI utilization, and an understanding of emerging technologies and how they might be used to advance the ability of customers to achieve their desired outcomes. By Peter Armaly
