What is the one thing that SaaS businesses have in common? Yes, you got it. Customer success! Goes without saying, customer success resources break the internet with a humongous flow of information, but it is kind of at sixes and sevens. And that is why we have collated all the information here for your benefit. Find your single look-up useful resources right here. Let’s have a look at some of the books, blogs, certifications, groups, and whitepapers, etc. Further, some of these are going to save you some time and energy from browsing the internet for hours.
Books
Blogs
Blogs form a major part of our lives these days. Customer success blogs have a lot to do with customer success software and customer success association. Further, customer success blogs are as rewarding as they can get. Have a look at the top 10 customer success blogs. Aside from this, here are a few more on the cart.
- SixteenVentures – Lincoln Murphy is a leading customer success consultant and posts regularly on customer success and customer-centricity.
- The Success League – Since 2015, The Success League has helped hundreds of companies. In terms like reduce churn, drive expansion revenue, and improve customer satisfaction.
- SuccessCOACHING – SuccessCOACHING shifts the focus away from and practices that provide the “how” of delivering Customer Success.
- Desired Path – DesiredPath believes companies who organize their business around their customers.
- For entrepreneurs – David Skok enjoys posting articles that allow entrepreneurs to help them start their companies.
- SaaStr – Regarded as the largest web community of SaaS entrepreneurs and founders, So, it sees a monthly average of 2.5 million views across the globe.
- For Entrepreneurs – David Skok’s content with his 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur has got this blog a must-read rating as Customer Success is his key topic.
- The Customer Success Directory – To assist Customer Success professionals at all levels to locate needed content, services, technologies, etc.,
- CX Journey: This is a blog by CX Journey Inc., a customer experience strategy consulting firm. Also, it’s about customer experience, employee experience, customer service, the voice of the customer, and leadership.
- Tomasz Tunguz: Tomasz, a venture capitalist at Redpoint, covers many topics about the SaaS business, including customer success. It sheds light on data-driven blog posts about key questions facing startups.
Courses & Certifications / Training
- Customer Success Manager 101 – This course offered by Udemy is a choice for all. This fast-paced course demands only a little over an hour of your time. So, a definite yes to this!
- CSM Practice’s CS Navigator– This program is specially designed to provide insights, templates, and to improve your company’s existing processes. Interestingly, this provides a one-on-one coaching program for customer success executives. Also, this is one of the most helpful customer success resources you can follow.
- Cisco Customer Success Manager (DTCSM) by CISCO – This certification offers a solid framework to the takers. Moreover, it includes a core set of proven fundamental skills and knowledge that delivers immediate value to the customer relationship.
- CCXP Certification – Again, a much useful customer success resource, is this certification. So, it renders a means for individuals to obtain professional recognition of their higher levels of cognizance and customer experience discipline.
Twitter Handles to follow
LinkedIn Groups
- The Customer Success Forum – Basically, the customer success forum is a sub-set of customer success association. It offers a multitude of resources for customer relationship management.
- Customer Success – Like the adage, ‘Birds of the same feather, flock together’, you too can network with like-minded people. Further, get a chance to be a part of customer success. Moreover, you get to learn all of the customer lifecycles.
- Customer Success Managers in Action – This group has about 6000+ active members. It is another great place to bring together ideas, tactics, and strategies. Login to know the rest.
Online / Offline Communities / Forums
- Meetups – Some sort of customer success meetup happens on a regular basis. Meeting other customer success professionals and building relationships in your city itself just got easier. Moreover, it is one of the most simple and quick ways to make lasting connections.
- Reddit– Customer success resources can instantly be shared across Reddit. Further, this trending place is apt for you to find useful links and resources online. Not just that, you can also ask questions on the portal and answer other people’s messages or calls.
- Quora – Yet another friend of customer success resources, Quora can always be your go-to. The topic ‘Customer Success’ has over 2000+ followers. It is just the right place to get most of your answers, regardless of any question you can ask. Further, you can follow related pages like ‘Customer Satisfaction’ and ‘Customer Retention’ as well to know it all.
- Slack Communities – Without a doubt, Slack is taking a notch up. Moreover, it is hosting some of the most active communities out there. It is a great way to make new friends too. Not only that, but you can also always find the right people and chit-chat about your life as a customer success manager.
Events\Conferences\Tradeshows
- DX Summit – Date: October 12-14, 2020, Location: Huntington Beach, CA
- Customer Experience Summit – Date: August 11-13, 2020, Locations: Orlando, FL
- INBOUND – Date: August 18-21, 2020, Location: Boston, MA
- Customer Service & Experience Summit – Date: September 14-15,2020, Location: London, UK
- CX Singapore – Date: August 29, 2020, Location: Singapore
- Customer Service Revolution – Date: October 7-8, Location: Ohio
- Digital Experience Summit – Date: October 12-14, Location: Huntington Beach
- Dreamforce – Date: November 9-12, Location: San Francisco
Whitepapers
Newsletters
It is now the need of the hour to be alert and as updated you can be. And that is why we must thank the newsletters for doing that task even easier for us. Here is more to the top 10 customer success newsletters to help you stay updated on the latest in the customer success space. Additionally, the interested ones can sign-up to these and receive updates right in their mailbox.
- Keep The Customer – Keep The Customer is a repository of resources for Customer Success Professionals. Also, subscribe to this newsletter to learn about the top voices in the industry.
- Lucky Sevens – Every month, they scour the world – much like Indiana Jones – for the gems of the customer service world. So, expect this newsletter in the 3rd week of every month.
- PracticalCSM – Practical CSM is a monthly newsletter that provides an ongoing measurement of how one is doing at every step of the Customer Success journey.
- Chief Customer Officer Council – The ONLY newsletter geared exclusively for the CCO, but would add value for most in this space. Therefore, learn the best practices & critical strategies to drive solid business results.
- Enlightened Customers – The newsletter ‘Enlightened Customers’ helps Customer Success teams and leaders. Especially those looking for assistance with Customer Success strategies. Else, if they require Customer Success coaching.
Podcasts
Wouldn’t it be nice if all the individuals and organizations could hear from all the levels of customer success practitioners and be on the same page? Thankfully, we have podcasts. Moreover, it is now possible to help the customer experience leaders to know about the trends. Along with the common practices, and customer retention strategies too. Further, here is more to the list of top 10 customer success podcasts.
- CHURN.FM – Andrew was tired of hearing stories about some magical silver bullet that solved churn for company X. So, he launched Churn.fm. It is a podcast for the subscription economy pros. It helps to learn how the world’s fastest-growing companies are tackling churn and using retention to fuel their growth.
- Churn it up – Churn it up! is a podcast that provides tips and tricks from the best in customer success. Also, it’s perfect for anyone working on the frontlines of customer success and for account managers in any SaaS organization.
- Customer Success Manager – On each podcast, he is joined by Customer Success executives from all levels who discuss trends that will shape Customer Success in the future.
- Customer Bliss – Jeanne Bliss runs the one Customer Experience Podcast You Can’t Afford To Miss! “Real-world, straight talk, and realistic ideas from Customer Experience Leaders around the world.”
- The Jasons take on – The “Jasons Take On” webinar and podcast series offers fast-paced, insightful, and unplugged conversations with two leading “Jasons” in customer success. Also, each month they explore a new topic of interest in Customer Success.
Customer Success Leaders
In order to make a career out of customer success, there is something you need to know. You will probably need to know who are the voices leading the trending market. Also, LinkedIn is an excellent platform to keep yourself updated. What each of them has in common is a highly valuable workshop and training program. Though the generous customer success leaders could be many, some of these include:
- Jason Noble, Vice President, Global Customer Success, Vinli
- Sue Nabeth-Moore, Founder, Success Track Enterprise, Europe
- Ellie Wu, Senior Director, Customer Experience Transformation, SAP Concur, USA
- Dave Jackson, CEO, TheCustomer.Co, UK
- Mikael Blaisdell, Executive Director, Customer Success Association, USA
- Catherine Blackmore, Vice President, Global Customer Success, Oracle Marketing Cloud, USA
Final Take
Rightly quoted by Monique Steele, Director, Customer Success, Vend, “Don’t just think that the way things are now is the way things are always going to be. Read everything you can get your hands on and come up with some ways to improve. Get creative, talk to people in the industry, and find a mentor.”
At the end of the day, it is all about finding the right cliffs to hang on to. Not every bit of information could turn out to be useful to you. Also, the aforementioned curated list of customer success resources is sure to find you your right fit. So, get what you want and know where to find it.
Kaustubh Sangam is a Customer Success Analyst with 2 years of experience. Committed to delivering exceptional customer experiences and driving business growth. Proficient in leveraging data analysis to optimize customer success strategies.
Published July 27, 2020, Updated June 07, 2023
