Almost, all the time a customer’s first strategy is quintessential for any given business. You need to know what your customers want and need. In such cases, it is sometimes essential to hire a ‘particular’ whose sole intention is to build the customer base and focus on serving their interests. In industries like SaaS, the customer success manager is the one who is that ‘particular’.

But first, what is a customer success manager?

A customer success manager in SaaS is the one who drives a client from the sales funnel to the support phase. He becomes the point of contact for the prospects and renders them with timely value propositions.

Also, he is the mentor for your prospects and ensures and each of the processes run smoothly. And he bridges the gap between the support and the sales domain, as they are almost indispensable. Aside from being instrumental in crafting a positive image of an organization, he plays the role of a fulcrum in adding value and quality in the service.

So what are some of the customer success manager’s jobs? How a SaaS customer success manager’s job description looks like and how is the salary? Scroll on to explore. Here are 5 reasons to get you thinking about why there is a real need for a dedicated customer success manager.

1. Onboard newbie clients

Of the myriad roles a customer success manager plays, onboarding customers is preferably the biggest priority. And why shouldn’t that be? It is an extremely important step, wherein you educate your customers on the know-how’s of a product, and how it can benefit them.

Since it is the customer success manager (CSM) who has an adept understanding of a client’s business needs, they ensure that they are extracting the most value from the purchase. During the onboarding process, the CSM talks past feature implementation and strives to put forth a solution in that regard.

2. Initiates Upsells and Cross-sells

The prime objective of a CSM is to enhance a customer’s lifetime value. But what is an easy way to do so? Yes, that is very much possible with upselling and cross-selling. When a CSM dedicates to fulfilling customer goals, this evokes a golden opportunity to introduce premium products and services.

Not only that, when they see an ideal customer eligible for an upgrade, they quickly connect and explain to them why the premium up-gradation will turn out to be fruitful to them. Additionally, it always helps when you have a friendly rapport with your clients. This rapport aids them to totally trust your advice and reduces the chance of them churning away.

3. Advocates their customers

Customer advocacy is the new buzzword in the customer success niche. As someone who works directly with the prospects, a CSM must have enough responsibility to advocate his client’s interests. The voice of a customer should truly be heard and should not be underestimated at any cost. The customer is the king, remember?

It is a CSM that analyzes and organizes these bits of information and sees that the company considers the voices of the clients. You can discover the likes and dislikes of your customers by a couple of surveys, maybe their reviews or even referrals too can exude information. Further, a CSM has the quality of listening, listening to what the customer has got to say, their pain points. And works in a directing of helping them out.

4. Personalizes workflows based on the client’s profile

Now, every customer demands specialized attention. It is the job of a CSM to cater to their specific needs and imbue personalization in each of their services. This is where CSM liaisons with an account manager in the support team.

When you already know your client’s interests, it becomes easier to build a rapport with them. This is a healthy start towards wreathing a long-lasting relationship and also ensures a minimum churn away policy. Further, this supports the growth of the business.

5. Empathizes and understands the client

Empathy is the guiding force behind organizations working to help people. The ability to understand others’ experiences is also vital for businesses committed to delivering high-quality products that meet customers’ needs and advance their quality of life.

An empathetic CSM understands the employees and motivates them to bring out their best work. He appreciates and understands his client’s efforts and interests. You might take a backseat from being an outstanding leader if you do not inculcate the true values of empathy in you.

If you’re considering a career as a customer success manager or thinking of hiring one for your business, take a look below to see what the average salary is for this position.

Customer Success Manager Salary

A recently published report, deduced the following conclusions of the States:

The average salary hovers somewhere around $80,000 to $90,000, there are still some hitches and bumps. Texas claims its average to be within $90,000 to $100,000 whereas New York claims it around $80,000 to $90,000.

Surprisingly, it is still on the same page for the mean salary in Washington as well. In the states of Chicago and Minneapolis, the average is somewhere around $85,000 to $90,000.

Sample Customer Success Manager Jobs

• Vice President, Customer Success: You will be responsible for managing and growing the current client base globally across the entire business segment. Not just that, you will have to build and manage a customer success team. And be responsible enough for ensuring that your clients have a longer customer lifetime value quotient.
• Chief Customer Success Officer: You will be responsible for taking up the executive and critical positions in the company. It will demand of you to create an organizational structure. That should best support all the clients to quickly climb the stairs to success. Although this role focuses on the customers and enhancing the lifetime value. You will have to see how profit maximization can take place in the meanwhile, as you put churn to a minimum.

Final Take

It is a SaaS customer success manager who has a lot to do with the success of the company. It is almost safe to say that the performance and the revenue generation are directly proportional. Being the focal point of contact between a client and a company, you will have to have all the requisites qualities for bringing out glory to your company.

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