Are Customer Success Managers in Demand?

I could just say “yes” and that would be the end of this blog. But I really want to build a case and prove that there is high demand for good customer success managers, no matter the economic climate. At the time of writing this, there’s a sharp pull back on tech hiring. You might think it’s a time to keep your head down and work, but hiring is still happening. Tech companies are desperate for people who are good at helping their customers get more value out of their solutions. Hopefully by the end of this blog, you’ll put your hand up and volunteer as tribute.

Search trends

The reality is that Customer Success was not a hot topic 10 years ago. While tech companies did exist, the focus was only on sales, while the customer experience was more on the back burner. Now, look where it is:

Now mixed into this might be people who are curious about what Customer Success management is, as well as companies who are searching for customer success management strategies, but they’re just two sides of the same coin: there is rising interest in people who are able to help people use tech better.

Key Stats

This blog post from Custify highlights a slew of stats around customer success, including:

• $62 billion being the amount of money that’s lost every year by companies who are delivering poor customer experiences (NewVoiceMedia),
• 70% of customers say that modern tech acts like a double sword, being that while it makes their lives easier, it also means that it’s easier to take business away from vendors with underwhelming customer experiences (Salesforce), and
• 72% of customers say that improving their customer success experience is a top priority for the organisation (Forrester).

“So how do I begin?”

I’m glad you asked! Firstly, you’re in the right place, reading the right blog. It’s all about helping everyday people use their existing skillset to start a career in tech as a Customer Success Manager. But to give you a few key steps to begin, read on:

1. Ask yourself why: you have to be clear on the reason you want to get started as a customer success manager. It’s OK to want to do it to get paid more, but if that’s the only reason you’re doing it, you might find that you’ll get bored. Do you feel a sense of fulfillment from helping customers get that “aha!” moment? If yes, then you should act on it,
2. Write down what you already do: this sounds like a boring task. You might think that you don’t have skills that are transferable, but you’d be surprised. Writing down your day-to-day tasks from existing work will help you better translate how these skills will port over to customer success. I’m a firm believer that if you’ve done any customer-facing work, you can become a tech customer success manager.
3. Put together your Customer Success Resume: you have to take your existing resume, map the skills over to key skills that customer success managers know how to do. Have a look at some in this blog to learn more. The great thing is that because they’re soft skills, you learn them on the job. If you’ve come from retail, hospitality or any customer-facing role, you have a head start.

Begin with those three steps, then start applying. Go on LinkedIn or your preferred job portal. Start talking with hiring managers or recruiters. Fake it til you make it. Be uncomfortable but trust in your skill set. You’ve got me in your corner. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have questions or just need a bit pump up! 💪🏽