How to become a Strategic Customer Success Manager

Hello Customer Success Pros,

I have just released my next podcast episode with none other than Erika Villarreal who is a Strategic Customer Success Manager at Eptura! Erika and I chatted all about her career progression and how she started in customer success all because of her personal brand on Linkedin! Erika's journey has been amazing to watch as she pivoted into CS a few years ago. She made the leap of faith and started working in CS as a CSM and has had 3 promotions in the last few years! In this episode she shares so many tactical tips and tricks on how to become a more strategic customer success manager. From success plans, to QBRs, to using data to unlock ROI, Erika shares all her biggest tips on this months episode! This episode is a goldmine of advice for anyone looking to become more strategic as a CSM.

Erika's journey is a source of inspiration, demonstrating the power of leveraging personal branding on LinkedIn to fuel career advancement. Beyond her career progression in CS, Erika's strategic approaches to data analytics, customer engagement, and action-oriented insights set her apart as a top influencer and thought leader as well.

In this episode, Erika shares the importance of ongoing learning, adaptability, and the strategic alignment of customer success initiatives with broader business objectives is the key to not only making your customers successful, but it also leads to a successful career progression as well.

Some of the questions I ask Erika in our conversation:

❓What are some of the daily/weekly tasks or activities you do now that is different to what you did years ago?

❓What sort of skills should CSMs listening focus on in order to ensure they become more strategic.

❓What data points or tactics do you use with your customers to make sure they see the value in your product?

Key Takeaways for Aspirational Leaders:

✔️ The Significance of Success Plans: Erika shares the importance of customer success plans tailored to the unique goals and metrics of each customer. These plans are always changing depending on each individual customer and also serve as a roadmap to navigate through customer objectives, challenges, and success metrics.

✔️ Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) as a Strategic Tool: The data in QBRs play a critical role in evaluating progress, addressing challenges, and adapting strategies to ensure alignment with customer goals.

✔️ Harnessing Data to Drive Customer Success: Erika shares the the power of data. She shares how strategic CSMs can utilize data to showcase value propositions, guide decision-making, and substantiate the ROI delivered to customers.

✔️ The Art of Being Strategic: At the heart of Erika's success is her ability to balance active listening, curiosity, and problem-solving. This combination enables a deep understanding of customer needs, which creates proactive strategies that align closely with customer objectives and expectations.

Have a list to the latest podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Youtube and make sure to let me know what you think!

Just one other shoutout in this month’s newsletter. I would like to congratulate the Top 10 Women leaders in Customer Success. I was honored when Churn 360 listed me as one of the most influential women in customer success in 2024, but the biggest honor was to be listed alongside these powerhouse of women that make a huge impact on the Customer Success community every single day. If you are not already following these amazing ladies on Linkedin, I would start to!

Congratulations to:  Bhavika Kochhar, Carly Agar, Cinthia Silva, Daphne Costa Lopes, Emilia D'Anzica, Irit Eizips, Melissa Araujo, Yamika CH. L and Maranda Dziekonski.

That's all for now, I will share more on the podcast on Linkedin and of course on the next newsletter.

I hope you’ve found this newsletter helpful. If you did find it helpful feel free to forward it to a friend or a colleague, sharing is caring! If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact us.

Thanks,

Anika