The True Cost of Hiring Customer Success Managers (CSMs) in Europe: The Breakdown
Hiring the right talent can make or break a company’s success—especially for roles like Customer Success Managers (CSMs), who are pivotal in building strong customer relationships and ensuring ongoing satisfaction. For businesses in the UK and major European markets like Germany, France, and the Netherlands, recruiting a CSM comes with various costs and timelines. Understanding these can help companies budget effectively and plan for the future.
Investing in Customer Success: Your Business’s "Customer Insurance" Policy
Investing in customer success is similar to purchasing an insurance policy for your customers—a strategic move that de-risks your business against customer churn, enhances loyalty, and ensures steady growth. Here’s why treating customer success as "customer insurance" is essential for any forward-thinking business.
Creating and Keeping Customers
If you ask most people they will say the purpose of business is making a profit, product or service but these are all the outcomes. One of the modern thinkers in business, Peter Drucker, once said that the purpose of business is "to create and keep a customer."
Overfunctioning in Customer Success
An unspoken expectation that Customer Success Managers (CSMs) must do whatever it takes to ensure customer satisfaction.
Going above and beyond is typically seen as a hallmark of dedication and excellence. However, what happens when "going the extra mile" turns into a habit of taking on too much responsibility?
This behavior is known as overfunctioning, and while it may seem productive in the short term, it can have negative consequences for both CSMs and their clients in the long run.
Understanding High Touch and White Glove Customer Success Approaches
It's a customer-driven marketplace, and businesses must go beyond delivering great products and/or services —they must ensure that their customers are successful in utilising those products. Customer Success (CS) has become a critical function that enables businesses to proactively manage relationships with customers, drive their success, and ensure long-term loyalty.
Two common approaches to customer success are High Touch and White Glove services.
While both models are centered on providing personalized support, they cater to different levels of customer engagement and value. Understanding the distinctions between these approaches, the skills required to execute them effectively, when to transition between them, and how to fund them is key to building a robust customer success organisation.