There is no doubt that customer success is a challenging area of business and that it’s a rapidly growing career. It requires excellent communication skills, the ability to react quickly to changing experiences, and the maturity to remain professional in dicey situations. The best customer success managers often end up in the role of management, overseeing a whole customer success team. This is not a job for the weak-hearted individual. Successful customer success managers will have high expectations of team members and give them the resources to meet those expectations while remaining committed to filling the needs of customers and clients.
So, what does it take to be great at building relationships with clients, employees, and the business as a whole? Here are 5 traits that make great customer success managers.
A Good Customer Success Manager is Calm and Focused
Putting out people-related fires is a daily task for a customer success manager, so it’s important to stay cool when everything seems to be falling apart. A great customer success manager shows empathy when a customer or employee is feeling angry or disappointed. They have the ability to make everyone involved feel heard. The manager looks for opportunities to resolve difficult situations in ways that end with all parties feeling respected, even if they didn’t get exactly what they wanted. The manager also has to politely refuse to budge when the wishes of a problem customer are outrageous or against company policy.
A Good Manager is An Ally to The Team
Success as a customer success manager requires winning the trust of employees. Managers can do this by listening to employees’ needs and advocating for them with the rest of the company. They also need to give their team the skills needed to perform at the highest levels. This means arranging for and implementing ongoing training as well as learning which areas need more attention. A manager can expect employees to give more when they feel like they are being adequately prepared for the job and when the manager has their backs.
A Good Customer Success Manager Thinks Creatively
Not all problems in customer success can be solved by consulting a set of rules or policies. Any situation involving human beings has nuances that need to be understood and accommodated. The best managers understand this and find creative ways to meet everyone’s needs while solving problems. Managers know how to work within company policy to create an environment for success. They must also know when to suggest that a particular approach isn’t working anymore.
A Good Customer Success Manager Asks for Feedback
Being in charge of another person’s job means knowing how well communication is working and what needs to change. This can only be accomplished through feedback from employees and customers. A great customer success manager will routinely ask employees how they are feeling about leadership and the job in general. The manager will make sure employees are comfortable with being honest and open. Most importantly, the manager will listen closely and carefully consider the feedback without becoming defensive or taking it personally. The manager will also pay attention to feedback from customers.
A Good Customer Success Manager Communicates With All Departments
A customer success team can easily break down and become ineffective when there is constant conflict between departments. Sometimes the production team doesn’t understand the needs of the customer success team, and the result can be bad feelings that cause the whole company to suffer. It’s the customer success manager’s job to communicate the needs of the team to other departments. They should also communicate with the customer success team know the challenges other departments are facing. The customer success manager must also be in communication with other departments, so those people know what customers are saying about the products or services being offered.
If the goal of the business is to serve customers, then every group from production to marketing to creative needs to understand what clients are asking for or commenting about. A customer success manager acts as a representative of both the customer success team and the clients themselves to the rest of the company.
Conclusion
Great customer service isn’t easy, and managing a customer success team is even more difficult. But it’s the perfect business career for a person who shows empathy, imagination, maturity, and perseverance. Customer success managers who excel will be motivated to get the best performance out of team members while providing the highest level of service to customers. This list of 5 habits of good customer success managers is the perfect place to start.