Beyond CSM: Different Roles in Customer Success

As a woman working customer success, it's important to understand the various roles that complement and support your work. The customer success manager plays a crucial role in ensuring clients receive the best possible experience with a company's products and services - but they are not alone. There are several other roles that work hand in hand with CSMs to provide a seamless experience for clients and help ensure their needs are met.

In this blog post, we'll explore 5 similar roles to customer success managers that every woman in the field should be aware of. Let’s dive in.

Account Manager: Account managers are responsible for managing relationships with key clients and ensuring that their needs are met. They work closely with the customer success team to provide a seamless experience for clients and to ensure that they receive the best possible service.

Customer Support Specialist: Customer support specialists are responsible for providing support to customers. They are often the first point of contact for customers and work to resolve any issues they may have with the company's products or services.

Product Specialist: Product specialists are responsible for understanding the company's products and services and for helping customers get the most out of them. They work closely with the customer success team to ensure that clients are using the products effectively and to help them troubleshoot any issues they may have.

Sales Engineer: Sales engineers are responsible for working with clients to understand their needs and for demonstrating how the company's products and services can meet those needs. They work closely with the customer success team to ensure that clients are using the products effectively and to help them troubleshoot any issues they may have.

Solutions Architect: A Solutions Architect is more of a technical expert who designs and implements solutions for complex problems or projects during the early stages of the sales cycle. SA’s and CSMs work together closely to ensure that the customer's technical and business needs are met. The Solutions Architect will often be involved in the early stages of the sales process, working with the customer to identify technical requirements and provide guidance on the best approach to meet those requirements. The CSM will typically take over after the sale, working with the customer to ensure that they are achieving their desired outcomes, and providing ongoing support as needed.

Implementation Specialist: Implementation specialists are responsible for working with clients to implement the company's products and services. They work closely with the customer success team to ensure that clients are getting the most out of the products and to help them troubleshoot any issues they may have during the implementation process.

While these roles are similar to the customer success manager role (in that they’re all focused on ensuring that customers get the best possible experience with a company's products and services), they also have their unique differences in how they support the client. It’s important to understand how each of these teams operate to ensure you are working hand in hand to achieve the same goals. And, as an added bonus, these are also great sideways moves should you wish to pivot after a role in customer success.