One Approach to Repeat Business: 'Customer Success Managers'

Gelb, Betsy; Rangarajan, Deva; Hochstein, Bryan; Blaisdell, Mikael

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One Approach to Repeat Business: 'Customer Success Managers'

Rutgers Business Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2020, pp.13-27.

15 Pages Posted: 28 Jul 2020

See all articles by Betsy Gelb

Mikael Blaisdell

The Customer Success Association

Date Written: April 1, 2020

Abstract

Software vendors have pioneered the deployment of professionals charged with enhancing the success of that vendor’s customers. However, now more industries are adopting the model common for software, of marketing a renewable subscription rather than requiring a capital investment. That model makes customer switching far easier, justifying for more vendors the role of Customer Success Manager (CSM). Based on 129 interviews with those individuals and those who supervise their work, the authors recommend that vendors make customer success a strategic priority, that they deploy CSM’s astutely to ensure their usefulness, and that they expect competitors to begin or continue such programs.

Keywords: marketing, relationship management

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Gelb, Betsy and Rangarajan, Deva and Hochstein, Bryan and Blaisdell, Mikael, One Approach to Repeat Business: 'Customer Success Managers' (April 1, 2020). Rutgers Business Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2020, pp.13-27. , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3660140