Building a Career in Customer Success: Skills, Tools & Training

by Imed Bouchrika, Phd

Co-Founder and Chief Data Scientist

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In today's customer-first economy, companies are waking up to a hard truth: retaining existing customers is more valuable than acquiring new ones. This reality has elevated Customer Success from a support function to a strategic business driver.

According to LinkedIn’s Emerging Jobs Report, the Customer Success Manager (CSM) or Customer Success Specialist is one of the fastest-growing roles globally, and it’s not slowing down anytime soon.

Businesses, especially SaaS (Software as a Service) platforms, now rely heavily on subscription-based models. This means keeping customers happy and engaged after they sign up is just as important as getting them to sign up in the first place. That’s where Customer Success steps in.

Growth Snapshot

• Over 72% of the businesses surveyed by Forrester Research say that improving customer success would be their top priority. (Source: Forrester Research)
• IBM plans to hire about 700 CSMs to expand its customer success management team from 300 employees to over 1000. (Source: CRN)
• 27% of companies with a Digital Customer Success program have well-established KPIs, and 60% said their KPIs are currently “under construction.” (Gainsight)

The Demand Across Industries

While tech companies pioneered Customer Success roles, other sectors like healthcare, education, financial services, and logistics are now joining the race. Anywhere customer lifetime value matters, CS becomes mission-critical.

What Does a Customer Success Manager (CSM) Do?

A Customer Success Manager is not just another support rep. They are the bridge between the customer and the product, making sure that clients don’t just use the product, but actually succeed with it.

If sales brings the customer in, Customer Success keeps them around.

Here’s a breakdown of what a CSM does:

Onboarding New Customers

The first few weeks after a purchase are make-or-break.

• CSMs guide new users through setup and onboarding.
• They ensure clients reach their first "aha" moment quickly.
• The goal: shorten time-to-value (TTV).

Monitoring Customer Health

CSMs use customer data and engagement signals to track how well users are doing.

• Tools like Gainsight, Custify, or Totango track product usage and behavior.
• CSMs identify early warning signs of churn.
• They proactively reach out to offer support, guidance, or strategy.

Being a Strategic Partner

Unlike support agents who focus on reactive fixes, CSMs take a proactive, consultative approach.

• They help customers plan and optimize their product usage.
• They act as internal advocates, funneling feedback to product teams.
• They often work closely with sales and marketing to encourage expansion and upsell opportunities.

Solving Issues (Without Being Support)

While they're not technical support, CSMs still play a role in troubleshooting:

• They coordinate with support or engineering when needed.
• They help prioritize issues for high-value clients.
• They maintain trust and transparency during outages or problems.

Reporting & KPIs They 

Most Customer Success roles come with clear metrics:

These KPIs are tracked weekly or monthly and directly reflect the effectiveness of the CS team.

Customer Success Is NOT:

• Support – That's reactive. CS is proactive.
• Account Management – That's sales-focused. CS is success-focused.
• Customer Service – That's ticket-based. CS is relationship-based.

Must-Have Skills for a Successful CSM Career

To thrive in Customer Success, you don’t need to be a technical wizard — but you do need a unique blend of empathy, communication, strategy, and tech fluency.

This is a role where soft skills meet business acumen. It’s not just about making the customer happy — it’s about aligning their success with company growth.

Let’s break down the critical skill sets:

Soft Skills That Make or Break a CSM

1. Empathy

You must truly understand what your customer is going through. Empathy builds trust, and trust leads to retention.

2. Communication

Whether you’re conducting training, explaining reports, or handling an escalation, you’ll need to articulate ideas clearly.

• Active listening
• Clear writing (especially in email or chat)
• Non-defensive conflict resolution

3. Problem-Solving

Customer success isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about finding them and working across teams to deliver solutions fast.

4. Adaptability

Things change. Features break. Priorities shift. You need to stay calm under pressure and pivot quickly.

5. Relationship-Building

You’ll often manage the same accounts for months or even years. Creating rapport leads to referrals, renewals, and expansions.

Hard Skills You’ll Need to Learn (or Polish)

1. CRM Systems & CS Tools

You’ll live in tools like:

• Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho (for customer records)
• Gainsight, Totango, Custify (for CS-specific metrics)
• Zendesk or Intercom (for support overlap)

If you’ve never used a CRM before, this Salesforce Beginner’s Guide is a great starting point. 

2. Customer Journey Mapping

You should understand how a customer moves from signup → onboarding → adoption → renewal. Mapping this helps anticipate friction points.

3. Data & Analytics

CSMs increasingly rely on data to:

• Monitor account health
• Justify renewals and upsells
• Flag at-risk accounts

Familiarity with Excel, Google Sheets, or Tableau can set you apart.

4. Project Management

Managing onboarding timelines or product rollout? You’ll benefit from skills in:

• Task planning
• Stakeholder communication
• Tools like Orangescrum, Trello, or Asana

If you are looking for courses to start your project management journey, the Best Online Project Management Courses for 2025 will be a great read.

5. Tech/Product Fluency

You don’t need to code, but you do need to understand the product well enough to:

• Teach it
• Explain value
• Troubleshoot usage issues

Bonus Skills That Give You an Edge

Customer Success Tools You Should Know

If you're serious about a career in Customer Success, mastering the right tools isn’t optional — it's essential.

The modern Customer Success Manager (CSM) doesn’t just send emails or jump on Zoom calls. They’re working in dashboards, automation platforms, CRM systems, and analytics tools — often juggling multiple accounts, campaigns, and metrics at once.

Here’s a breakdown of the must-know tools grouped by function.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Tools

CRMs are the heartbeat of your customer data. They store account details, track activity, and support your daily workflows.

Learn more about CRM features from Salesforce’s customer service guide

Customer Success Platforms

These tools are purpose-built for CSMs. They help track customer health, automate tasks, and manage renewals.

Get an in-depth review of the best customer success software for 2025.

Communication & Support Tools

You’ll interact with customers across channels, and these tools streamline that process.

Analytics & Reporting Tools

Your decisions will be driven by data, not guesswork.

CSMs should feel comfortable identifying churn risks, expansion opportunities, and feature adoption through metrics.

Productivity & Project Management

Managing customer timelines, onboarding workflows, and follow-ups is easier when you’re organized.

Training, Help Docs & Knowledge Base Tools

Sometimes, the best Customer Success is when you empower users to help themselves.

Bonus: Automation & AI

As CS scales, automation becomes your best friend.

Customer Success Career Path & Job Roles

Customer Success is one of the few fields where you don’t need a technical degree or 10 years of experience to enter, but the potential for growth is massive.

From junior roles to executive leadership, the CS career path offers both breadth and depth. You can stay in a client-facing track or move into strategy, ops, product, or even revenue leadership.

Let’s break it down by levels, titles, responsibilities, and expectations.

Entry-Level Roles

These roles are ideal for recent grads or professionals transitioning from support, sales, teaching, or hospitality.

1. Customer Success Associate / Coordinator

• Assists senior CSMs with onboarding and account management
• Handles low-touch accounts or smaller clients
• Learns the tools, playbooks, and product in-depth

Great way to build foundational knowledge in CS.

2. Implementation Specialist / Onboarding Specialist

• Focuses purely on new user onboarding
• Creates training materials and tracks time-to-value (TTV)
• Collaborates closely with product and training teams

Mid-Level Roles (2–5 Years Experience)

You’ll now handle your own book of business, own metrics like churn and retention, and begin contributing to growth.

3. Customer Success Manager (CSM)

• Owns 20–100+ customer accounts (depending on account size)
• Ensures renewals, encourages upsells, and manages health scores
• Develops customer success plans, QBRs, and cross-functional feedback loops

This is the core role in any CS team.

4. Senior CSM / Strategic CSM

• Handles enterprise or high-value clients
• May lead onboarding, adoption, or renewal playbooks
• Trains and mentors junior teammates

Leadership Roles (5–10+ Years Experience)

At this stage, you’re driving strategy, managing teams, and reporting on revenue impact.

5. Customer Success Team Lead / Manager

• Leads a team of 3–10 CSMs
• Sets KPIs, manages performance, and runs team meetings
• Collaborates with product, sales, and support leadership

6 Director of Customer Success

• Oversees regional or vertical CS programs
• Develops lifecycle strategies across the customer journey
• Owns metrics like NRR, CSAT, churn, and expansion revenue

Executive Roles (10–15+ Years Experience)

This is the strategic layer where CS becomes a boardroom conversation.

7. VP of Customer Success

• Owns the CS org and its contribution to company goals
• Influences product roadmap, pricing, and retention strategy
• Reports directly to C-suite or CEO

8. Chief Customer Officer (CCO)

• A C-level position responsible for all post-sales functions
• Oversees CS, support, training, and sometimes account management
• Shapes the company’s customer-first philosophy

Alternative & Lateral Career Paths in CS

Customer Success gives you many doors to grow into adjacent areas:

Pro Tips for Climbing the CS Ladder

• Ask for stretch assignments (run a QBR, build a playbook)
• Develop business acumen (know how your role impacts revenue)
• Learn to work cross-functionally (Product, Sales, Support)
• Focus on retention metrics early — they’re your CS currency

You don’t need a formal degree in Customer Success to land a CSM role — in fact, many successful professionals come from backgrounds like support, teaching, sales, or marketing.

But if you want to speed up your learning, build confidence, and stand out in interviews, targeted certifications and training can give you the edge.

How to Get Started: Breaking Into Customer Success Without Experience

So, you don’t have “Customer Success” on your resume yet — but you’ve got the drive, people skills, and a hunger to learn.

Good news: many CSMs come from non-traditional backgrounds — sales, support, education, hospitality, even healthcare. What matters most is your ability to solve problems, build relationships, and drive outcomes.

Here’s a practical step-by-step guide to help you break in — even if you’re starting from scratch.

1. Identify Your Transferable Skills

You likely already have some of the skills CS teams look for.

2. Get Familiar with CS Tools and Terminology

Even if you don’t have job experience, you can still show tool awareness.

Start with:

• HubSpot CRM
• Custify’s blog and free CS 101 course Custify Customer Success Courses
• CS metrics like: Churn Rate, Net Promoter Score (NPS), Time-to-Value (TTV)

3. Start a CS Portfolio (Even Without a Job)

Here’s how:

• Create a mock onboarding plan for a tool like Notion or Slack
• Make a sample customer health score dashboard in Google Sheets
• Write a short renewal email or QBR agenda as if you were a CSM

Upload these to a Notion page, Google Drive folder, or personal website. Link it on your resume and LinkedIn.

4. Network in the CS Community

You don’t need 500 connections — you just need meaningful ones.

Join These:

• r/CustomerSuccess on Reddit
• CS Slack groups (search “Customer Success Slack communities” on Google)
• LinkedIn groups: Customer Success Network, Women in CS, etc.

Start small:

• Comment on a post
• Ask someone about their CS journey
• Share what you’re learning publicly (e.g., finished a Custify course? Post about it!)

5. Look for These Entry-Level Job Titles

Many “Customer Success” jobs won’t say Customer Success in the title — here’s what to search for:

6. Apply to Companies That Value Potential Over Experience

Startups, growing SaaS companies, and mission-driven businesses often prefer scrappy learners over formal experience.

Target job boards:

• AngelList (for startup roles)
• Himalayas (remote-first tech jobs)
• Otta (CS roles with modern companies)
• LinkedIn (search filters: “Entry-level”, “Customer Success”, “Associate”)

7. Bonus: Volunteer, Intern, or Freelance to Build Experience

You don’t always need to wait for a full-time role.

Offer to help:

• A nonprofit with user onboarding for their tools
• A solo founder manage customer emails and feedback
• A bootstrapped startup improve their customer help center

Even 20 hours of “real-world” experience can fuel your resume and confidence.

Summary: Your Roadmap to Your First CS Role

1. Identify your transferable skills
2. Learn the tools & language of CS
3. Customize your resume & build a mini-portfolio
4. Start networking online
5. Apply to CS-adjacent roles at the right companies
6. Upskill with free/affordable training
7. Take a project-based approach if you lack formal experience

Conclusion: Why Customer Success Is a Career Worth Building

Customer Success is no longer a nice-to-have — it's a mission-critical function across SaaS, healthcare, finance, education, and more. Companies that invest in Customer Success don’t just retain users — they grow revenue, build trust, and gain long-term advocates.

For career seekers, it’s one of the most accessible and rewarding paths in tech. You don’t need a computer science degree or years of technical experience. What you do need is empathy, curiosity, and a willingness to learn — fast.

As a Customer Success professional, you’re part strategist, part relationship-builder, part problem-solver. You sit at the intersection of product, sales, and support — and your impact is visible, measurable, and meaningful.

Whether you’re just getting started, making a career switch, or planning to scale into leadership, this guide gives you a roadmap to follow. Master the right tools. Build the right skills. Create your own opportunities.

Because in today’s customer-first world, those who help others succeed — succeed the most.

Other Things You Should Know About Building a Career in Customer Success