Inverting the Circle of Influence

A few weeks back, while revisiting Stephen Covey’s principles, I found myself reflecting on the Circle of Influence, particularly how breaking it down into distinct segments impacts our interpersonal relationships—both at work and at home.

As Customer Success Managers (CSMs), we find ourselves navigating multiple circles: control, influence, and concern. Each circle holds its own weight in shaping the outcomes we desire for our customers.

But what if I told you the traditional circle needs to be flipped for CSMs to thrive?

1. Circle of Control: Own Your Core

This is the innermost circle—your realm of control. In the context of customer success, this includes the primary stakeholders: the product team, leadership, and investors. These individuals shape the product's vision and have a direct impact on its success.

For a CSM, this is where your homework starts. Whether you’re facing challenges like churn recovery, business conflict, cross-selling, or value communication, you need to first ask, What is in my control?

Before engaging anyone else, get your house in order. Dive deep into root cause analysis. What do you control? The messaging? The solution proposals? The timing of value delivery?

Focusing on these controllable elements will enable you to move from uncertainty to action. If the root cause stems from a misalignment, take charge—proactively align with your product and sales teams, ensuring you have the right tools to act.

2. Circle of Influence: Build Bridges and Drive Solutions

Now comes the middle circle—your sphere of influence, where secondary stakeholders come into play. Here, we include customers, partners, and vendors. These individuals don’t directly dictate the product, but they influence its trajectory through feedback and collaboration.

Once you’ve laid the groundwork by addressing what’s in your control, extend your influence. This involves reaching out to both internal and external stakeholders to communicate your actions. Your role here is to make them understand and agree with the solutions you're recommending. Influence isn’t negative; think of it as an opportunity to onboard advisors who can help you troubleshoot and co-create solutions with you.

You aren’t just firefighting customer issues—you’re shaping a path to success by building coalitions and creating a shared vision for solving the customer’s problems. This collaborative approach will strengthen customer relationships and make you a trusted advisor. Influence, therefore, is about sharing the load and working together to achieve the best possible outcomes.

3. Circle of Concern: Know When to Let Go

Finally, we reach the outer circle—the things you cannot control. This is where the circle of concern comes into play. Here lies an important, often overlooked aspect of customer success: learning to be passive in your actions after you've done your part.

After you’ve handled your circle of control and leveraged your circle of influence, stop overdoing it. Let others, whether internal teams or external stakeholders, take ownership of certain responsibilities.

This might sound counterintuitive since customer success is often synonymous with being proactive. However, once you’ve taken the necessary steps, allow others to contribute to the customer’s success. It’s not about abandoning responsibility but about fostering shared ownership.

Stay vigilant by continuing to provide feedback to the key stakeholders, but let them play their part in creating customer delight. This approach not only reduces burnout but also ensures a balanced effort across all involved parties, freeing up your bandwidth for higher-impact tasks.

Inverted Circles, Inverted Success

CSMs are often overloaded with responsibilities, and with revenue on the line, the pressure is immense. But the secret to thriving in this role lies in flipping the traditional circle of influence model. By expanding your circle of control, focusing on what you can directly impact, and minimizing your circle of concern, you create a more effective and sustainable approach to customer management.

By inverting the traditional model, CSMs can work more strategically, reduce burnout, and drive meaningful impact for both customers and their organizations. This approach not only leads to more effective outcomes but also fosters a healthier and more sustainable customer success strategy.