Multifaceted CSM - 2nd Edition

In 2022 years ago, I posted about the Multifaceted CSM framework , a strategic solution I developed to combat the recruitment challenges brought about by COVID-19. ?It followed a significant surge in the demand for CSM, enabling organizations to retain their customer bases during COVID turbulent times. ?

With the shortage of CS talent (in 2020-2021), I hired CSMs based on a model of transferable skills, which I named “The Multi-faceted CSM.” It was a different approach as I created four different CSM profiles in my team – each one with its unique skills:

?? The “Project Manager”

?? The “Domain Expert”

?? The “Data Analytic”

?? The “Negotiator”

?The underlying assumption was that anyone entering CS would have customer-facing experience, communication skills, empathy, and the desire to make customers successful. With that in mind, I hired talented candidates who did not have solid CS experience but could leverage skills such as scope management, task prioritization, time management, domain expertise, consultancy data analysis, relationship building, stakeholder management, and more.

I never expected every CSM to master all profiles from the outset. Instead, I designed a strategy to progressively enhance the team's skillsets, allowing CSMs with one profile to learn and expand their capabilities to match other desired profiles over time.

It is time for a reality check

While we no longer face lockdowns, turbulence is here. High interest rates reduce investors' appetite as they carefully examine their portfolios and future investments. ?This trend was a reality check for companies to ensure they had the appropriate cost structure while they needed to show actual revenue growth (instead of an increase in headcount). ?CS organizations took a hit on their headcount and are expected to contribute to the revenue by enabling and driving opportunities within their book of business.

As we reflect on the past three years, the question arises:

Is the Multi-faceted CSM still a necessity? The resounding answer is yes, with two significant changes underlining its relevance.

1. There is an additional facet - the “AI Co-Pilot.”
2. Today, the bar is raised. Previously, I expected CSM to fit one or two profiles out of four. Today, their skillsets should align with three or four profiles (including the new profile outlined above).

Let’s have a short overview of the initial four CSM profiles.

The “Project Manager” CSM previously managed a project/program and can diligently and assertively manage customer expectations.

The specific skill set of the “Project Manager.”

• Experience in creating and maintaining Project and Onboarding plans
• Defining Roles and Responsibilities with customers
• Scope management and ability to reduce “scope creep.”
• Task Prioritization
• Task Execution and monitoring
• Risk management and mitigation

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The “Data analytics” CSM is comfortable with data and can drill down to technology-generated statistics.

Notable skillset of the “Data analytics” CSMs:

• They have a natural curiosity about numbers and metrics.
• They pay attention to details.
• They can drive usage and adoption based on data analysis and key metrics.
• They are comfortable presenting data trends and conclusions to product/ engineering teams.
• Nice to have—they have coding experience and can develop ad-hoc and customized scripts or internal CS dashboards to analyze usage further.

?

The “Domain Expert/Trusted Advisor” CSM has prior experience in a specific domain and can leverage that experience in a consultative approach, guiding customers to utilize knowledge and technology effectively. CSMs matching this profile can be trusted advisors to key stakeholders and decision-makers.

Their key skillsets:

• They have valuable domain expertise.
• They can conduct proactive questioning and unveil customer challenges.
• They can translate product capabilities to business value.
• They adjust their consultative approach to their stakeholders and teams.
• They are relationship builders.
• They excel in presenting Industry and product best practices.
• They can change their perspective from “day-to-day” to “longer-term/strategic.”
• They can have meaningful internal conversations with product and engineering to explain customer needs and priorities.

?

The "Negotiator" is the CSM with prior experience in sales/pre-sales or account management and can handle sensitive situations with customers.

CSMS with this profile will demonstrate the following:

• Experience managing difficult customer conversations (articulating the challenge and the solution proposed to the customer).
• Driving the conversation and conflicts to resolution.
• Problem solvers – they will be persistent in overcoming problems and not “drop” them on someone else.
• They thrive under pressure.
• They can identify new growth opportunities and drive them with sales to expand customer engagement.
• They excel in stakeholder management and can maintain relationships with senior stakeholders.

The new profiles – The “AI CoPilot”

The AI evolution (or revolution) will require CS professionals to find the appropriate balance between technology and maintaining a “Human-first” approach. AI promises to reduce effort, improve efficiency, and possibly lead to cost savings. Organizations expect to realize these significant gains as they gradually introduce AI and Generative AI into their ecosystems. ?Hence, in the CS domain, there is a need for an additional profile, which is the byproduct of the latest technological advancements that have taken our professional lives by storm since Q4 2022.

What can we expect from the CSMs who fit the “AI CoPilot” profile?

• They endorse technology and will not consider it as a threat.
• They are proactive and do not necessarily “wait for instructions.”
• They are willing to experiment, learn in iterations, and improve as they perform their job.
• They can describe the initial use cases in which AI / GenAI can improve their performance.
• They can utilize AI's efficiencies to focus on value-driven activities, positively impacting customer outcomes.
• They can partner with other teams or team members to maximize the use of AI.
• They can share their success or failures for the benefit of their team and organization.

CSM’s profiles benefit both the company’s and professional growth

In 2024, CSMs must have diversified capabilities simply because they are expected to do more and strongly influence their organization's business outcomes. With more CS talent looking for their next professional challenge, the time has come to wear “multiple hats,” fit multiple profiles, and make CS professionals valuable to customers and vendors.

Let’s examine a few of the CSM’s known objectives and how the multi-profile (facet) framework can address them.

The Objective: Revenue Growth.

The profile mix: “Negotiator” and “Domain expert”

Domain experts will assist customers in being successful and achieving outstanding results, gradually becoming trusted advisors. Subsequently, CSMs can frame customer's challenges and needs. Customers will then be confident that CSMs will not “sell” them something they don’t need. CSMs can identify and qualify new opportunities (with customers) and collaborate with sales to groom and win them, directly contributing to business growth.

The Objective: Be more efficient.

The profile mix: “AI CoPilot” and “Data Analytics”

Automation of manual activities drives efficiency and reduces effort over time. Data analysis can reveal insights about users’ behavior and at which touchpoints they need assistance. It can also indicate which support inquiries can be handled by a non-human agent. ?Combining data analysis with AI and creating more robust and scalable playbooks (and BOTs) to respond promptly to end users while freeing up the CSMs or other teams to handle the “exceptions.”

Additional examples of efficiency that can be achieved using data analysis and AI:

1. Long-tale automated updates/QBRs
2. Automated “health checks” based on data analysis from multiple sources and predictive analysis on top based on historical trends.

The Objective: Improve customer experience.

The Profile mix: “Domain expert,” “Data Analytics,” and “Project Manager.”

Improving customer experience is a broad objective that can be addressed by combining a few disciplines. Examples:

1. Increasing automation, adopting project management practices such as parallelizing activities, and analyzing user interaction to highlight “blocking points” can shorten the onboarding process.
2. Improving end-user experience combines data analysis with domain expertise to streamline processes and reduce friction. ?Domain expertise and Task management will drive better prioritization of defects and product improvements when engaging customers and the product teams.
3. Capturing user feedback and requirements can also be automated as part of ongoing user engagement analysis, probing them to share their experience at the “right moment.” Personalized feedback can also be collected via meetings, workshops, and calls based on proactive questioning and diligent follow-up to respond to the customer.

The Objective: Drive Outcome

The Profile mix: ?All profiles

This is a culmination of what CS is all about. We spot the customers' objectives and expectations and then embark on a journey to achieve outcomes that will make them successful. ??The process requires a multi-faceted approach:

1. Following a customer journey that must be adaptable (PM skills will assist in keeping customer and vendor aligned)
2. Analyzing data vs. benchmarks and then using it effectively in reporting
3. Leveraging domain expertise to offer best practices and reduce time to value
4. Use AI to reduce CSM effort, automate, and improve the response to the customer.
5. Overcome challenges, handle customer objections, and prove successful outcomes to stakeholders.

What are the benefits of creating CSM profiles -The CS leaders’ angle

?? CS leaders can better define the roles and skills needed in their team. This is an effective exercise as part of a team capabilities assessment.

?? CS Leaders can mark the domains of knowledge and expertise their team should improve and plan to bridge professional gaps.

?? In the mid-to-longer term, the framework will support skills diversity across the team and reduce the “single point of failure” scenario.

?? Using the framework Aligns the team's recruitment, onboarding, training, and mentoring processes.

Multi-faceted -The CSM angle

?? CSMs can leverage the framework to benchmark their skills.

?? Professional development and growth plans can focus on adding more “facets” to CSM’s profile.

?? The framework can be a reference for CSMs to adjust their approach and know which “hat” to wear or which “profile” will be most effective for the upcoming customer engagement.

Summary

The CSM role was never a “one-size-fits-all” profile. Managing customer interactions varies significantly across markets, technology domains, and territories. Additional considerations relate to customer segments (enterprise vs. SMB vs. end users), product and solution complexity, customers’ needs, and the need to maintain multiple interfaces internally and externally. The multifaceted framework offers a breakdown of capabilities and skill sets that CS leaders and CSMs can choose from to plan their professional development. It also introduces the baseline for selecting the most effective approach to addressing customer engagements.