What is a customer success manager? The term is hard to define, or perhaps more accurately, is defined differently by every company. But analysis by LinkedIn shows it as the most in-demand position in the job market right now.
Research conducted by the online professional network found 14,523 open jobs in the U.S. for customer success managers, and almost 6,000 more in other countries. It noted that as of right now, only about 62,000 LinkedIn members worldwide carry that job title. (LinkedIn currently has over 500 million users from more than 200 countries).
A June 1 study found the ratio of open jobs to existing jobs in the customer success field to be 32.5%, the highest job ratio LinkedIn measured. The previous highest ratio of open jobs to existing jobs measured was 31% for data scientists. By way of contrast, the ratio for mature jobs categories like accounting is 1.3% LinkedIn said.
But what exactly do customer success managers do? A LinkedIn analysis of job postings in the U.S., Britain, Germany, Canada and Australia found that 63% listed “training customers” as a job skill in their position description. 74% listed “be a trusted adviser,” 69% listed “be a team player,” 61% listed “upsell,” and 54% listed improve renewals.
Customer Success can encompass everything from cross-selling to cancellation prevention and customer attrition.
Perhaps the most succinct definition of the position comes from Brain Stucki, a former consultant with financial services firm Bain & Co. Qualtrics is a Utah-based data analytics firm that looks to bridge customer experience gaps – Stucki runs its 100-person customer success team.
He defined his team’s function in the context of its relationship with Qualtrics’ sales department: “They plant the seed; we water and weed,” Stucki told LinkedIn.
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