As a veteran of numerous startups, few phrases are more frustrating than hearing someone in a leadership role providing feedback to a direct report or a colleague that they need to be more strategic without actually describing what they’re looking for. Afterward, the recipient of this masterclass in eschewing leadership responsibility is left to fend for themselves.
I’ve witnessed this on many occasions, both in early-stage startups and large established organizations. As leaders, it’s critical to ensure that we provide constructive feedback. When giving feedback, aim for clarity, simplicity, and measurability. Keep these principles in mind, and your team, colleagues, and customers will value your input even more.
Be a more strategic CSM
Being strategic means that a CSM is always reviewing and balancing priorities to ensure they’re focused on the best set of activities to ensure that the customer is successful in achieving their desired outcomes.
Being strategic means that a CSM is focused on delivering an appropriate experience that results in high levels of satisfaction, which in turn, drives ongoing customer advocacy.
Being strategic means that a CSM is always anticipating customer needs and proactively providing appropriate guidance to ensure that the customer is successful in achieving their desired outcomes.
Being strategic requires commitment, consistency, and a passion for continuous improvement. Let’s review 3 key areas that every CSM can focus on to improve their strategic impact on the business and their customers.
Relationships
Developing relationships with peers and cross-functional teams (e.g. sales, product, marketing, support) to establish and ensure ongoing alignment of customer needs with the business objectives of the CSM team and the broader organization (e.g. contributing to the feedback loop with insight and evidence to guide product resources)
Building and strengthening relationships with key customer stakeholders, champions, and executive sponsors to ensure close collaboration on the activities required to drive long-term healthy product adoption (e.g. nurturing ongoing joint accountability).
Perspective
Developing a long-term perspective on how to achieve each customers goals through their continued investment in the product. This involves establishing a shared understanding of the customers business objectives, the underlying use cases that the product was purchased to address, and identifying any potential challenges. This information serves as the basis for developing an [appropriately comprehensive and strategic] account plan that serves to align and guide the CSM and other internal stakeholders responsible for delivering and supporting the customer experience.
Prioritization
Maintaining an exceptional level of focus on the highest value or highest leverage activities at any given time. The majority of a CSM’s time should be spent on activities to deliver and reinforce value realization or activities that improve their ability to do so.
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