Hey CSMs — This Is How You Actually Get Promote
Let’s be real—if you’re a Customer Success Manager (CSM) dreaming about your next big title jump, you’ve probably heard a lot of generic advice: “Be proactive,” “Work harder,” “Be a team player.”
But here’s the truth: None of that moves the needle if you don’t master one foundational principle:
Make your customer wildly successful—and make sure the company knows about it.
Sounds obvious, right? It is. But most people don’t do it in a way that leads to career-defining impact. I’ve built my entire career—from entry-level CSM to VP of CS and now founder of a customer experience consultancy—on this principle. Let’s break down how you can do the same.
1. Understand Your Customer’s Business (Better Than They Do)
If you're just “checking in,” you’re easy to ignore.
The best CSMs become trusted advisors. That starts by diving deep into:
- Your customer’s metrics, trends, threats, playbooks and competitors.
- Their workflows, challenges, and internal politics.
- Even what gets your champion promoted.
In every role I’ve had, I obsessed over learning how my customers operated. That depth of understanding made my feedback land, my recommendations matter, and my presence irreplaceable.
2. Master the Value Proposition of Your Product
You’re not officially in sales—but you're always selling.
You have to:
- Know your product better than the product team
- Understand the value prop better than sales
- Know the real world applications of your product
- Translate features into business results
Because when your customer asks, “Why are we paying for this?”—you need to have the clearest, most confident answer in the room. Every conversation, every email, every QBR is an opportunity to reinforce value.
3. Turn Customer Wins into Promotion-Worthy Stories
Not every little customer update is a “win.” The kind of win that gets you promoted is one that tells a story of transformation—a clear before-and-after, backed by data and driven by your leadership.
Here’s how I did it:
When I was a CSM, one of my clients was Outbound Engine, a fast-paced sales organization in Austin. They were early adopters of a new ML-powered lead scoring platform we launched, called Neuralytics. The product promised better contact and close rates—but this wasn’t an easy win. Their sales team was already highly optimized.
To prove value, I worked with them to design a real A/B test. We split their team in half—one group used our ML-driven list, the other used their traditional method. Week after week, we switched the groups and ran the experiment again.
Each time, the Neuralytics-powered list outperformed.
But I didn’t stop at gathering the results. I wrote a full recap, framed the business impact, included customer testimonials, and shared it with our CEO, the marketing team, and leadership. I worked with marketing to produce a customer video testimonial. I was then invited into a board meeting to present the highlights.
Outbound Engine became the highlight of the company that quarter. And I was promoted soon after.
4. Say Yes to the Hard Stuff—and Bring the Energy
After being promoted to manager, I was asked to take on a major challenge: manage the largest and most complex book of SMB customers—but do it in a brand-new way.
Instead of inheriting a large team, I was given a lean group and the autonomy to build something from scratch. It was clear the company needed a more scalable, tech-enabled model for supporting long-tail customers—and I had the opportunity to design it.
So we built the “Customer Success Programs” team. We reimagined how Customer Success could work in a one-to-many model. We:
- Designed automated systems
- Created content-driven touchpoints
- Used data to personalize outreach at scale
- Hired differently—bringing in systems thinkers, content creators, and operational minds
The result? We maintained customer outcomes while significantly improving operational efficiency. Churn didn’t increase—but we drove nearly $1M in cost savings for the business.
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5. Make Your Intentions Known—and Ask for the Path
Don’t wait for someone to tap you on the shoulder. Say it out loud:
“I want to be a [Team Lead/Manager/Director]. What would it take to earn that role?”
Then link your work directly to the outcomes that matter. Share your progress. Highlight the customer stories. Be relentless.
The promotion isn’t given because you’re “ready.” It’s given because you've already started doing the job before anyone asked.
6: How to Get Promoted in Customer Success
- Know your customer’s business inside and out
- Know your product and its impact better than anyone
- Share wins that tell transformation stories
- Say yes to the hard stuff, and go in with energy
- Make your goals known, and ask how to earn them
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