As we are all finding our bearings in developing the next generation of Customer Success – through world class CS Operations, we also realise that finding that unicorn to join your team is a tricky journey. Just not many people have developed their skill set in that area yet. But, not to worry: there are many great CSMs out there who can help you build on that vision.

The below article highlights some great insights, and the final quote is one I want to add on to:

https://blog.nuffsaid.com/newsletter/building-customer-success-operations

“CS Ops is a brand new business function. My advice to new Ops Managers is: make your own toolkit. Ask yourself what your team really needs to know and do, and build the tools that will help you answer those questions.”

What does that toolkit look like? That means looking at some very specific skills: I would love to have an experienced CSM join an Ops team, because I know that that person will have the frontline experience, the innate understanding of the need for the right scalable processes, and most likely strong project management skills, and an excellent influencer/communicator. What better than for a CSM to bring all that frontline experience deep into the organisation, and help build out the engine room?

What else does that toolkit contain? For me it contains a clear vision of a potential toolstack (no, not just jumping on any new shining tool there is), and a genuine interest in tinkering with all the tools at your disposal. Use what best fits your use case, and make it all work together. The more automated and integrated everything is, the more you can focus on other things. This can mean you build out spreadsheets with Zapier, it could mean implementing a full CS platform.

Wherever you are in your journey, have the grand vision, but don’t forget that small changes can have a big impact. So, always measure any initiative on effort vs impact. Where can you do the most good?