A Day in the Life of a Customer Success Manager
Being a Customer Success Manager (CSM) has always felt like my true calling. I thoroughly enjoy engaging with customers, fostering long-term relationships, and ensuring they get the most out of their CRM system. My role is to help clients optimise their systems, ensuring they continually meet business needs and support overall goals.
Why a Customer Success Plan (CSP) is Essential
Many businesses think that once a system is implemented, the hard work is over. However, there is significant value in having ongoing support available to address inquiries and identify opportunities for improvement or optimisation.
- Support When You Need It: With a CSP, you have access to timely assistance, ensuring your Salesforce solution is always performing as it should, across system updates, feature changes, and even in critical situations. Whether it’s troubleshooting an issue or guiding you through new functionalities, we’re here when you need us.
- Proactive Monitoring: Salesforce releases three major updates each year that can impact system functionality or help the org improve the functionality. At ProQuest, we proactively monitor these changes, keeping systems updated and identifying improvements to keep businesses ahead.
- Mini Health Check: Allows clients to use CSP points to address specific Salesforce issues, review licences and permission sets, or assess new updates. We also help test new features with Proof of Concept (PoC) development, optimising systems and reducing risks.
What is it like to be a Customer Success Manager?
My day starts early—around 7:00 AM or earlier, with a steaming cup of coffee made by my husband. I then quickly scan through Slack to ensure there are no immediate fires to put out. After dropping off my two kids, I dive straight into addressing urgent issues—especially those that need immediate attention.
After that, I check in with our consultants to set the day’s priorities, ensuring everyone is aligned and on track with our Service Level Agreements (SLA). This is essential for delivering timely, high-quality support service.
A significant part of my day is dedicated to developing Customer Success Plans (CSPs) for key accounts, outlining the goals, strategies, and resources needed to help customers achieve their objectives. I aim to touch base with at least five clients daily, focusing on:
- Reviewing any pending cases, and securing feedback on decision points
- Addressing frustrations, especially when cases take longer than expected
- Discussing upcoming needs and priorities and aligning resource allocations
- Providing transparency on case progress through our portal
This open communication helps build trust and reassures clients that we’re actively managing their needs.
Much of what I do each day wouldn’t be possible without the right tools to support our clients—and that’s where Salesforce comes in.
Customer Success and Salesforce
Salesforce plays a central role in my daily work. Through its portal, I manage cases, track progress, and ensure visibility for our clients. Communication with clients is streamlined through Salesforce Chatter, enabling quick and efficient exchanges regarding case progress, obtaining approvals if a case is anticipated to take longer, and resolving concerns efficiently.
Additionally, we have Slack integration with Salesforce, ensuring I receive instant updates and notifications from my team and clients, regardless of where I am. This allows me to respond swiftly to any queries or issues that arise.
Closing Thoughts
My journey with Salesforce began four years ago as an admin, and over time, I transitioned into a consultant role. Today, I've taken on more responsibility and moved into management, where I'm inspired daily to help clients.
Being a CSM is not without its challenges, but the satisfaction of helping clients succeed, building strong relationships, and continually learning keeps me motivated every day. To me, the most rewarding aspect of my role is using Salesforce to drive real value for our clients. Whether it’s creating custom reports, automating workflows, or implementing scalable solutions, we leverage Salesforce to solve pain points and streamline operations. At ProQuest we are focussed on empowering our clients with insights, support, and tools that allow them to achieve more.
Hearing great feedback from clients, knowing that they are happy with the results, and seeing the positive impact we’ve made makes this role as a Customer Success Manager truly fulfilling.
