Thinking about a career in customer relationship management (CRM)? You’ve probably come across job titles like "customer success manager" and "account manager." At first glance, they might seem similar, as both fall under the broad umbrella of CRM. But dig a little deeper, and you’ll find they have distinct responsibilities, priorities and skills.
Both customer success and account management are client relationship strategies focused on building long-term partnerships, keeping customers happy and driving business revenue. However, they differ in their approach.
Account management is more sales-focused, aiming to grow revenue by selling additional products or services to existing customers. By building trust and addressing clients’ needs through ongoing support, businesses can uncover opportunities to recommend more products or professional services. Clients work with dedicated account managers (AMs), who are their main point of contact for resolving issues, purchasing upgrades or new services and negotiating contract renewals.
Customer success, on the other hand, is all about helping clients achieve their goals with a product or service. This approach is especially common among subscription-based businesses, where it’s crucial to show value right away because the early period of a subscription (often the first 30-90 days) is when customers are most likely to cancel if they don't see clear benefits. Customer success managers (CSMs) take a hands-on role, working closely with clients to define goals at the start of the partnership and tailoring their support to meet those objectives.
The idea behind customer success is simple: clients are more likely to make repeat purchases if they see real value in what they’re buying. Customer success managers create that value by tailoring their approach to each client’s goals and guiding them on the best ways to use the product or service.
Along with regular client meetings, a CSM’s daily tasks might include:
Setting and tracking client goals to measure the success of the partnership
Training new clients on how to get started with a product or service
Identifying and solving potential problems before they escalate
Providing resources like FAQs and product guides to help clients reach their goals
Collecting feedback to share with internal teams for product improvements
Spotting signs that a client might stop using the product (known as churn) and working with leadership to keep the client on board
For example, let’s say a client using a project management tool wants 70% of its employees to adopt it to justify the investment. A CSM could host demonstration calls to show employees how to use the tool and create customized guides for each department. The CSM might also provide monthly progress reports and suggest strategies to boost adoption, like hosting specialized demos for departments with lower usage.
