I am often asked: “What’s the primary skill to look for in hiring Customer Success Managers?” My reply hasn’t changed in twenty years; it’s still — and always will be — Domain Expertise. Early in my career, a veteran sales guy told me that unless I could put on a hard hat and a set of coveralls and go out on the floor speaking fluent “machine shop,” I shouldn’t try to sell the owner anything because they weren’t going to trust me. It was sage advice. Forty six years later, my domain expertise is in Customer Success and Support groups and I speak both languages fluently. What’s yours? In what environments can you comfortably step into the role of a trusted advisor, speaking easily with the voice of authority? Would your colleagues agree?
Building a personal brand
Domain expertise is not something you acquire in training courses. It must be earned over time. You can learn about a given product in training and in service on the Support hotline, and that product expertise is very valuable. But knowing how it works and knowing how to use it to increase a customer’s productivity and especially profitability are two very different things.
Look around your network of personal connections. Who are the leaders in your particular professional community? What issues do they communicate about? Do you join in those conversations? Are there professional associations that you have joined and conferences that you’ve attended? What topics are discussed at such events? Which could you lead, if given the opportunity?
Product expertise could enable you to do a demo of your product at a trade show. Could you lead an implementation team to effectively onboard a customer?
Decision Points
I’ve been reading CSM and CS Exec position announcements for many years, and the social media posts of those who have taken positions only to find that the descriptions were inaccurate (to put it gently). It’s common to find requirements like “must have x years in a CSM role” in them. What’s not common is to see that the employer is looking for evidence of domain expertise in prospective candidates. That’s a red flag, in my opinion. If that point is not covered in the interview process, it’s a even bigger one.
As our industry moves toward an outcome based model for pricing, domain expertise is going to become far more vital. Which specific jobs and outcomes are most valuable to the customer? What’s your foundation for making those decisions?
Recommended Reading
The CSM Competency Standard: First Level
