Software vendors have pioneered the deployment of professionals charged with enhancing the success of that vendor’s customers. However, now more industries are adopting the model common for software, of marketing a renewable subscription rather than requiring a capital investment. That model makes customer switching far easier, justifying for more vendors the role of Customer Success Manager (CSM). Based on 129 interviews with those individuals and those who supervise their work, the authors recommend that vendors make customer success a strategic priority, that they deploy CSM’s astutely to ensure their usefulness, and that they expect competitors to begin or continue such programs.
