Turn CSMs into salespeople (no, don't)
Someone asked, “I'm building a new CS team. Who should be doing the upgrade, Customer Success or Sales?”
Oooh... this is one of my favorite topics (as you know if you follow me on LinkedIn).
I believe that CS should be a growth mechanism in your company. CS should be a (the?) significant contributor of new revenue.
But turning CSMs into salespeople or having them act as SDRs (Sales Development Reps) with a quota of CSQLs (CS Qualified Leads) to uncover and turnover to Sales is NOT the right way to do this.
Johan and I do a deep-dive on this topic in this week's episode of our Impact Weekly podcast that just dropped today.
In this episode we discuss how you should approach this question, specifically:
- The importance of capacity planning in carving out specialist roles
- The pros and cons of having account managers handle upselling opportunities
- The right strategies to approach expansion sales
- And a LOT more.
I rarely say this, but this episode is really good and you should definitely listen.
~Lincoln
BTW: Our next Head of CS training starts next Monday, 8-May.
We'll cover Expansion Sales, Capacity Planning, and so much more. If you want to lead a World-class CS org, this is the training you need.
While the training is virtual - a mix of recorded content and live Zoom sessions - it's very interactive and hands-on so space is necessarily limited.
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Lincoln Murphy
I help SaaS companies Maximize LTV through Customer-centric Upselling
November 18-20 in Kelowna, BC, Canada. This intensive is designed for SaaS companies ready to integrate AI into their growth strategy. Over two days, we'll explore how AI is transforming the five growth levers: product, marketing, customer success, sales, and leadership. I'll be leading the session on AI-first Customer Success Management—with practical, actionable strategies you can implement now, plus a roadmap for scaling over time. You'll leave with a clear operating model for your next...
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