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The differences between customer service managers and customer success managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a customer service manager, becoming a customer success manager takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, a customer success manager has an average salary of $93,820, which is higher than the $61,487 average annual salary of a customer service manager.
The top three skills for a customer service manager include strong customer service, payroll and customer satisfaction. The most important skills for a customer success manager are client facing, cloud, and account management.
| Customer Service Manager | Customer Success Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $61,487 | $93,820 |
| Hourly rate | $29.56 | $45.11 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 313,110 | 95,053 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 78% |
| Average age | 44 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 8 |
Customer service managers are in charge of overseeing a group of customer service associates. They ensure that key metrics are met by the employees. These metrics usually include average handling time and customer satisfaction ratings. They also give coaching to employees who might need additional guidance in reaching team goals. Customer service managers are expected to have had experience on the operations floor to balance their role as a strategic leader and a people manager. They should have customer service skills, decision-making skills, and communication skills.
A customer success manager works to understand repeat customers and prioritize their long-term needs. Primarily, they manage the customer relationship and give them prompt value propositions. They act as mentors to customers by educating them about the sales process and ensure efficient transaction processing. Their tasks include advocating for the company, onboarding customers to the products, follow-up on renewals, and encouraging cross-sells and upsells. Additionally, they build relationships with the customer and the support team as well as advocating customers' needs.
Customer service managers and customer success managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Service Manager | Customer Success Manager | |
| Average salary | $61,487 | $93,820 |
| Salary range | Between $35,000 And $105,000 | Between $61,000 And $142,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Redwood City, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | California |
| Best paying company | KLA | VMware |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Technology |
There are a few differences between a customer service manager and a customer success manager in terms of educational background:
| Customer Service Manager | Customer Success Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 46% | Bachelor's Degree, 78% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between customer service managers' and customer success managers' demographics:
| Customer Service Manager | Customer Success Manager | |
| Average age | 44 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 37.0% Female, 63.0% | Male, 54.9% Female, 45.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 7% |