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What is a customer success manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
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A customer success manager helps customers achieve their desired outcomes by providing guidance and support throughout their journey with a product or service. They work closely with clients to understand their needs and ensure that they are satisfied with the product or service. A customer success manager is responsible for building strong relationships with customers, identifying areas for improvement, and helping customers achieve their goals. They also provide training and support to customers.

ScoreCustomer Success ManagerUS Average
Salary
7.3

Avg. Salary $93,820

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
6.4

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
2.7
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.24%

Asian 4.07%

Black or African American 3.24%

Hispanic or Latino 9.82%

Unknown 4.41%

White 78.23%

Gender

female 45.09%

male 54.91%

Age - 46
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46
Stress level
6.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level
8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance
4.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a customer success manager?

Pros

  • Competitive salary and benefits packages

  • Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment

  • Opportunity to work with a variety of industries and businesses

  • Job security

  • Often able to attend industry events and conferences

Cons

  • High-pressure environment with expectations to meet customer expectations

  • Long hours and high workload during peak seasons

  • Can be difficult to manage multiple customer accounts simultaneously

  • Challenging to balance customer needs with company goals and objectives

  • May require extensive travel depending on the company's clientele

Customer success manager career paths

Key steps to become a customer success manager

  1. Explore customer success manager education requirements

    Most common customer success manager degrees

    Bachelor's

    77.5 %

    Master's

    12.3 %

    Associate

    6.9 %
  2. Start to develop specific customer success manager skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Client Facing10.00%
    Cloud7.12%
    Account Management6.65%
    Customer Relationships5.21%
    Saas4.77%
  3. Complete relevant customer success manager training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New customer success managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a customer success manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real customer success manager resumes.
  4. Research customer success manager duties and responsibilities

    • Help doctors manage their facebook page and website.
    • Achieve excellent performance results as compared to other Aarons stores.
    • Help customers establish spend and savings goals and achieve those to get full ROI.
    • Link QuickBooks system with customer sales database to automate the process of tax administration.
  5. Prepare your customer success manager resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your customer success manager resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a customer success manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose from 10+ customizable customer success manager resume templates

    Build a professional customer success manager resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your customer success manager resume.
    Customer Success Manager Resume
    Customer Success Manager Resume
    Customer Success Manager Resume
    Customer Success Manager Resume
    Customer Success Manager Resume
    Customer Success Manager Resume
    Customer Success Manager Resume
    Customer Success Manager Resume
    Customer Success Manager Resume
  6. Apply for customer success manager jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a customer success manager job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first customer success manager job

Zippi

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Average customer success manager salary

The average customer success manager salary in the United States is $93,820 per year or $45 per hour. Customer success manager salaries range between $61,000 and $142,000 per year.

Average customer success manager salary
$93,820 Yearly
$45.11 hourly

What am I worth?

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How do customer success managers rate their job?

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Customer success manager reviews

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A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020
Pros

Customer engagement manager needs to leverage strong skills in internal and external communications, cooperation, and collaboration, as well as make decisions and problem solving. This position has endless opportunities to develop.


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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