How to hire a customer success manager

How to hire a customer success manager, step by step

Here's a step-by-step customer success manager hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a customer success manager job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new customer success manager
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a customer success manager do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The customer success manager hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a customer success manager to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a customer success manager that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of customer success manager salaries for various roles:

   Type of Customer Success Manager	Description	Hourly rate
   Customer Success Manager	Sales managers direct organizations' sales teams. They set sales goals, analyze data, and develop training programs for organizations’ sales representatives.	$29-68
   Billing Manager	A billing manager is in charge of overseeing the systems and processes concerned with billing in a company. One of their primary duties is to handle the receivable accounts to ensure smooth cash flow, assess the validity of bills, provide corrective measures when necessary, supervise the workforce's performance, and solve issues raised by staff... Show more	$25-54
   Team Manager	Team managers primarily manage the daily activities of their members. Their role includes setting targets, implementing guidelines, and supporting employees to solve any issues that may arise... Show more	$21-73

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Client Facing
   • Cloud
   • Account Management
   • Customer Relationships
   • Saas
   • Customer Service
   • Project Management
   • CSM
   • Salesforce
   • Post Sales
   • Product Management
   • Client Satisfaction
   • Business Reviews
   • Product Knowledge

   Check all skills

   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.
   • Well verse in leveraging CRM to manage accounts, capture metrics, and implement relevant processes.
   • Raise RingCentral's NPS score, by creating superb relations with clients that lead to increase survey ratings.

   More customer success manager duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your customer success manager job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A customer success manager salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, customer success managers' average salary in iowa is 46% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level customer success managers earn 57% less than senior-level customer success managers.
   • Certifications. A customer success manager with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a customer success manager's salary.

   Average customer success manager salary

   $93,820yearly

   $45.11 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level customer success manager salary

   $61,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 23, 2025

   Average customer success manager salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$136,872	$66
   2	Washington	$103,173	$50
   3	Massachusetts	$95,588	$46
   4	New York	$92,412	$44
   5	Oregon	$91,085	$44
   6	Arizona	$90,571	$44
   7	Michigan	$90,215	$43
   8	Indiana	$89,614	$43
   9	Texas	$89,028	$43
   10	Virginia	$88,892	$43
   11	Utah	$87,532	$42
   12	Pennsylvania	$87,453	$42
   13	Ohio	$87,376	$42
   14	Maryland	$86,271	$41
   15	Georgia	$84,413	$41
   16	District of Columbia	$84,340	$41
   17	North Carolina	$82,299	$40
   18	Colorado	$80,847	$39
   19	Illinois	$80,661	$39
   20	Maine	$77,501	$37

   Average customer success manager salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	VMware	$160,528	$77.18
   2	PayPal	$160,096	$76.97	16
   3	Meta	$159,944	$76.90	61
   4	Fiverr	$154,106	$74.09
   5	eBay	$153,267	$73.69	3
   6	Thrive Global	$150,667	$72.44
   7	Zendrive	$150,592	$72.40
   8	ZS	$150,240	$72.23	1
   9	Google	$149,717	$71.98	41
   10	Amazon	$147,934	$71.12	180
   11	Icertis	$143,094	$68.80
   12	Okta	$141,824	$68.18	3
   13	Dotdash	$141,784	$68.17
   14	Cleo	$141,154	$67.86
   15	Airtable	$140,680	$67.63	3
   16	ServiceNow	$138,779	$66.72	44
   17	Infoblox	$137,184	$65.95
   18	Cloudera	$137,041	$65.89	1
   19	Sumo Logic	$136,901	$65.82	1
   20	F5	$136,814	$65.78	2

4. Writing a customer success manager job description

   A good customer success manager job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a customer success manager job description:

   Customer success manager job description example

   The Customer Success Manager is a high-level Sales role responsible for the total revenue generated at agencies and clients in the assigned territory. The Customer Success Manager focuses on promoting local solutions to maximize linear and OTT revenue, and generate new business representing the full suite of CoxReps' solutions. This role works closely with the Business Development team and Client Solutions Executives to bring local opportunities to clients and agencies.
   
   WHAT YOU WILL DO:
   50% Grow local revenue from assigned territories, clients, and agencies. Leverage contacts to generate business and cultivate deep brand and agency relationships at all levels through focused client meetings, calls, and client-centric entertainment activities Continuously learn and present the value of local linear and OTT solutions to clients and agencies 50% Create new dollars through developing business. Manage pipeline and prospect effectively Communicate effectively internally with General Sales Managers, Local Partnership Executives, and Business Development team, as well as externally with high-level agency contacts and client-direct relationships. Be organized, operate with sense of urgency.
   
   What we look for
   
   WHAT YOU WILL BRING:
   Four-year college degree preferred. Prior sales experience at a TV Rep firm or local TV advertising sales preferred. Strong proactive, self-motivated work style with great attention to detail and strong follow-through. Ability to build and maintain strong professional relationships. Demonstrate ability to grow and develop business Show initiative, anticipate problems, and offer solutions. Exhibit effective written and verbal communication. Proficiency with computer applications like Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Ability to operate successfully with a sense of urgency. Excellent sales and people skills.
   About CoxReps
   
   CoxReps is the country's premier national television representation company, delivering local, smart media solutions on a national scale on behalf of the most respected broadcast groups in the United States. The company is driven by a highly talented workforce with experience and expertise in innovative research and targeted advertising solutions, and a deep understanding of the media landscape. This approach allows CoxReps to identify and fulfill opportunities for customers at local and national scale.
   
   We promote the safety and well-being of our employees by requiring that all newly hired CMG employees be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to their start date. CMG will provide reasonable accommodations as required by law for individuals unable to be vaccinated due to a medical condition or sincerely held religious belief.
   
   CoxReps is a subsidiary of Cox Media Group and an Equal Opportunity employer.
   
   #LI-MM1

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right customer success manager for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your customer success manager job on Zippia to find and recruit customer success manager candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit customer success managers, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new customer success manager

   Once you've decided on a perfect customer success manager candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   To prepare for the new customer success manager first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a customer success manager?