Sarah Kiley is chief gross sales officer at ChurnZero.
When buyer success begins reporting into the CRO, it’s not only a reporting change—it’s a strategic shift. Most CROs come up by means of gross sales, the place success is measured by velocity and outcomes. However proudly owning the total buyer lifecycle calls for a brand new working mannequin—one constructed on belief, worth, and long-term progress.
A very powerful mindset shift I made as a CRO is recognizing that CS isn’t a income heart—it’s a worth engine. Income is the result, not the enter. And it solely comes when prospects see clear, repeated, increasing worth.
From my expertise of main each features, I can provide CROs 5 worthwhile tips about methods to set their CS staff up for fulfillment.
1: Misaligning your buyer success staff is a lure.
The CRO’s job isn’t to make CS extra like gross sales—it’s to unlock the distinct worth CS delivers and scale it.
With out intentional onboarding and publicity to CS technique, it’s tempting for CROs to over-rotate buyer success to targets, making use of short-cycle KPIs that don’t replicate the dynamics of buyer relationships.
When a CRO instantly layers on income targets or removes specialised tooling, they threat breaking the belief that CS has labored so laborious to construct. Issues can break down not from dangerous intentions, however from misaligned expectations.
Clients can sense when conversations shift from help to gross sales. It erodes credibility and adjustments the dynamic from “we’re right here to assist” to “we’re right here to shut.” That may result in decrease product adoption, diminished buyer satisfaction, and elevated churn.
Internally, it additionally creates burnout. Your CSMs joined to serve prospects, not chase quotas. Pushing too laborious on income can depart each your staff and your prospects feeling disillusioned.
2: Transcend the numbers to find what makes CS profitable.
While you take over a buyer staff, sit down with them and ask what makes them profitable, what challenges they’re seeing within the enterprise, and the way they run their a part of it. I like to recommend doing this earlier than you go to the numbers.
Earlier in my profession, I had been main a gross sales group once I stepped into handle CS. The metrics had been nice. We had 98% gross income retention, with very pleased prospects who beloved to offer references for our gross sales staff.
Had I not additionally sat down with the CS staff, I might have missed a whole lot of the components that allowed us to have that metric. The account managers had been doing heroic work, that one rep had developed her personal system to trace well being with 5 completely different instruments. Nothing was scalable, and if I took the individuals out of the equation, I’d lose all perception into our prospects.
Don’t simply take a look at the metrics—interrogate the mechanics behind them. In case your outcomes are pushed by heroics, not methods, you’re one resignation away from dropping important insights. The most effective CROs dig beneath the dashboard to know how worth is really being delivered—and the place it may be scaled.
3: Maintain your CS staff aligned to buyer worth, not simply income.
Taking possession of buyer success isn’t about turning CSMs into sellers—it’s about scaling worth supply throughout your complete buyer base. CS operates on a distinct rhythm than gross sales, and nice CROs shield that rhythm.
Right here’s methods to hold CS aligned with what really drives sustainable progress:
Protect CS-specific metrics. Don’t let NRR, product adoption, and well being scores get buried beneath bookings. These indicators are main alerts of buyer worth and future income—they usually should stay seen and prioritized.
Set up clear charters between CS, gross sales, and AMs. The boundaries between groups must be intentional, not political. Ambiguity creates rigidity and inefficiency. Alignment creates velocity.
Give CS permission to say “not but.” Generally essentially the most strategic transfer is not to pursue an enlargement. Let your CSMs prioritize readiness, timing, and belief—these are the true accelerators of long-term progress.
Steadiness incentives. Should you solely reward upsell, you get short-term pondering. Acknowledge and compensate for retention, advocacy, and buyer well being simply as a lot as income.
Put money into value-building applications. QBRs are desk stakes. The most effective CS orgs drive loyalty by means of buyer communities, govt briefings, and ongoing success engagement. These are the moments that deepen relationships and switch prospects into champions.
Buyer Success isn’t the “good” a part of the enterprise—it’s the sticky, strategic core of your recurring income mannequin. When CROs shield that focus, enlargement turns into the byproduct of belief—not stress.
4: On the subject of gross sales expertise, industrial confidence is the important thing.
At ChurnZero, for instance, buyer success staff owns the total buyer lifecycle, together with enlargement. Which means industrial expertise aren’t non-obligatory—they’re important. However that doesn’t imply it’s essential flip your CSMs into conventional sellers. It means constructing industrial confidence in a manner that aligns with the trusted advisor position.
Most nice CSMs already know methods to hear, ask the precise questions, and remedy significant issues. That’s the muse of consultative promoting. The CRO’s position is to show these strengths into repeatable, assured industrial conversations. Right here’s how:
Give attention to alternative framing—not pitching. CSMs ought to have the ability to join further merchandise or options to a buyer’s enterprise objectives, not rattle off performance.
Create secure observe environments. Function performs, name critiques, and speak tracks assist construct muscle reminiscence and cut back the concern round industrial moments.
Prepare for timing and worth, not stress. Clients don’t increase as a result of we push—they increase after they see clear, well timed worth.
Give them the language. Equip your staff with phrasing and positioning that makes industrial conversations really feel pure, not pressured.
Achieved proper, this strategy retains your CS staff aligned to their core mission—driving worth and deepening relationships—whereas giving them the fluency and confidence to steer enlargement while not having a gross sales help.
5: Lastly, don’t rip out the GPS—or the CSP.
The opposite day, I went to choose up my son from college. I knew the route by coronary heart, so I didn’t hassle checking GPS. However what I didn’t know was that there had been a serious accident—and site visitors was backed up for miles. Had I used GPS, I might’ve had the real-time context to reroute and plan accordingly. As a substitute, I confirmed up late and pissed off.
That’s precisely what occurs when CROs take away the shopper success platform (CSP) within the identify of effectivity.
Certain, your staff is aware of the shopper. They will function on expertise and intuition. However with out real-time knowledge on product utilization, engagement traits, help tickets, and well being scores, you’re driving blind. A CRM would possibly monitor the vacation spot—however solely a CSP exhibits you the highway circumstances, detours, and alternatives alongside the best way.
The CSP is your income GPS—it flags churn threat early, highlights enlargement alerts, and offers your CS staff the intelligence to behave proactively, not reactively.
From the surface, a buyer would possibly look wholesome—they’re logging in, not submitting tickets, and renewing on time. But when utilization is declining, champions are going darkish, or help sentiment is slipping, your staff received’t know till it’s too late—except they’ve the precise instruments.
You’d by no means ask Gross sales to surrender their CRM. So don’t ask CS to surrender their system of intelligence. If you’d like buyer success to drive progress, not simply defend renewals, the CSP is non-negotiable.
