Customer Success Manager Course

Lesson 1 • Customer Lifecycle Overview

Outlines the stages a customer moves through from acquisition to renewal. Provides the framework for all subsequent engagement strategies.

Lesson 2 • Defining Customer Success

Covers the origin, philosophy, and distinction of customer success from support and sales. Grounds learners in the strategic purpose of the CSM function.

Lesson 3 • The CSM Role and Responsibilities

Maps the day-to-day duties, ownership areas, and cross-functional touchpoints of a CSM. Clarifies accountability boundaries within the revenue organization.

Lesson 1 • Designing the Onboarding Plan

Teaches how to build a milestone-based onboarding plan tailored to customer goals and complexity. Connects plan design to measurable time-to-value targets.

Lesson 2 • Sales-to-CS Handoff Process

Defines the information transfer and relationship transition from sales to the CSM at contract close. Prevents data loss and sets accurate customer expectations.

Lesson 3 • Running the Customer Kickoff

Covers how to facilitate an effective kickoff meeting that aligns stakeholders and establishes momentum. Builds customer confidence and shared accountability early.

Lesson 1 • Active Listening and Discovery Skills

Builds the listening and questioning techniques CSMs use to uncover true customer needs. Feeds directly into proactive engagement and expansion strategies.

Lesson 2 • Understanding Customer Stakeholders

Maps the different personas within a customer account and their unique motivations. Enables CSMs to engage the right people with the right message.

Lesson 3 • Becoming a Trusted Advisor

Outlines the behaviors and mindset shifts that elevate a CSM from vendor contact to strategic partner. Reinforces long-term loyalty and customer advocacy.

Lesson 4 • Establishing Executive Relationships

Teaches how to gain access to and build credibility with senior customer stakeholders. Protects accounts from champion departure and drives strategic alignment.

Lesson 1 • Building a Health Score Model

Guides learners through constructing a practical health score using product, engagement, and support data. Produces a reusable model adaptable to different customer segments.

Lesson 2 • Identifying and Prioritizing At-Risk Accounts

Teaches how to interpret health score drops and qualitative signals to flag accounts needing intervention. Enables CSMs to allocate time to the highest-risk customers.

Lesson 3 • Principles of Health Scoring

Explains the logic behind composite health scores and the signals that feed them. Establishes a shared language for assessing account status across the team.

Lesson 1 • Purpose and Cadence of Business Reviews

Defines when and why to conduct business reviews and how to align their frequency to account tier. Sets expectations for what a high-quality review achieves.

Lesson 2 • Handling Difficult Review Conversations

Prepares CSMs to address dissatisfaction, missed milestones, and competitive threats during reviews. Turns challenging moments into trust-building opportunities.

Lesson 3 • Structuring the Business Review Agenda

Walks through a proven agenda framework that balances backward-looking results with forward-looking strategy. Keeps reviews focused and executive-relevant.

Lesson 1 • Identifying Expansion Opportunities

Teaches how to recognize signals that indicate a customer is ready for upsell or cross-sell. Grounds expansion conversations in demonstrated value rather than quota pressure.

Lesson 2 • Measuring Expansion Performance

Defines the metrics used to track CSM contribution to revenue growth and account expansion. Enables data-driven coaching and portfolio optimization.

Lesson 3 • Positioning Expansion Value

Covers how to frame additional products or seats as solutions to customer-stated goals. Differentiates CSM-led expansion from traditional sales pitching.

Lesson 1 • Managing Churn and Offboarding

Covers how to handle confirmed churn professionally and extract learnings to improve future retention. Maintains brand reputation even when customers leave.

Lesson 2 • Handling Objections and Negotiation

Prepares CSMs to respond to pricing, scope, and satisfaction objections during renewal negotiations. Protects revenue while preserving the customer relationship.

Lesson 3 • Renewal Conversation Strategy

Teaches how to initiate and navigate renewal discussions that feel natural rather than transactional. Positions renewal as a logical continuation of demonstrated value.

Lesson 1 • Portfolio Segmentation Models

Teaches how to segment a CSM portfolio by revenue, complexity, and growth potential. Enables differentiated engagement strategies that maximize portfolio-level outcomes.

Lesson 2 • Scalable Engagement Playbooks

Introduces the design of repeatable, automated engagement plays that maintain quality at scale. Reduces per-account effort while preserving a personalized customer experience.

Lesson 3 • Reporting and Strategic Planning

Teaches how to synthesize portfolio data into executive-ready reports and quarterly CS plans. Connects individual account outcomes to company-level retention and growth goals.

Lesson 4 • Cross-Functional Collaboration at Scale

Covers how senior CSMs coordinate with product, marketing, and sales to drive portfolio-wide outcomes. Builds the influence skills needed to operate as an internal advocate.