(Role / 04)MBA tech role · Track 04← All roles

Customer Success

CS owns customer outcomes after the sale. CSMs drive adoption, renewal, and expansion, making sure customers actually realize value from the product they bought.

(02)The work

What you do.

(01)
Onboard new customers and drive adoption of the product.
(02)
Build account plans, run QBRs, and surface risks early.
(03)
Partner with sales on renewals and expansion (upsell / cross-sell).
(04)
Be the customer's voice internally — feed insights to product and engineering.
(05)
Track health metrics (NPS, usage, churn risk) and intervene proactively.

(03)Skills

Key skills.

Relationship managementConsultative sellingProduct fluencyProject managementData literacyCross-functional advocacy

What they look for.

(01)
Comfort talking to customers daily — empathy + executive presence.
(02)
Commercial instincts: comfortable with renewal/expansion conversations.
(03)
Product curiosity — willingness to go deep on technical features.
(04)
Operational mindset — managing a portfolio, not a single project.

(04)Know the difference

Distinctions.

The same title can mean different things depending on the product, the company, and the stage. Here’s how to pick it apart.

Vs / 01

CS vs. Customer Service

Customer Service is reactive (tickets, support). CS is proactive — strategic, account-based, tied to revenue retention.

Vs / 02

Enterprise CSM

A handful of named accounts, deep relationships, executive sponsorship, custom motions.

Vs / 03

Mid-market / SMB CSM

Larger book, more pooled / digital motions, uses playbooks and automation.

Vs / 04

CS Ops / Strategy

Builds the systems, segmentation, health scores, and tooling that the CSM org runs on.

(05)Ecosystem

Often confused with.

Roles that sit close to this one — useful to know whether you want the title or the adjacent version.

Account ManagementSolutions ConsultingSales Product Marketing Implementation

(06)Prep

Haas classes worth taking.

(01)Marketing (Core)
(02)Negotiations & Conflict Resolution
(03)Strategic Leadership
(04)Customer Insights / Behavioral Lab

(07)Further reading

Resources.

(08)The dossier

Open the full file.

File / CS · 3 chapters. Long-form chapters sourced from HTC's internal guides — the kind of reading that pays off on callbacks.

Chapter / I