The Evolution of Customer Success
Customer Success (CS) has emerged as a core function in tech companies, evolving from an offshoot of customer support and account management into a strategic driver for growth, innovation, and customer loyalty. This evolution is primarily driven by the rise of SaaS, where customer retention is as critical as acquisition.
This blog, inspired by a conversation with Melanie Lawn, covers the evolution of CS, the key milestones, and the attributes and frameworks that define a successful CS function today.
Melanie is a seasoned Customer Success expert and Venture Partner at Eight Roads VC.
The Origins of Customer Success
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Early Customer Success functions grew out of account management, focusing on maintaining smooth customer relationships. The rise of SaaS and subscription models required a different approach. Today, CS teams aim to identify expansion and upsell opportunities, drive customer loyalty, and reduce churn.
In many high-growth tech companies, CS is deeply integrated into the customer journey, from onboarding to renewals, ensuring customers derive continuous value. In some cases, CS leaders advocate for CS ownership of the entire customer journey, collaborating closely with sales, marketing, and product teams to maximise customer outcomes and company success.
Driving Product Development and Innovation
One of the key value drivers of a Customer Success function is its role as the “voice of the customer.” Through real-time, direct customer engagement, CS can gather valuable customer insights. Sharing this feedback with product teams helps shape the product direction and prioritise features that matter most to users. This close customer relationship means CS teams are uniquely positioned to recognise emerging needs and challenges, often well before they impact renewal decisions.
Building Trust and Loyalty
A major shift in Customer Success is its proactive focus. CS teams can leverage technology to monitor customer health scores, usage patterns, and use predictive analytics to anticipate issues and engage customers at pivotal points.
For the customer, this helps them to achieve maximum value from their investment. For the business, this approach reduces churn, strengthens loyalty, and builds the foundation for long-term, mutually beneficial relationships.
Building and Structuring a Customer Success Team
For early-stage tech companies, deciding when to establish a Customer Success function and who to hire can be challenging. Generally, the best time to invest in CS is when a company has a customer base generating recurring revenue and requiring ongoing support. In smaller organisations, the initial CS hire may have multiple roles – such as support, account management, and customer success – until the company scales to a point where a dedicated team is essential.
Whether recruiting for Customer Success directly or partnering with an executive search consultancy, companies should prioritise candidates with a strong blend of product expertise, relationship management skills, and market awareness. High emotional intelligence (EQ) is essential, as CS professionals handle complex customer needs while closely aligning with internal teams like sales and product.
Strong CS leaders excel at setting expectations, demonstrating empathy, and solving problems under pressure – qualities that build strong relationships and trust.
Essential Qualities for Customer Success
A successful Customer Success team is inherently cross-functional, bridging gaps between departments to deliver value to customers. Core qualities of an effective CS team include:
- Product Knowledge and Market Insight: A strong grasp of both the ‘product’ and the market allows CS professionals to guide customers effectively and identify opportunities where the ‘product’ can better meet customer needs.
- Customer-Centric Objectives: CS teams should have a good understanding of the customer’s goals, ensuring that their objectives are met or exceeded through strategic engagement.
- Relationship Management: Building trust-based relationships are central to CS. Teams must balance being advocates for customers with representing the business effectively, often requiring the skill to “say no with kindness”.
- Coordination with Sales and Development: Effective CS teams work closely with sales to manage smooth handovers and with product and development teams to address customer needs, creating a seamless customer experience that drives loyalty and retention.
Structuring Customer Success for Growth
As companies grow, structuring the CS function effectively is crucial. Some organisations opt for a centralised CS team, while others distribute CS responsibilities across departments, most often sales and support. A unified structure ensures consistency in customer interactions, while a cross-functional model leverages departmental expertise to enhance customer service.
Regardless of structure, CS leaders emphasise the importance of clear roles, objectives, and alignment with the go-to-market (GTM) strategy. Well-defined roles and responsibilities help minimise friction, improve effectiveness, and enable CS to collaborate seamlessly with other functions, supporting overall revenue goals.
The Competitive Talent Landscape
As Customer Success becomes increasingly important to business growth, competition for skilled CS professionals has intensified in Europe. To attract and retain top talent, companies must create appealing roles that offer growth opportunities and a supportive culture. This is particularly important as CS professionals frequently manage challenging customer interactions and complex problem-solving.
Additionally, CS offers a valuable opportunity to increase gender diversity. With its blend of strategic and relational skills, CS provides ideal leadership opportunities that welcome diverse perspectives that can strengthen the function and contribute to organisational growth and resilience.
Conclusion: Customer Success as a Growth Engine
Customer Success has evolved from a support function to a core driver of growth, satisfaction and innovation. In today’s competitive landscape, tech firms that prioritise CS are well positioned to build stronger brands and lasting customer relationships.
With advanced analytics, AI, and increased cross-functional collaboration shaping the future, Customer Success is poised to continue its evolution into one of the most impactful functions in modern tech businesses.
