Customer success is often inherited, not built, especially when you’re stepping into an existing team. The title might be there, but the function behind it can look very different from what you expect.
That’s where the real work begins.
Over the years, I’ve been brought into startups, scaleups, and established companies at pivotal moments, all with one common ask: help us rethink, rebuild, or refocus customer success.
Whether I’m joining a new team or guiding an existing one through change, the approach stays consistent.
Because driving impact in CS isn’t just about putting new processes in place. It’s about understanding where you are, where you want to go, and how to lead people through the transformation in a way that sticks.
Using the customer success maturity curve to assess your starting point
One of the first tools I use when joining a new team is the customer success maturity curve. If you’ve never come across it before, it’s a simple yet powerful way to assess where your customer success function currently stands and where it could evolve.
The curve typically breaks down into four levels:
- Reactive – responding to customer issues as they arise.
- Proactive – anticipating needs and actively driving value.
- Predictive – using data and insights to prevent churn and foster growth.
- Transformational – embedding CS as a strategic growth driver across the business.
Most teams fall between proactive and predictive — understanding this helps set realistic goals. So if that’s where you are, you’re not alone, and you’re doing okay.
But understanding this benchmark helps guide realistic goal-setting. You can’t jump from level two to transformational overnight. Getting to level four takes time, collaboration, and a strong data foundation. You need to build toward it.
First 30-90 days: Listen, learn, and build trust
During my first 30 to 90 days, my focus is always on listening, observing, and building relationships. The timeline varies – a small startup may take 30 days; a larger org, up to 90.
In a 14-person seed-stage startup, you can likely get a full picture in 30 days. In a large enterprise, it might take 90, or more. The point is to take the time needed to truly understand the organization before taking action.
I start by talking to as many people as possible: team members, stakeholders, peers, executives. People who are loud, people who are quiet. People who are happy, frustrated, or somewhere in between.
These conversations are invaluable. I ask: “What’s working? What’s not? Where can CS add value?”
It’s not just about their answers, it’s about reading between the lines.
Alongside conversations, I do a thorough assessment of the current state, team structure, processes, tools, metrics. But I approach this respectfully. Most teams have already put in significant effort, and it's important to acknowledge that progress, even if things still need to evolve.
Some of the questions I reflect on during this stage include:
- Is there a defined journey?Are metrics aligned with goals?
- What’s the historical context?
Setting priorities and driving forward
Once I have a good handle on the current state, I revisit the maturity curve. Where do we land today? Where do we want to go? What will create the most impact?
Some initiatives will require high effort and deliver high impact. Others may be low effort but still drive significant value. Balancing these is key. You can’t (and shouldn’t) do everything at once.
Prioritize, and be deliberate.
Most importantly, don’t go it alone. You won’t succeed in a vacuum. You need champions across the business. That’s where change management really comes into play. Invite others into the process. Share the vision. Build momentum together.
That’s how you turn customer success into a true growth driver. Step by step. Person by person. With intention and empathy.
Gema Tamames Monzón
Making change stick
The most important part of any change is making sure it sticks. That’s the whole point. Creating shifts in how things are done that people believe in, support, and are empowered to keep improving over time. And the foundation of that success is readiness: is your team, and your broader organization, actually ready for change?
That readiness starts with communication. People need to hear about change six times before it sticks – weave it into daily conversations. If someone raises an issue or shares an idea, I’ll often say, “Yes, I’ve been thinking about that too.” That small acknowledgement is one touchpoint that something’s shifting. It helps people slowly start to expect change and become more comfortable with it.
Finding your change agents
You don’t need to drive change alone. In every organization, there are people who want to make things better. Find them. Listen to the people who bring you ideas.
If someone’s constantly flagging pain points or expressing frustration, dig deeper. Ask them what they’d do differently. Invite them to help shape the solution.
Enablement matters
As you evolve the customer success function, roles often shift. Expectations change. You can’t just redefine what success looks like and assume your team will automatically rise to meet it.
You have to invest in enablement. Help your team “up-level” their skills so they can succeed in the new version of their roles. Give them the tools, the training, and the time they need to adjust and grow. If you want new behaviors, you have to create an environment that supports those behaviors.
Creating a feedback loop
When change is underway, people will respond to it, positively, negatively, and everywhere in between. And that’s good. You want feedback. Not every idea will land perfectly the first time, and that’s okay.
Stay open to input. Make adjustments as needed to ensure what you’re building is fit for purpose and tailored to your team.
The goal isn’t to get everything perfect out of the gate, it’s to move forward, learn, and adapt.
Securing leadership support
Change rarely succeeds in a silo. Leadership buy-in is essential, whether it’s from your executive team, your direct peers, or both. You need champions who will advocate alongside you, especially for cross-functional initiatives.
I’ve seen firsthand how powerful this can be. I was once working on a customer feedback project with our CMO and VP of Product. We had loads of valuable feedback from customers, but no one was doing anything with it, it just sat there.
The VP of Product, who had been with the company for nearly a decade, was skeptical. “We’ve tried this before,” he said. “It never sticks. People start it, then abandon it.” He believed in the value of the initiative, but didn’t feel it had the staying power.
That’s when our CMO stepped in and said, “I need you to co-sponsor this with me. I need you to be the voice of this in R&D. I’ll drive it on the go-to-market side, but we need to do this together.”
And that’s what turned things around. She gave him the power to lead, and he stepped up. Now, he’s the one championing the initiative in R&D, and she’s leading it across GTM. That alignment has made all the difference. The project has traction because we’re showing up as a united front.
Earning executive buy-in
There are many ways to secure buy-in from leadership, but one of the most effective is simple: align your customer success goals with your organization’s top priorities.
If your company is laser-focused on metrics like revenue growth, net retention, or product adoption, show how customer success is influencing those outcomes. When you can draw that direct line between your goals and the company’s top-level metrics, it becomes much easier to get the executive team on board.
Speak their language
Another way to drive buy-in is by presenting your recommendations with data. When you bring facts and insights to the table, it removes emotion from the conversation. It’s not about opinions, it’s about impact.
But equally important is understanding how your stakeholders like to receive information. Learn to speak their language. For example, my CEO and executive team love books. If I reference an idea from a book – say, a specific approach to NPS or a proven framework – they’re sold. No follow-up needed. We’re moving forward.
I’ve had other execs who are podcast people. If I can find an episode from a credible source that aligns with what I’m recommending, it’s far more persuasive than a slide deck. Influence comes down to communication, and tailoring it to your audience makes a huge difference.
Share stories and success models
You also need to paint a picture of what success looks like. What’s possible if we make this change? What outcomes can we expect? Thankfully, customer success as a discipline is mature enough that we have a rich set of stories to draw from – case studies, industry benchmarks, competitor practices.
I often turn to our own vendors for insight. If I’m working with a CSM at a company we buy from, I’ll ask them how they’re running their programs. “What are you doing for onboarding? How do you manage adoption?” That transparency is a goldmine – and it helps me build a case for what we can do internally.
Lead with empathy
Lastly, never forget to lead with empathy. Resistance or objections from stakeholders aren’t usually personal. They’re reacting to the change, not to you. And that’s completely normal. Change is hard.
If someone raises a concern, don’t shut it down. Acknowledge it. Understand where it’s coming from. Often, all it takes is a small tweak to your approach, a bit of dialogue, or some reassurance to bring someone along for the ride.
Incorporating their feedback doesn’t just improve the plan, it helps them feel heard and invested. And that’s what real buy-in looks like.
Virginia Bloom
Creating real collaboration across teams
Customer success doesn’t operate in a silo, we touch almost every part of the organization. That’s why cross-functional collaboration isn’t optional. It’s essential.
Open communication is where it starts. I work closely with our sales leaders. We attend each other’s calls, we present together, and we show up as a united front. That alignment is intentional, and I encourage my team to follow the same model.
If someone on my team isn’t meeting regularly with their sales counterpart, I want to know why. Is it a strained relationship? Is there discomfort? Or is it a lack of interest from the other side? Whatever the case, we need to dig in and fix it because ongoing communication between CS and sales is non-negotiable.
Promote transparency to build trust
When decisions are being made (especially those influenced by customer or team feedback) I believe in being transparent.
For example, my team recently surfaced concerns about our support process. It felt cumbersome and inefficient, and they were hearing this from customers, too. I made a point to share this feedback with our executive team.
But I didn’t stop there – I also looped back with my team to share what happened next: the conversation, the outcome, and what changes we’re implementing.
That kind of follow-through builds trust. It shows the team that their voice matters and that their input leads to action. It’s not just lip service, it’s partnership.
Celebrate what great collaboration looks like
Recognition plays a big role in reinforcing the behaviors we want to see. One of the initiatives we’ve introduced is joint QBRs between CS and sales.
When we see an example of this executed really well, where the customer finds real value, gives strong feedback, and the teams are clearly aligned, we highlight it at our all-hands.
We bring those team members up to talk about how they prepped, how the session went, and what made it successful. It shows others that it’s not just theory. This is what great collaboration looks like, and it works.
Create the space for collaboration to happen
But here’s the thing: collaboration doesn’t happen by accident. If you don’t create opportunities for it, it won’t exist.
The QBRs are one vehicle. Another is a new initiative we rolled out: joint engagement plans. Sales and CS are now required to co-develop strategic engagement plans for their top accounts. Not “sales plans reviewed by CS,” but jointly owned documents. That distinction matters.
We’re checking in regularly, reviewing progress, and where needed, course correcting. A bit of direction here and there ensures everyone stays aligned and clear on what good looks like.
When you intentionally design structures that support collaboration, it becomes part of the culture, not just a one-off effort.
Making change stick
Once you’ve rolled out a change, the next big question is: is it actually working? Are people doing the thing you asked them to do, or are they slipping back into old habits?
There are easy ways to start gauging this. One of the first signs is engagement. When you first share what’s coming, are people leaning in? Are they nodding along? Do they seem energized or hesitant?
At my company, we don’t have a camera-on policy, so Zoom meetings are hit or miss when it comes to facial cues. But when I’m rolling something out, I’ll often ask for a camera-on session ahead of time, just so I can get that extra read on the room.
It’s not perfect, but even over Zoom, you can tell a lot, if people are paying attention, if they're confused, if they’re skeptical.
And sometimes, you just need to ask. What do you think of this? How does it land? If you’ve built trust, people will share honestly. That insight is gold.
Explain the why behind the change
It’s not enough to ask people to do something new, you have to explain why you’re asking. People need context, not just instruction.
If I’m asking the team to improve their account notes, it’s not about checking a box. It’s about avoiding late-night pings when leadership wants to know what’s happening in a customer account and nobody has context. If we get it right, executives can walk into meetings fully informed, and our team can rest easy knowing the info is all there.
That’s how you get buy-in. Make it relevant. Make it make sense for them.
Engagement is more than attendance
When you’re running training or workshops, it’s not about who shows up. It’s about who shows up ready. Are they asking questions? Are they thinking critically about the content? Are they telling you what’s still unclear?
Some changes are straightforward, like adopting a new notes template. Others are more transformational. For example, we’re shifting our team from project managers to trusted advisors. That’s not just a tweak, it’s a mindset shift.
We’ve introduced playbooks and layered in training to support that evolution. But we also need participation, real participation, for it to work.
And if something’s missing, I want them to tell us. Feedback is how we iterate and make it better.
Spotting and addressing regression
Even after launch, I watch for signs that people are falling back into old patterns. Are they using the new process consistently, or did they try it once and revert?
If that’s happening, I ask why. Are there blockers? Do they lack confidence in the new way? Did we miss something? This is where feedback becomes critical – not just the good stuff, but the honest, unfiltered insights.
To get that, you need to create a space where people feel safe enough to share. Yes, we’ve all heard debates around “safe spaces,” but in practice, psychological safety matters. When people feel comfortable giving candid feedback, that’s when you can make meaningful adjustments and keep things moving forward.
Measuring your impact
Finally, once the change is live and in motion, you need to prove the impact. How do you know it’s working? That depends on what you’re trying to achieve.
Some metrics, like growth KPIs, are retroactive. Net retention, revenue expansion, churn rate… they’re essential, but they tell you what already happened.
That’s why I also look at leading indicators. They’re trickier to track, but they give you a window into what’s coming. A few examples I lean on:
- Time to value: How quickly are customers realizing impact?
- Customer health scores: Not just red, yellow, green – but comprehensive views that include product usage, advocacy potential, expansion readiness.
- Expansion and upsell potential: If you can measure this and act on it, CS can become a major growth lever.
- Usage frequency and feature adoption: Especially important in SaaS and consumption models.
- Customer advocacy and community participation: Marketing will thank you for this. It fuels events, referrals, speakers, and organic brand love.
The key is choosing the right metrics for the initiative you’re driving. Not every measure fits every change. Be intentional, be clear, and focus on outcomes that matter.
Bringing it all together
This framework isn't just for company transitions – it works anytime you're at a career crossroads.
Figure out where you stand on the customer success journey, envision where you want to be, then map your path forward. Give yourself 30-90 days to assess and plan, whether you're the newcomer or the internal change-driver. Remember that how you lead and communicate shapes everything. Pick metrics that actually show your impact, and use what you learn to keep evolving.
Change is tough, no question – but with the right approach, clear priorities, and teamwork, you've got this.
This article is based on a presentation given by Vicky at our Customer Success Summit in Austin, 2025.
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