Customer Success (CS) is evolving rapidly. This has been true for a while, thanks to complex market dynamics and fast product developments. But the pace is accelerating with AI. To explore these trends, Statisfy brought together senior industry leaders to discuss AI in CS. Our primary goal was to discuss how to build an “AI-infused” 2025 plan that your C-suite loves.
In this post, we share key insights from the session: bottom-up Approach to Building the Right CSM Capacity Model. [Read our 1st session summary here: Building the Right Annual Plan for Customer Success: Aligning Priorities and Incentives]
The discussion featured Gillian Heltai (CCO of Haus.io), John Morris (Former CFO, Cyberhaven), Jai Valluri (VP-CS, Glean), and Rachel Krall (Senior Director, GTM Ops at LinkedIn) who spoke with Neelu Shaikh to share what’s working, what’s changing, and how to nail CSM capacity planning for the future.
Read on for our 6 top takeaways from the discussion.
Many organizations use top-down capacity models based on industry norms (like a $2M ARR book of business per CSM). However, the panel believed this approach often misses the nuances of how CS functions vary across companies.
Here’s why a bottom-up approach delivers when the rubber hits the road:
To sum up, a bottom-up model lets you see exactly what’s on your team’s plate and make more informed decisions about headcount, role priorities, and impact.
Other functions have been envious of Sales teams forever. After all, their clear, revenue-focused metric seems so straightforward.
And CS leaders are painfully well aware of how difficult it can be to calculate the contribution of CSMs to revenue...
That’s why John brought up the concept of an Efficiency Ratio-Driven Capacity Model (ERDCM). This approach aligns CS with the same efficiency ratios that Finance leaders use. Think burn multiple. Or the “magic number”.
The ERDCM model adjusts expectations based on account size. For instance, if a CSM manages an account with over $1M in ARR, they might engage with that customer weekly. For accounts under $1M, touchpoints could be bi-weekly. Smaller accounts under $200K might not require direct CSM support at all.
This approach connects the dots between time spent, account value, and overall business efficiency. It tracks how CSMs allocate their time and align that with business outcomes. This enables CS leaders to work within the company’s efficiency ratios while optimizing CSM workload and customer engagement.
It’s both good news and bad news. There is no “right” CSM-to-manager ratio.
What you need will depend entirely on what your business dictates. So, it is impossible to apply a universal standard.
For instance, things like company stage or your mix of new hires will significantly influence your ratio.
In fast-growing organizations, onboarding and skill development are a priority. So, ratios tend to be smaller. Like, around 5:1 or 6:1. This allows for more hands-on coaching.
On the other hand, more mature companies use ratios of 8:1 to 10:1. An 8:1 ratio works well for many cases. But this can fluctuate based on factors like market dynamics or product lines.
Emerging markets or regions still in a growth phase often use a lower ratio.
Another nuance to consider is the seniority of CSMs, as Neelu highlighted. Google, for instance, uses a 10:1 ratio because the CSMs are seasoned professionals who require less daily guidance. And this allows managers to oversee a larger team.
It’s critical to align CS and Sales. No one argues this.
But there is still active discussion about who should own renewals and cross-sells.
For instance, Gillian advocated that asking Sales to own post-sales operations isn’t always the best solution. She’s seen this fail with fast-growing companies.
In fact, with many organizations, the fast pace of growth demands flexibility. In many cases, it still makes sense to run a separate customer success model for post-sales, consulting with sales when necessary.
Even Customer Segmentation benefits from a bottom-up approach.
Rachel reflected on LinkedIn’s journey with customer segmentation for CSMs. She explained how an initial attempt failed, but over time they got it right. And taking a bottom-up approach really helped.
They found three keys to successful segmentation.
First, your current stage of market maturity has a big impact on creating effective segments.
Second, go-to-market complexity needs to be simple enough for sales and operations to execute successfully.
Third, the sales team’s ability to adapt is critical.
Additionally, Rachel highlighted three ways to make segmentation successful:
First, use data-driven insights and the right tools to create meaningful customer cohorts.
Second, automate outreach within each segment to maintain scalability without sacrificing personalization.
Third, tailor resource allocations by aligning internal resources to handle unique needs of each customer segment.
AI and automation are driving significant changes in CS. The panel provided a lively discussion about this topic. For instance:
Neelu shared her experience at ZoomInfo, where AI enabled the company to scale its digital CS efforts across all customer segments. And the entire business benefited, not just the long tail customers.
Rachel mentioned LinkedIn’s use of chatbots and AI to triage customer queries. These tools act as a critical first point of contact. But also they organize customer moments. And they signal how to engage customers even more effectively.
Jai stressed the efficiency gains he’s seen with enhanced automation. His team has used call recordings to help with routine tasks like meeting preparation, follow-up emails, and system updates. By freeing up CSMs from these time-consuming activities, automation has enabled his team to focus more on high-value customer interactions.
Additionally, Jai shared how he views ROI related to these investments. Specifically, he believes it’s important to include the cost of the systems and tools that support the team as part of the ROI considerations.
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We hope you found these insights valuable! There were many more insightful sessions at the event, so don't miss out on our takeaways from the other discussions.
