The Rise of the Strategic CSM 🚀

Hi there,

“You need to be more strategic.”

If you’re a CSM, you’ve probably heard this from your manager before. But what does “being more strategic” actually mean? How do you do it when your day is packed with customer escalations, QBRs, and a million little tasks that feel important?

For years, many CSMs have fallen into the trap of being everything to everyone: acting as support, project managers, coordinators, and escalation points all at once. We’ve been conditioned to jump on every request, fix every problem ourselves, and spend our days reacting instead of consulting. In many ways, we have been trained to be professional firefighters, juggling tactical tasks all day long to keep the churn monster at bay.

Economic pressures, tighter budgets, and rising expectations are forcing companies to rethink what they need from Customer Success. Leaders are realizing that reactive customer management doesn’t cut it. If we want to keep customers, grow accounts, and help our companies thrive, we have to show up differently.

Enter: The Strategic CSM.

In his book The Strategic CSM, Chad Horenfeldt sums it up perfectly:

“The old CSM playbook isn’t good enough anymore. CSMs and CS leaders need to take a different approach if they want to maintain or improve renewal rates and uncover revenue opportunities.”

What is a Strategic CSM?

A Strategic CSM isn’t just a title; it’s a mindset shift.

Think of it like this:

A Strategic CSM goes beyond their basic responsibilities of driving product adoption and dives deeper into the customer’s business. They focus on truly understanding how their customers’ company operates: their goals, challenges, market pressures, and what matters most to executive stakeholders.

They spend less time talking about features and more time connecting the dots between their solution and the customer’s broader business outcomes. They ask the hard questions, challenge assumptions, and proactively uncover obstacles before they become roadblocks.

In other words, Strategic CSMs make it all about the customer. Not their company, not their product. They become trusted advisors who guide customers toward results they might not reach on their own.

As Chad writes:

“Strategic CSMs lead with insight, ask better questions, and drive measurable outcomes.”

Characteristics of a Strategic CSM

So what makes a Strategic CSM stand out?

• Outcome-oriented: They put the customer’s business objectives above everything else.

• Trust builders: They know trust is the foundation for honest conversations and change.

• Value drivers: They prove the value customers get — they don’t assume it’s obvious.

• Proactive: They spot trends and risks early, not when it’s too late.

• Advisors: They’re not afraid to challenge assumptions or push back (kindly!) when needed.

• Collaborators: They work across Sales, Product, and Support to amplify results.

Most importantly, Strategic CSMs understand they’re not magicians. They know that everyone in the company impacts customer outcomes, and they work internally to ensure their customers’ success.

How to Shift Your Mindset

If you want to become more strategic, start by breaking some old habits.

1. Get out of the weeds, get into the business.
Don’t spend all your time troubleshooting tickets or re-explaining features. Instead, invest that time researching your customer’s industry, reading their earnings reports, and understanding how your product fits into their top priorities. Your goal: know their business almost as well as they do.

2. Ask better questions.
Learn to ask questions that uncover what keeps your customer up at night. I highly recommend listening to this podcast – Beyond Check-in: The questions top CSMs use to build Authority with customers, by Carly Agar.

3. Prioritize building success plans.
Success Plans are the foundation of everything you do. Please don’t treat them as a checkbox; revisit and adjust them as goals evolve. (P.S. The Success Plan Playbook is launching soon, stay tuned!)

4. Build relationships up and across.
If you only know your day-to-day contact, you’re stuck in the weeds. Map out who influences the budget, who defines success, and who could be your champion. Multi-threaded relationships protect renewals and open new doors.

5. Be proactive, always.
Don’t wait for a red flag. Use your data. Are they using the features that help them meet goals? Who’s slipping? Have a plan to get them back on track before they churn.

6. Use your voice inside your company.
Strategic CSMs share customer trends with Product, Sales, and Marketing. Advocate for your customers and back it up with real data and stories

7. Focus your time on what moves the needle.
Audit your week. If too much time goes to support tasks others could own, delegate, automate, or push back. Protect your time for strategic work.

Remember: You don’t have to overhaul everything overnight. Small, intentional shifts add up. Pause every week and ask: “Am I reacting — or driving outcomes?

The Future is Strategic

The rise of the Strategic CSM isn’t just a trend, it’s the evolution of our profession. Our companies need us to be more than product experts. They need us to be business partners, trusted advisors, and connectors of people and outcomes.

If you want the complete playbook to become more strategic in your role, do yourself a favor and grab Chad Horenfeldt’s The Strategic Customer Success Manager book. I can’t recommend it enough.

Onward and upward. ✨

— Erika