2024 CSM Confidential Report

How the SaaS industry’s customer success managers feel about their roles, goals, skills, teams, and managers in 2024—and how leaders can help.

Download the 2024 CSM Confidential Report

How are your CSMs really doing?

What brings your CSMs joy, and what stresses them out? What they appreciate or dislike about their roles? And what feedback they might have for you, their manager, that they’ll never share with you directly?

ChurnZero and SuccessCOACHING surveyed 294 CSMs in early 2024 to find out, so that CS leaders can better help their teams succeed.

The 2024 CSM Confidential report shines a light on how CSMs really feel about their roles and goals, their skills and training, their workloads and work-life balance, their appreciation for their managers (plus a few helpful suggestions), and where they feel they’re struggling the most.

In a nutshell: what CSMs appreciate—or don’t—about their roles.

Here’s the good news.

91% of CSMs enjoy working with customers to solve challenges.

88% enjoy getting to know their customers.

84% say they like and appreciate their team.

81% like thinking strategically to solve difficult problems.

73% enjoy teaching customers to use their product.

68% say they like and appreciate their managers.

68% say they’re happy in their current jobs.

Here’s the bad news.

Only 40% say their schedule and workload is realistic.

Only 39% enjoy keeping customers accountable for progress.

Only 33% enjoy being busy and working under pressure.

Only 33% say their compensation reflects their value fairly.

Only 31% feel their company is invested in their career.

And just 26% of CSMs enjoy negotiating and selling.

Featured data from the study

How happy are CSMs in 2024?

7 out of 10 (68%) of CSMs say they’re happy in their current role, making CSMs a happier group on average than the U.S. workforce as a whole. Get the full report to see what’s making CSMs happy or unhappy.

CSM Confidential Study - ChurnZero - CSM job satisfaction

Do CSMs understand their purpose and impact?

Three-quarters (77%) of CSMs say they understand their goals and why they matter.

CSM confidential report - ChurnZero - CSM purpose and impact

Do CSMs feel prepared to meet their goals?

While three-quarters of CSMs understand their goals, fewer feel they’re fully equipped with the training, tools and support to meet them. Our report includes expert advice for preparing CSMs to hit their goals repeatably.

What training would be most impactful for CSMs?

Asked to pick the skillset in which extra training would make the most difference to their effectiveness, nearly two-thirds of CSMs picked hard business skills including analytical skills (24%), business/strategic skills (23%), and commercial skills (17%).

CSM Confidential Study - CSM training needs - ChurnZero

What do CSMs say their managers are good at?

Most CSMs say their managers are good at supportive, interpersonal leadership, but fewer say their managers are good at goal-setting, prioritization, and keeping CSMs accountable. Does customer success have an operational leadership gap?

CSM Confidential Study - ChurnZero - CSM management

What are the most challenging customer behaviors for a CSM?

Coaching customers to achieve great results has its challenges. What do CSMs consider the most difficult customer issue or behavior to manage successfully?

CSM Confidential Study - ChurnZero - CSM challenges

Are CSMs using AI?

From drafting customer engagements to summarizing account histories in detail, AI promises huge productivity and efficiency gains for CSMs. How many CSMs use AI in 2024, and what’s stopping those who don’t?