One critical CV challenge you may encounter as a customer success manager involves articulating your unique value proposition amidst a highly competitive field. Our comprehensive guide provides tailored advice on refining your CV to highlight your achievements and the impact you've made, ensuring you stand out to potential employers.
- Applying best practices from real-world examples to ensure your profile always meets recruiters' expectations;
- What to include in your work experience section, apart from your past roles and responsibilities?
- Why are both hard and soft skills important for your application?
- How do you need to format your CV to pass the Applicant Tracker Software (ATS) assessment?
If you're writing your CV for a niche customer success manager role, make sure to get some inspiration from professionals:
Formatting your customer success manager CV to meet the role expectations
Staring at the blank page for hours on end, you still have no idea how you should start your professional customer success manager CV. Should you include more colours, two columns, and which sections? What you should remember about your CV format is this - ensure it's minimalistic and doesn't go over the top with fancy fonts and many colours. Instead, focus on writing consistent content that actually answers the job requirements. But, how about the design itself :- Use the reverse chronological order to showcase your experience, starting with your most recent role;
- Include your contact details (email address, phone number, and location) - and potentially your professional photo - in the header;
- Must-have CV sections include summary or objective, experience, education, and skills: curate the ones that fit your profile;
- Your professional customer success manager CV should be between one-to-two pages long: select the longer format if you have more experience.
A little bit more about your actual CV design, ensure you're using:
- plenty of serif or sans serif font (e.g. Montserrat, Exo 2, Volkhov) as they are Applicant Tracker System (ATS) compliant. Avoid the likes of Arial and Times New Roman because most candidates' CVs are in this typography.
When submitting your CV, are you still not sure what format it should be? Despite the myth that has been circling around, most modern ATS systems are perfectly capable of reading PDFs. This format is an excellent choice as it keeps all of your information intact.
PRO TIP
Incorporate a touch of colour in headers or section breaks, but keep it professional and ensure it doesn’t detract from readability, especially in more conservative industries.
The top sections on a customer success manager CV
- Professional Summary showcases your career objective and key accomplishments.
- Key Skills section highlights expertise in customer relationship management.
- Work Experience details your relevant roles and impact on customer satisfaction.
- Customer Success Projects displays successful initiatives and case studies.
- Education and Certifications emphasise relevant qualifications and industry knowledge.
What recruiters value on your CV:
- Demonstrate your ability to build strong customer relationships by highlighting your communication skills and any previous customer retention success stories.
- Quantify your impact by including metrics such as customer satisfaction scores, net promoter scores, or customer churn rates you've improved.
- Showcase your problem-solving skills by providing examples of how you've handled difficult customer situations or how you've turned around a customer's negative experience.
- Include specifics about your technical proficiency with customer success software (like Gainsight, Totango, or ChurnZero) to emphasise your analytical and operational capabilities.
- Detail your experience with onboarding, training, and supporting customers to illustrate your hands-on approach and dedication to customer success throughout their lifecycle.
Recommended reads:
How to present your contact details and job keywords in your customer success manager CV header
Located at the top of your customer success manager CV, the header presents recruiters with your key personal information, headline, and professional photo. When creating your CV header, include your:
- Contact details - avoid listing your work email or telephone number and, also, email addresses that sound unprofessional (e.g. koolKittyCat$3@gmail.com is definitely a big no);
- Headline - it should be relevant, concise, and specific to the role you're applying for, integrating keywords and action verbs;
- Photo - instead of including a photograph from your family reunion, select one that shows you in a more professional light. It's also good to note that in some countries (e.g. the UK and US), it's best to avoid photos on your CV as they may serve as bias.
What do other industry professionals include in their CV header? Make sure to check out the next bit of your guide to see real-life examples:
Examples of good CV headlines for customer success manager:
- "Customer Success Manager | Client Relations Expert | 5+ Years | CSM Certification | SaaS Growth Strategies"
- "Strategic Account Manager | 10 Years' Experience | Customer Retention Specialist | CRM Systems | Upselling Pro"
- "Lead Customer Success Advocate | 7 Years in Tech Industries | User Adoption & Engagement Focus | Data-Driven"
- "Junior Customer Success Associate | Recent Graduate | Enthusiastic Client Support | Emerging Markets Interest"
- "Senior Client Relationship Manager | 12+ Year Track Record | Certified Customer Experience Professional | B2B Expertise"
- "Dedicated Customer Success Leader | 15 Years' Loyalty & Satisfaction Guru | Certified in Service Excellence | E-commerce"
Choosing your opening statement: a customer success manager CV summary or objective
At the top one third of your CV, you have the chance to make a more personable impression on recruiters by selecting between:
- Summary - or those three to five sentences that you use to show your greatest achievements. Use the CV summary if you happen to have plenty of relevant experience and wish to highlight your greatest successes;
- Objective - provides you with up to five sentences to state your professional aims and mission in the company you're applying for
CV summaries for a customer success manager job:
- A seasoned Customer Success Manager with over 7 years' experience, expert in SaaS platforms, adept in user engagement strategies. Drove a 30% increase in customer retention rate at TechSolutions Ltd., illustrating commitment to developing and nurturing long-lasting client relationships.
- Dynamic professional with 10 years in strategic account management and a passion for transitioning into customer success management. Proven track record of expanding customer base by 40% at B2B Sales Corp, showcasing exceptional relationship-building and problem-solving skills.
- Marketing specialist eager to apply 5 years of experience in a customer-centric environment to a new career in customer success management. Key skills include data analysis and CRM software prowess, crowned with a successful launch of an award-winning marketing campaign that boosted customer engagement by 25%.
- With a strong foundation in technical support and a deep understanding of customer service protocols, this 6-year industry veteran is enthusiastic about pivoting to a customer success role. Instrumental in increasing customer satisfaction scores by 20% at Innovative Tech Inc. through exceptional service and support.
- Keen to utilize robust interpersonal skills and a genuine interest in helping clients succeed, aiming to excel in customer success management. Driven to learn and grow within a fast-paced environment and committed to fostering positive customer experiences and outcomes.
- Eager to embark on a customer success journey, leveraging recent customer relations training and voluntary experience coordinating community outreach programs. Aspires to bring a fresh perspective to client interactions and support by drawing on a rich background of public service and organizational skills.
The best formula for your customer success manager CV experience section
The CV experience section is the space where many candidates go wrong by merely listing their work history and duties. Don't do that. Instead, use the job description to better understand what matters most for the role and integrate these keywords across your CV. Thus, you should focus on:
- showcasing your accomplishments to hint that you're results-oriented;
- highlighting your skill set by integrating job keywords, technologies, and transferrable skills in your experience bullets;
- listing your roles in reverse chronological order, starting with the latest and most senior, to hint at how you have grown your career;
- featuring metrics, in the form of percentage, numbers, etc. to make your success more tangible.
When writing each experience bullet, start with a strong, actionable verb, then follow it up with a skill, accomplishment, or metric. Use these professional examples to perfect your CV experience section:
Best practices for your CV's work experience section
- Developed and implemented a customer success strategy for a portfolio of 50+ accounts, achieving a 95% retention rate by proactively addressing potential churn risks.
- Forged strong relationships with key stakeholders, resulting in a 30% increase in upselling opportunities and enhanced customer loyalty.
- Analysed customer usage data to identify product adoption patterns, leading to a bespoke onboarding process that reduced time-to-value by 25%.
- Collaborated with the product team to relay customer feedback, contributing to a 15% improvement in product features and user satisfaction.
- Trained and mentored a team of five junior customer success associates, improving their customer engagement skills and efficiency by 20%.
- Established a comprehensive customer health score system that predicted renewals with 90% accuracy, allowing for targeted intervention strategies.
- Led quarterly business reviews with strategic accounts, presenting metrics and actionable insights that have consistently secured contract renewals.
- Coordinated with the support and technical teams to resolve complex customer issues, cutting down resolution times by an average of 30%.
- Utilised CRM and customer success software to automate communication workflows, leading to a more consistent and personalised customer experience.
- Orchestrated an increase in customer retention by 25% through strategic onboarding and consistent support for a SaaS platform.
- Drove a 40% increase in up-sell and cross-sell opportunities through personalized engagement plans and meticulous needs analysis for high-value clients.
- Implemented a comprehensive customer feedback system that improved product features resulting in a 35% customer satisfaction score increase.
- Pioneered a customer success initiative that reduced churn by 18% and increased product adoption by 30% through targeted training programs.
- Managed a portfolio of 150+ key accounts, ensuring that 95% of the clients met or exceeded their success metrics.
- Led a cross-functional team to develop a customer education program that grew to 5,000 active users in one year.
- Improved client onboarding process, which led to a 50% reduction in onboarding time and a 20% increase in early-stage user engagement.
- Cultivated a high-performing team of customer success specialists, overseeing a 300% increase in team size due to business expansion.
- Managed relationships with enterprise clients, delivering custom solutions that contributed to a 15% year-over-year growth in contract size.
- Revitalized underperforming accounts resulting in regaining full contract renewals worth $2M+ in annual recurring revenue.
- Facilitated a client advisory board with top customers that influenced product roadmap decisions and increased customer advocacy by 40%.
- Introduced analytics and reporting frameworks to track customer health scores, aiding in proactive engagement and reduced downsell rates by 25%.
- Managed a customer success initiative that successfully integrated a gamified rewards system, increasing user engagement metrics by 22%.
- Established new communication protocols between support and product teams, enhancing response times to critical client issues by 30%.
- Developed and executed training workshops for new product features, which was credited for a 50% uptick in feature usage among clients.
Swapping your professional experience (when you have none) with skills and more
Never underestimate the importance of relevancе when it comes to your customer success manager CV. Even if you don't happen to have much or any standard (full-time contract) professional experience, this doesn't mean you shouldn't apply for the role. Instead of a bespoke CV experience section:
- Showcase more prominently any internships, part-time roles, and volunteer experience that are applicable to the role and have taught you job-crucial skills;
- Feature a strengths or achievements section with your transferrable skills or talents you've obtained thanks to your work or life experience;
- Write an objective statement that clearly outlines your values as a candidate and defines your career ambitions;
- List your education or certificates that match the job profile closer to the top of your CV.
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Include examples of how you adapted to new tools, environments, or work cultures, showing your flexibility.
Describing your unique skill set using both hard skills and soft skills
Your customer success manager CV provides you with the perfect opportunity to spotlight your talents, and at the same time - to pass any form of assessment. Focusing on your skill set across different CV sections is the way to go, as this would provide you with an opportunity to quantify your achievements and successes. There's one common, very simple mistake, which candidates tend to make at this stage. Short on time, they tend to hurry and mess up the spelling of some of the key technologies, skills, and keywords. Copy and paste the particular skill directly from the job requirement to your CV to pass the Applicant Tracker System (ATS) assessment. Now, your CV skills are divided into:
- Technical or hard skills, describing your comfort level with technologies (software and hardware). List your aptitude by curating your certifications, on the work success in the experience section, and technical projects. Use the dedicated skills section to provide recruiters with up to twelve technologies, that match the job requirements, and you're capable of using.
- People or soft skills provide you with an excellent background to communicate, work within a team, solve problems. Don't just copy-paste that you're a "leader" or excel at "analysis". Instead, provide tangible metrics that define your success inusing the particular skill within the strengths, achievements, summary/ objective sections.
Top skills for your customer success manager CV:
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software
Data Analysis & Reporting
Account Management
Technical Product Knowledge
Project Management
Customer Lifecycle Management
Salesforce Proficiency
SaaS Metrics Understanding
Customer Support Platforms
Business Acumen
Communication
Empathy
Problem-Solving
Adaptability
Active Listening
Teamwork
Leadership
Patience
Negotiation
Strategic Thinking
PRO TIP
Focus on describing skills in the context of the outcomes they’ve helped you achieve, linking them directly to tangible results or successes in your career.
Further professional qualifications for your customer success manager CV: education and certificates
As you're nearing the end of your customer success manager CV, you may wonder what else will be relevant to the role. Recruiters are keen on understanding your academic background, as it teaches you an array of hard and soft skills. Create a dedicated education section that lists your:
- applicable higher education diplomas or ones that are at a postgraduate level;
- diploma, followed up with your higher education institution and start-graduation dates;
- extracurricular activities and honours, only if you deem that recruiters will find them impressive.
Follow a similar logic when presenting your certificates. Always select ones that will support your niche expertise and hint at what it's like to work with you. Balance both technical certification with soft skills courses to answer job requirements and company values. Wondering what the most sought out certificates are for the industry? Look no further:
PRO TIP
Focus on describing skills in the context of the outcomes they’ve helped you achieve, linking them directly to tangible results or successes in your career.
Recommended reads:
Key takeaways
Impressing recruiters with your experience, skill set, and values starts with your professional customer success manager CV. Write concisely and always aim to answer job requirements with what you've achieved; furthermore:
- Select a simple design that complements your experience and ensures your profile is presentable;
- Include an opening statement that either spotlights your key achievements (summary) or showcases your career ambitions (objective);
- Curate your experience bullets, so that each one commences with a strong, action verb and is followed up by your skill and accomplishment;
- List your hard and soft skills all across different sections of your CV to ensure your application meets the requirements;
- Dedicate space to your relevant higher education diplomas and your certificates to show recruiters you have the necessary industry background.
