I was speaking with a few fellow CSMs last night and we were discussing where our CSM team ultimately lived within the organization. Some were a function of the sales team, others (like mine) are a function of the Client Services team.
Some liked the fact that they were under sales as it made being tasked with revenue growth and account expansion easier to undertake. For me, I like that I'm not under sales so that I have the added credibility of not being a salesperson and my upsell recommendations come across as more genuine.
Where does your CSM team live and what do you see as the pros vs cons of your structure?
Our CS team sounds similar to yours. CS lives under Global Client Services, along with Professional Services and Solution Architects, completely separate from Sales. We don't do any renewals or upsell, although we do a fair amount of "opportunity discovery" so it makes sense for us.
The big advantage of being separate from sales is a certain amount of credibility. If the customer we're talking to knows we're not trying to sell them something, it builds trust and they're more likely to appreciate our advice.
The big advantage of being separate from sales is a certain amount of credibility. If the customer we're talking to knows we're not trying to sell them something, it builds trust and they're more likely to appreciate our advice.
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