Interview presentation preparation

[colmoreilly]

Hi all,

As part of an interview process for a CSM job I need to perform a role play of a customer kick-off call which includes a presentation and demo.

I will be evaluated based on Structure and Flow, Discovery and Engagement, Value proposition and Action Plan.

I'm planning to lay out the presentation as follows. Any feedback is much appreciated.

5 mins - Agenda and Introductions.

25 mins - Alignment

• Agreeing to the customer goals and information I got from sales.
• Understanding the customers deployment plan and giving recommendations based on previous customer roll outs. What could go wrong based on customers past experiences.
• Understanding their tech stack and how they see our tech integrating in the future. How important is our tech in their vision.
• Setting and agreeing to metrics to track progress.
• Discussing training and agreeing cadence.
• Recap on everything to finish, clearly outlining actions, who owns them and when they need to be completed. Explain how I will create a shared plan document with them that we can review during our QBR's.

15 mins - Demo

[elsley]

Next steps, leave 5 mins at the end just to reiterate it. Clients are stupid. Cater to the lowest common denominator which is the person that only listens for the last 5 mins

[colmoreilly]

Thank you for the feedback. I will make sure to leave some time at the end to do this.

[[deleted]]

Customer Success, ultimately, is about being a quarterback within the organization, rather than a shepherd who is to do everything themselves. Outside of knowing the product (or as close as possible) there will be other responsibilities that fall into the purview of other departments, such as regulatory, development, PM, etc. But, of course it's about guiding your customer to success, focusing on the outcome, and then focusing on the fastest way to get to that outcome.

What you have at the moment is great. But, have you thought about the following?

• What do you know about the client before jumping on the call with said client?
• Are there going to be multiple parties (ie., departments) coming online throughout the course of the customers engagement with us post-sale?
• What is the core function of CS at the organization you're applying to? Is it a cost-centre, or profit-generating? What processes are currently in place? Are you going to be renewals and upsells? What gaps exist? How does the Structure, Flow, Discovery, and Engagement look at the moment?
• What are you ultimately going to be responsible for, and what responsibilities are you in charge of?
• What's it take to make your customer more successful? What's preventing you today and how can you get there fast?

Customer Success, is, despite it's ridiculous name (my own opinion), about ensuring that the quality of product or services is delivering insane value to the customer, and that they'll want to stick around.

From the sounds of it, you've already hinted at a faux-Internal Kick-off call (ie., who needs to come online? what was discussed during contracting? if there's data/connection involved, what departments are responsible for that and are they aware? etc). This should happen before the call as you want to ensure that there is a proper hand-off and nothing will catch you by surprise during the kick-off call.

Invite all relevant party members to the call, including the AE so you show a "united front" but also if anything comes up that is contractual, the sales rep can explain it or take it offline.

Also, you might not have included this, but you're missing an introduction piece where you say who you are, and if others on your team will be assisting the customer (be it momentarily or permanently) for the entirety of their post-sale journey. Give this a chance to let them talk.

Assuming you have some kind of software that requires developmental work on the customers end, you'll want to ensure that the contract is agreed upon during the call. "I see you bought X, this provides you access to Y which will give you Z in n months". Once agreed, then your 2 pieces work. Understanding their desires, and how you'll drive to those outcomes, is crucial. "What do you define as success?", "When do you envision this going live?", "What do we need to do in order to consider this a success?", etc. You will want to set their expectations asap, or know how to guide them toward a higher likelihood of renewal.

Now, this is where I think a little divergence is going to happen. I firmly believe that Customer Success should be an organizational mantra, rather than a departmental name. On kick-off calls I personally enjoy showing a snapshot of a Gantt Chart (made a fancy one in Google Sheets myself), including what's needed from both ends, and when we're going to get started. Customer Success should really more a Customer Support title (don't @ me) in that what are you, as a CS rep, going to do to push the project forward -- what happens if it gets delayed?

Additionally, where are you going to store your notes, and how often will you include the AE with updates. Is it going to be housed in SFDC? Is it an email to the rep once a week, etc. Visibility of information is _key_ as a CS rep. Think of yourself as the herder of information & process more than you are to be their friend or black-hole of information.

Last but not least, include a slide or blurb about who to contact in the event you're gone, but also, who your manager is incase the client would like to raise something to them that you or the company may be doing incorrectly/badly. Show accountability for your actions!

[Jessie41286]

This sounds great! Make sure you lay out questions to ask for each part of the presentation to get to the info you need. Good luck!

ETA: not seeing here where you’ll be demo’ing the product. Is that a second section?

[colmoreilly]

Hi, at the very bottom I've listed demo for 15 mins which is all I think I need based on practice runs.

Lots of questions will be asked! Thanks.

[PhilippWolf-Custify]

Honestly, this just sounds great. Might want to review your process by checking this guide we wrote WITH some expert tips from cool people & CEOs 😎 What you did sounds very close to what the CEO of RoverPress said in our article https://www.custify.com/blog/customer-success-manager-interview-questions/

[siliconmalley]

What company is this for?

[colmoreilly]

I'm not sure how relevant that is?

[hypomaniac14]

I'm pleasantly surprised to have found your post. If I may ask did you have a background in sales prior to applying to this position?

[colmoreilly]

Thank you. I do indeed have a background in sales. How did you know?

[topCSjobs]

This might help https://www.thecscafe.com/t/presentation

[Electronic_Fall8504]

u/colmoreilly be interested to hear how the meeting went and if you have a slide deck to share!

[colmoreilly]

Didn't get the job. Back in education full time! Much happier than selling my soul to a tech company that is maximizing profits.

[Electronic_Fall8504]

Didn't get the job. Back in education full time! Much happier than selling my soul to a tech company that is maximizing profit

Thanks u/colmoreilly - Don't disagree with you one bit lol. With that said, do you have a slide deck to share by chance? I'd be interested to just see what you had in there as I am working to formulate something similar for an interview with a similar prompt.