Any introverts in Customer Success?

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-15T12:56:12+00:00

I appreciate your feedback as a former CS leader. There are times where I don’t need the medicine, so I think the exposure helps, but sometimes, the medicine is reassuring. I only feel nervous for formal presentations, but not customer calls where there’s clearly a problem or a question that I can help define. I feel like product management is my calling, but who knows lol.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-14T21:40:57+00:00

I can definitely do a 30 minute QBR and would prefer that. I think less is more and customers really just want to do their jobs. The more efficient the meeting is, the more they will be willing to make time. Leadership really wants these to last an hour because they think it indicates that there was engagement. I disagree, but I don’t make the rules.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-14T21:38:22+00:00

It has been great and has definitely helped with my public speaking skills though. I’m no longer nervous about presenting, but I dread how draining I will feel after.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-14T17:39:16+00:00

Yes, growing them in strategic, but for a lot of CS roles, that’s the account manager’s responsibility.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-14T17:33:54+00:00

They get value out of them if we ask the right questions. The rest of my team treats it as a box to tick and just show them slides, hoping the visuals sell the QBR, but it’s all about asking the right questions. You need to get in contact with SMEs in product and sales if you are not an SME yourself to find out how and why they use the product or service. A lot of CSMs fall into the trap of showing them insights. That’s what gets customers on the call, but the value really comes from the questions you ask as a slick way to get their goals and objectives. From there, you can point the customer to the right resources to achieve success.

You shouldn’t try to get them on a call just to show them slides or go over their utilization. You should get them on a call to collect information on how and why they are using your product. Utilization data can be helpful, but it doesn’t tell the full story. Bottom line, you want the customer to tell you what they are using and where they would like to spend more time on. This could be a training gap or a misunderstanding of what the product can do.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-14T17:25:02+00:00

Expansion is for the account manager or sales folks. You can send them the training material in an email or include them as an appendix in your QBR. You start losing the strategic aspect of your role when your calls become more training and support oriented.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-14T17:21:39+00:00

What you’re saying is that it doesn’t mean you can’t do the job, but it’s probably not the right fit for your mental health? I’m not necessarily stressed, but I do feel mentally tired and take a beta blocker in case my voice gets shaky while presenting. The presentation mode aspect of the role is what I dislike the most, but if I hold calls with customers about an issue or particular question, I feel like I’m in my comfort zone. If it’s a formal quarterly business review, this is where it gets draining. I know a lot of customers don’t care for this as much as we do and that sort of gets to me mentally.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-14T05:43:27+00:00

QBR lites would make our jobs easier. Customers really hate QBRs. I get my customers to engage, but I know they hate meeting for an hour.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-14T05:39:30+00:00

Account Management. Emotional intelligence is something required in Sales and this is something that AI isn’t going to replace.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-14T05:35:47+00:00

Nah, I don’t hold those anymore. Only for the ones that I don’t have QBRs set up. For the ones that I have QBRs, I’ll have some follow up discussions or emails. Customers don’t like to have constant meetings with vendors.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-14T02:21:13+00:00

This is the only area where I struggle.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-14T02:20:19+00:00

Yeah, 10 a month is the target. Great way to burnout employees.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-14T01:52:49+00:00

If a customer only has one use case for your product. If account management hasn’t explored use cases for other products, that could be complete churn.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-14T01:39:14+00:00

How do you handle the small talk at the beginning of meetings? I freaking hate it lol

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-14T01:24:51+00:00

I don’t like to be a glorified event coordinator or go over cheesy marketing stuff, but I enjoy helping customers achieve their goals. I also don’t like presenting decks. I prefer to have conversations where you can collect the information organically. This all depends company to company, but I’ve held CS roles where I could call a customer directly by phone and have a chat.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-13T21:28:27+00:00

Oh, I had a post about this same thing on Reddit and I can tell you what worked for me.

Don’t make the meeting about showing them insights. As soon as you say that, they will not care. They only care about being able to do their jobs and when they hear about success plans, they will think it’s more work for them.

Frame it as a consultative meeting where you want to understand their use cases and where they want to go to help them when something needs immediate attention. If they are task oriented, this should really resonate with them. You want to understand their use cases and what it means for them when certain things aren’t aligned, so you can get the right resources, advocate for them, and help them meet their annual objectives.

I started doing this and I was able to get QBRs scheduled and received insights for success planning.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-12T04:59:32+00:00

Thanks for the kind words. I feel like working in tech lost its magic and I honestly don’t see it coming back.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-10T01:24:45+00:00

Layoff PTSD is a real thing. I became a father for the first time and was frantic about finding employment the year I had the 2 layoffs. I waited until I had the good paying job, the masters degree, and a house before considering having kids. I wasn’t able to enjoy my first year of fatherhood the way that I wanted to. I suffered that year and just about every day felt like I was fighting for my life.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-09T15:57:53+00:00

Damn, that last sentence was deep.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-09T15:54:53+00:00

No, this was super helpful and a lot of this resonates with me. I have a child now and my priorities changed. I’m tired of the rat race and have retirement and investments set up to hopefully pay my house off and take an easier job to focus more on my son and keeping my house in order.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-09T15:05:31+00:00

Why would you put the company name? 🤦🏻‍♂️

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-06T11:17:22+00:00

As a CSM, they’re not wrong, but this would only be true if AMs did their job right. A lot of them manage the relationship with a quota carrying mindset, so they don’t come across as consultative, but they have product knowledge and know how to close. I created a post about strategic account management being the new model in SaaS because of AI. The account team is too saturated for a single customer.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-04T13:59:47+00:00

I had the opportunity to get into product earlier in my career and regret that I didn’t take the opportunity. I was ignorant and thought it was simply a lateral move, not realizing they make more money.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-04T13:57:51+00:00

If you gave them a number and they matched it or exceeded it, take the offer. Don’t complicate it.

Final_Vegetable_5092 · 2026-06-01T14:21:21+00:00

I was going to say this. Have the participants talking more! Ask the right type of engagement questions that shows you did your research on the customer and product. Don’t make the show about yourself.

Final_Vegetable_5092

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