Our customer was paying us $100,000 per year. They were a large organization and moved slowly, so it took us the entire first year to get the basics going. Our plan was to spread the knowledge, best practices and everything we learned in year two.

Seven months into the first year of the contract, I engaged with a sales rep to partner with me to drive the commercial terms of the account. I set up a call, and we brought in the 'powers that be', including my customer, his supervisor and my partner in sales.

Over the next four months, my sales partner ran his Built to Sell process while I ran my Built to Serve process. We secured the renewal, which was great - but the exciting part was the account expansion. We landed an extra $100,000 of expansion revenue on top of the existing contract. Had I owned the renewal process, I probably would have got the renewal across the line - but we would leave the $100,000 of extra revenue on the table. We were successful because we were able to balance the needs of the customer and the company, by bouncing off each other. Here's how we made it happen.

I was the good cop. I could anticipate how the customer would react and provide the appropriate response to talk them off a ledge. My partner in sales was the bad cop. He would be comfortable saying things like "This is what we're willing to do," whereas I would never assume that role. I got to play to my strengths, which was helping to support my customer in the way I knew best. I would feed my customer's concerns back to the sales rep, and he was well-equipped to push in a direction I never could.

A well-executed partnership between sales and Success will accelerate your company's growth… but only if you hire the right Customer Success Manager for your stage.

The ideal fit for a mid-stage company is a Customer Success Manager with between 12 and 24 months experience. They will be comfortable building rapport, negotiating and working in a consultative capacity. They assume the role of a maestro by orchestrating the company's resources to fulfill customers needs. When you build your Customer Success team at a mid-stage company, put the necessary groundwork in to welcome new recruits to your team. You can create a rock-solid onboarding program and a CSM training course, like a boot-camp.

The late-stage companies who get it right divide roles by lines of responsibility, including onboarding, renewals, and a relationship management team. You can remove the fuzziness of whom (e.g. Sales, Customer Success, customer support, etc.) owns what (e.g. bug fixes, upsells, renewals, etc.).

A CSM with up to 12 months experience is the best fit for a late-stage company. CSM roles at late-stage companies are typically more sales oriented, with the Customer Success team owning a revenue number. Their responsibility is driving expansion and upsell opportunities. Candidates with more of a sales background can hit the ground running in these roles. The Built to Serve / Built to Sell distinction is important here, as the position still needs to match the person's natural talents.

By the way, if you don't yet have this Built to Serve / Built to Sell division of labor in your company, you're not alone. Early stage companies overlook it due to a lack of time and money. Mid-stage companies often over-invest in sales and under-invest in Success. Late stage companies deal with bureaucracy, unclear reporting lines and the belief that Customer Success Managers should be able to serve and sell. No matter what type of team you're building, keep the Built to Serve framework in mind and you will gravitate towards an excellent candidate.

So, how do you identify who is Built to Serve and who is Built to Sell? Ask questions about your candidate's motivation, career direction and what gets them excited about coming into work. Their answers will leave clues about whether they prefer to serve or close business. Another handy way to uncover your team's talents is to use the framework we discuss in the next section.