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How To Write An Impressive Customer Success Manager Resume in 2024

21 February, 2024 4 min read
How To Write An Impressive Customer Success Manager Resume in 2024

Before I delve into details about how to craft the right customer success resume, let me share a disclaimer that I am no expert on hacking the ATS (as much as I hope I could), but isn’t it nicer if we just allowed the beautiful nature of life and chances and let things play out the way they naturally should.

Not knowing how to hack the ATS is just fine, or so I say to myself to feel comforted, but what truly matters when someone opens that pdf file of your professional journey over the years as consistent or varied as it may be, should get a glimpse of how adept with Customer Success you are — if you are looking to step into the world of CS or even planning to make that next big move alike, some things remain central to the premise of what a CS professional must entail or has the experience of.

Customer Success Manager Resume: Best Practices and Tips

We won’t be going in-depth about the basics of what to do and not to-dos on a resume, like keeping it crisp, concise, and clear or using fonts and colors that soothe the eye for a viewer or make contact details accessible for the reader to reach out, but rather focus on how can you craft your resume specific to include details about Customer Success and your relationship with it.

1. You’ve always had an experience of Customer Success. Showcase it!

When I look back at my career trajectory, only to understand that CS has been prevalent all along, just not as structured and upcoming as it is today. So, it becomes important to then understand and dig deeper to define who your customer was/is in any role, and then how you built or worked around that particular relationship.

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For example: A cabin crew with a prestigious airline, would mention his/her passengers as their customers and how they ensured a safe and pleasant journey for them would be the CS outcome.

While this may take some time for you to dig deeper as an activity, it’s critical to note that you don’t force fit this onto your resume if you are not able to mention a clear objective for the outcome of the relationship. Because this is where the core of Customer Success lies and without being specific about it, it’s going to be yet another vague statement you don’t want on your resume.

2. Mention industry-specific keywords

While the fundamentals of CS could be the same, it’s critical to know the industry you’re applying to or have worked in. SaaS may measure CS metrics like adoption, renewals, retention percentage, etc while retail may see customer success as average order value, repeat customers, and expert knowledge around inventory and merchandise.

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Let’s also take an example if you’re transitioning from Hospitality to CS, while day-to-day operations vary on a drastic level, the underlying principle remains the same - the customer’s success is your success. 

Being able to articulate all your customer interactions/engagements in a way that showcases relationship building that ultimately yields value in any form - revenue, reviews, or ratings - will put your resume on top of the pile!

3. Identify your niche and speak your story

While all good customer success managers are capable of doing anything and everything. This could mean that you are adept at one aspect of CS, through the onboarding, training, adoption & retention journey of the customer. Or you may have instances where one of these can be distinctly showcased. In that case, you need to be able to describe the same in brevity and with absolute figures.

Because what's the value without numbers right?!

And how are we ever going to explain on our resumes that our customer was relieved that his boss didn’t show up to work today and not going to lie, so are we, when lighter moments like these strike?

Some ways to phrase the value-centered statements

  • Improved average onboarding time for enterprise customers from 60 to 45 days by tracking key activities like go-live date, first login & user training feedback.
  • Initiated a comprehensive training curriculum, resulting in a 35% decrease in support ticket volume.
  • Implemented targeted retention campaigns, resulting in a 15% reduction in customer churn.
  • Achieved a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 45, surpassing industry benchmarks.
  • Worked closely with sales to align customer expectations, contributing to a 10% increase in upsell opportunities.
  • Built strong customer relationships, with 90% of clients expressing high satisfaction and willingness to provide testimonials.

4. Include links to your testimonials, articles, and research papers

If you can, create a folder with customer appreciation notes, testimonials, and case studies that you have driven, be sure to include a link on your resume and you sure are winning some brownie points. This need not be specific to your work and could be any other information that you’d like to share. It only goes to show:

  1. You are human
  2. You are curious to explore other ideas that intrigue you
  3. You act on your curiosity

I’d surely set up an interview with an individual who showcased this to me, wouldn’t you!?!?

Customer Success Manager Resume Example

Here's a sample resume of someone with four years of experience in customer success. This resume example gives you a glimpse into their background and what they've achieved in their role. This resume showcases the candidate's experience, skills, and qualifications in customer success and provides provides a comprehensive overview of their professional background.

Customer Success Manager Resume by ZapScale

And so, the essence lies in showcasing your journey and relationships with customers, recognizing them in diverse roles, and articulating the outcomes of those interactions.

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Whether it's SaaS, Retail, Hospitality, or any other sector, aligning your experiences with industry-specific expectations, such as adoption rates, renewals, or average order value, sets your resume apart. I view resume building as a craft of storytelling.

I also think that everything around us is well perceived through a story, so why not narrate your Customer Success saga in a way that highlights your expertise and makes the reader want to know more from you?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Author profile image
Anupama Sahore

Anupama is an experienced Sales, Community, and CS specialist with 8+ years of experience across industries like SaaS, Fintech, and more. She works as a Senior CSM at a leading CLM software company.

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