The 15 unspoken rules every CSM needs to know about their career (part 2)

The 15 unspoken rules every CSM needs to know about their career (part 2)

In Part 1 of "The 15 unspoken rules every CSM needs to know about their career", we began to expose the hidden dynamics that shape CS careers, from understanding your real job isn't just customer success to breaking free from the trap of being irreplaceable. This article continues this series.

From documenting your wins in a way that resonates with leadership to creating career opportunities instead of waiting for them, these rules reveal the practical moves that separate rising stars from those stuck in place.

Let’s get back into it!

*Please note: AI-assisted tools may be used to help brainstorm, research, organize, structure, and enhance the content of this resource, ensuring clarity and usability.

Rule #6: Most career-making moments happen before they're announced

By the time a promotion opportunity is public, it's usually too late to position yourself for it. The real game is played months earlier.

The hidden timeline of opportunity

Think of every promotion like an iceberg. The job posting is just the visible 10% - the real work happens in the invisible 90% below the surface. When a new role is announced, leadership has usually been planning it for months. During that time, they're quietly watching who's already stepping up into that space.

Reading the signs

The savvy CSM watches for these early signals:

  • When leadership starts repeatedly mentioning a specific challenge or opportunity in meetings
  • When there's increased focus on particular metrics or customer segments
  • When new strategic initiatives are being discussed, even casually
  • When other departments are restructuring or expanding
  • When senior leaders start asking different types of questions about customers

Positioning yourself early

Start preparing for opportunities before they exist:

  • Volunteer for projects that align with company priorities
  • Build expertise in emerging areas of focus
  • Create solutions that address future needs
  • Document your strategic impact and insights
  • Develop relationships with decision-makers

Examples of strategic responses

Don't wait for announcements, and take action when you spot these signals:

If You Notice: Leadership talking about enterprise customer challenges
Do This: Start documenting enterprise-specific insights and creating solutions

If You Notice: Increased focus on product adoption metrics
Do This: Build deep expertise in customer education and enablement

If You Notice: Discussions about scaling the CS team
Do This: Create processes and playbooks that could help new CSMs succeed

Case study: The prepared CSM

Mark noticed his company increasingly talking about international expansion. Instead of waiting for formal announcements, he:

  • Started documenting insights from his existing international customers
  • Built relationships with CSMs at companies that had expanded globally
  • Created a framework for handling time zone and language challenges
  • Developed ideas for scaling customer success across regions

Six months later, when the company announced a new role leading international CS, Mark wasn't just a candidate, he was the obvious choice.

Creating your opportunity dashboard

Keep track of:

  • What topics come up repeatedly in leadership meetings
  • Which metrics are getting more attention
  • What challenges other departments are facing
  • Where the company is investing resources
  • What skills seem to be increasingly valued

While others wait for job postings, focus on:

  • Building expertise in emerging priority areas
  • Creating solutions for tomorrow's challenges
  • Developing relationships with key decision-makers
  • Documenting insights that showcase strategic thinking
  • Positioning yourself as an expert in growing areas

By the time most opportunities are announced, the informal selection process is already well underway. Your job is to be the obvious choice before the choice needs to be made.

Rule #7: Your accomplishments are only as good as your documentation

Career advancement requires more than just doing great work; you need to make that work visible and memorable.

Here's what keeps good CSMs stuck:

  • You're taught that customer success should be quiet and behind the scenes
  • You believe your work should speak for itself
  • You wait to be recognized for your contributions
  • You avoid "bragging" about your achievements

Meanwhile, your colleagues are:

  • Regularly sharing their wins with leaders
  • Creating visibility for their strategic thinking
  • Building narratives around their impact
  • Positioning themselves as thought leaders

The memory problem

A harsh truth: Your manager and stakeholders forget 90% of your achievements. Your job is to help them remember the right things at the right time.

Strategic documentation

Create a career advancement portfolio:

  • Keep a weekly log of key achievements
  • Document the business impact of your work
  • Track cross-functional contributions
  • Collect testimonials and feedback
  • Maintain metrics that matter to leadership

Your documented wins serve multiple purposes:

  • Performance review preparation
  • Promotion justification
  • Team knowledge sharing
  • Training new team members
  • Building internal influence
  • Building a bank of wins for future interviews

The EPIC framework

Don't just list accomplishments; tell stories that stick. Here's how to document every significant win:

Event (Setting the Scene)

  • What was the situation?
  • Why did it matter to the business?
  • What obstacles or challenges existed?
  • Who were the key stakeholders?

Performance (Your Strategic Action)

  • How did you approach the challenge differently?
  • What unique insights did you bring?
  • How did you coordinate with others?
  • What specific actions did you take?

Impact (The Results That Matter)

  • What quantifiable results were achieved?
  • How did it affect the business?
  • What improved for customers?
  • What systems or processes changed?

Conclusion (The Larger Story)

  • What insights were gained? What did you learn?
  • How can others apply this?
  • What broader implications exist?
  • How does this showcase your readiness for more?

Examples of the EPIC framework

Don't just list what you did. Instead, frame your achievements in business terms:

❌ Instead of: "Helped enterprise customer use more of our product"

βœ… Write: "Orchestrated enterprise-wide expansion for strategic account at risk of churn ($2.4M ARR). Previous attempts to expand beyond initial department had failed, with executive sponsor questioning ROI. Developed data-driven adoption strategy by mapping decision-makers across divisions and creating tailored playbooks for manufacturing vs corporate needs. Brought together leaders from 5 divisions through executive roundtable program, while implementing division-specific training. Achieved 460% user growth (500 to 2,800), secured $3.2M expansion and 3-year renewal. Program became company-wide template for enterprise expansion, demonstrating ability to turn skeptical accounts into growth opportunities while navigating complex organizational dynamics."

❌ Instead of: "Fixed bugs and technical issues for unhappy customers"

βœ… Write: "Inherited severely distressed portfolio of mid-market accounts ($4.5M ARR) with 8 marked for likely churn due to persistent technical failures and missed business objectives. Created innovative account recovery strategy by establishing success metrics for each account, engineering escalation paths, and implementing proactive health monitoring. Coordinated across product, engineering and support teams to develop rapid response framework. Retained 95% of portfolio value, improved CSAT from 6.2 to 8.7, and secured $800K in expansions through rebuilt trust. Recovery playbook now serves as organization's standard for managing at-risk accounts, showcasing crisis management capabilities and readiness for strategic portfolio ownership."

The difference between a good CSM and a promoted one often isn't their work, it's their ability to tell the story of that work in a way that demonstrates their readiness for the next level.

Rule #8: Career conversations don’t start themselves

Most CSMs make the same mistake; they wait for roles to be announced or yearly reviews to discuss advancement. The truth is, most career moves happen through conversations long before any job is posted. Your next opportunity needs to be shaped, not found.

The promotion conversation reality

What Most CSMs Do:

  • Wait for their annual review
  • Hope their metrics speak for themselves
  • Expect their manager to guide their growth
  • Stay quiet about career goals
  • Wait for job postings

What successful CSMs do:

  • Schedule regular career discussions with their manager
  • Come prepared with specific impact examples
  • Propose new responsibilities they could take on
  • Share clear ideas about how they could add more value
  • Shape roles based on business needs they spot

Having the conversation

Instead of: "I feel ready for a promotion."

Try: "I've noticed we need more help with enterprise implementations. I've created a framework that's working well with my accounts and could help the team. Could I take on more responsibility in this area?"

Or: "Based on our team's growth targets, I see an opportunity to improve our technical onboarding process. I've developed an approach that's reduced implementation time by 40% in my accounts. Would you be open to discussing how I could help scale this across the team?"

Or: "I've been tracking a pattern in our enterprise renewals where early technical alignment significantly impacts expansion rates. I've documented a process that's helped secure three major expansions. Could we discuss how I might help develop this into a team-wide initiative?"

Creating your opportunity

Start building your case:

  • Identify gaps in the current team structure
  • Document how you're already operating at the next level
  • Show the business impact of your proposed role
  • Present solutions to existing team challenges
  • Demonstrate value beyond your current scope

Example of creating your role

Sarah noticed the CS team struggled with technical implementations. Instead of waiting for a senior role to open, she:

  • Created detailed technical onboarding guides
  • Helped other CSMs with technical questions
  • Built relationships with the engineering team
  • Tracked time saved through her documentation
  • Proposed a "Technical CS Lead" role

Three months later, a specialized technical CSM role was created, one she had effectively already been doing.

Remember: The best opportunities aren't found; they're created through consistent conversations and demonstrated value.

Rule #9: Your manager isn't your career coach

The truth about managing up and taking control of your career progression is more nuanced than most CSMs realize. While your manager wants you to succeed, they juggle multiple priorities and team members.

The management reality check

Your manager's world revolves around keeping the CS machine running smoothly. They spend their days ensuring the team hits its numbers, managing escalations, reporting upward, and handling the constant flow of operational challenges. Even the most supportive manager has limited bandwidth to focus on your individual career development.

Think about your manager's typical week: They're in leadership meetings discussing team performance, handling urgent customer situations, reviewing department metrics, and managing their own career.

Your growth, while important to them, is just one item on an overwhelming list of responsibilities.

This means some hard truths:

  • They won't remember all your achievements
  • They can't create opportunities out of thin air
  • They're not thinking about your career path daily
  • They have their own pressures and goals to meet

Taking control of your growth

Instead of waiting for your manager to guide your career, you need to become the CEO of your own professional journey. This starts with having a clear vision of where you want to go and a concrete plan to get there.

Start by mapping out your next two career moves. What skills do you need? What experiences are you missing? What relationships should you be building? Your manager can help you achieve these goals, but you need to define them first.

Build a strong network beyond your direct manager. Find mentors in other departments who can offer different perspectives. Connect with senior CSMs who've walked the path you're aiming for. Create relationships with leaders in other areas of the business who might influence your future opportunities. Find other CSMs in other networks who are where you want to be. Ask them questions.

Making it work in practice

Schedule regular career conversations with your manager, but come prepared. Instead of vague discussions about growth, bring specific proposals:

"I've noticed we're expanding our enterprise segment. I'd like to handle more complex accounts, so I've created a plan to build my enterprise skills. Could we discuss which accounts might be good stepping stones?"

Document your achievements and impact consistently. Don't assume your manager sees or remembers everything. Keep a running log of your wins, learnings, and contributions. When opportunity discussions happen, you'll have concrete examples ready.

The partnership approach

Your manager can be a powerful ally in your career growth, but they shouldn't be your only strategy. Think of them as a partner in your career journey - one who can provide opportunities, advice, and advocacy, but who needs you to drive the process.

The most successful CSMs treat career development as a collaboration with their manager, not a service they expect to receive. They make it easy for their manager to help them by being clear about their goals, prepared with evidence of their impact, and proactive about seeking growth opportunities.

The weekly manager update template

Send a regular update that makes your manager's job easier:

Key Wins:

  • [Business impact achieved]
  • [Strategic initiative progress]
  • [Cross-functional collaboration]

Emerging Opportunities:

  • [Strategic insight or trend]
  • [Potential improvement area]
  • [Cross-team collaboration possibility]

Support Needed:

  • [Specific, actionable request]
  • [Resource or decision needed]
  • [Strategic guidance required]

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In Part 3, we'll tackle the final set of rules that separate good CSMs from great ones. We'll explore how to turn challenges into opportunities, build authentic connections that accelerate your career, and make strategic moves that maximize your growth. Most importantly, we'll show you how to put all these rules together to create a career trajectory that matches your ambitions.

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