2023 is almost upon us. Companies are preparing by setting goals, building content calendars, reallocating capital, and other tasks that will affect their 2023 success. But what can a Customer Success Manager do to prepare for 2023?

What should the areas of focus be for an overworked Customer Success Manager?

We spoke to many leading Customer Success Managers to ask them for 1 tip on how to conquer 2023 if you're an overworked Customer Success Manager.

Here are answers from 2 of them.

Alec Silva is a Customer Success Manager at Enable, a company that helps businesses turn rebates into a growth engine.

When asked to share a tip for 2023, Alec responded:

This is a great tip for effective Customer Success Managers to understand the scope of their role and the goals of their company and use this understanding to prioritize and delegate tasks effectively. This may involve setting clear objectives and key results (OKRs) or key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure progress and ensure that their efforts are aligned with the overall goals of the company. By taking a project management perspective and using existing or implementing new processes, Customer Success Managers can effectively take ownership of their work and delegate the rest to their team or other departments. This allows them to focus on the most important tasks and make the greatest impact on the company's success. By prioritizing and delegating tasks in this way, Customer Success Managers can more effectively achieve their OKRs or KPIs and contribute to the overall goals of the company.

We also asked Josh Loe, Chief Customer Officer at Hostaway (a company that offers scalable solutions to fast-growing vacation rental property managers), for his take on a 2023 focus.

Josh responded:

Providing customers with a high-quality, personalized experience is crucial for building trust and loyalty. By taking the time to get to know your customers, you can better understand their needs and preferences, which will allow you to tailor your products or services to better meet their needs. This can be as simple as asking questions and actively listening to their responses, or it can involve more in-depth research and analysis. Regardless of the approach you take, it's important to make your customers feel valued and appreciated. This could involve offering personalized recommendations or discounts, or simply taking the time to listen to their feedback and concerns. By making an effort to understand and meet your customers' needs, you will be able to build stronger, more lasting relationships with them, which can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

While this might seem like an obvious answer, the application of this principle is key. Anyone can say this, but actually doing it takes time and effort.

The name of the game is Customer Success, but the road to accomplish that is paved with strong relationships.

Josh and Alec took vastly different approaches to this question, and I believe that each answer has its merits.

Alec's answer is more of a solution to run a more efficient organization and free up the time of an overworked Success Manager.

Josh's approach is actionable on a working level; Take the time to build those relationships that are so crucial.

It's important to recognize that neither Alec nor Josh are suggesting that doing this one thing will lead to success. What they've offered is valuable insights on how to be an effective Customer Success Manager when resources are limited, and what to prioritize. Alec emphasizes the importance of understanding the scope of one's role, setting clear objectives and key results, and using project management techniques to prioritize and delegate tasks effectively. Josh, on the other hand, emphasizes the importance of building strong relationships with customers by providing a high-quality, personalized experience and taking the time to get to know them and understand their needs and preferences. At the end of the day, the goal is to build strong relationships with customers and ensure their success, and both Alec and Josh have provided valuable tips on how to do just that.