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Leading a CS team: guides for customer success

Updated October 2026

Leading a customer success team is its own job. These guides cover building and running the team: how to structure it and size books, how to hire and onboard CSMs, how to set goals, and how to write the plays and reports that keep everyone working the same way.

• Customer success team structure: tiers, book sizes and who does what
  How to structure a customer success team: coverage tiers, CSM book sizes by segment, key roles, and when to add each one.
• Customer success manager job description template
  A customer success manager job description template: summary, responsibilities, requirements and how success is measured, plus tips to attract strong CSMs.
• Customer success manager interview questions, and what good answers sound like
  Interview questions for hiring a customer success manager: what to ask, what good answers sound like, and a practical exercise to run.
• A 30-60-90 day plan for a new customer success manager
  A 30-60-90 day plan for new customer success managers: learn the book, build first plays, and show results, with a checklist for each phase.
• Customer success OKRs: examples you can adapt this quarter
  Customer success OKR examples for teams and CSMs: retention, onboarding, adoption and support objectives with measurable key results to adapt.
• A customer success playbook template, with two filled-in plays
  A customer success playbook template: trigger, owner, steps, assets, done criteria and success signal, with two filled-in example plays.
• A customer success weekly report your manager will actually read
  A weekly customer success report template for your manager: wins, risks, asks and numbers in five bullets, with an AI prompt that drafts it.
• 1:1 prep for CS managers: walk in knowing their week
  1:1 prep for CS managers: what to know about each direct report, a simple agenda, a sample prep note and an AI prompt that drafts it.
• A weekly workload check that catches burnout before it shows up in tickets
  A weekly workload check for CS and support teams: five numbers to watch, a sample report and an AI prompt to spot burnout early.