Top 20 Customer Success Manager Interview Questions

Being a customer success manager requires a combination of multi-disciplinary expertise, in-depth product knowledge, and great communication skills. Above all, this person must possess high emotional intelligence and adequate personality traits that can easily adapt to different customer personas. 

When hiring one, it is, therefore, crucial to create a list of adequate questions that allow you to evaluate whether the candidate is right for the role or not.

In the following text, we will present you with a list of customer success manager interview questions that will help you select the appropriate candidate or help you prepare for the interview if you are interested in the position yourself. 

Customer Success Manager Interview Questions to Prepare for

Before we present you with the list of questions, let’s see what to look for when hiring a customer success manager. 

• Empathy
  • Empathy is a key aspect of emotional intelligence. A good customer success manager must be able to empathize with customers’ needs and challenges to be able to build strong customer relationships. As customer success managers act as mediators between the company and a customer, they must fully understand what’s in the best interest of both sides while still remaining advocates for customers who help them achieve any desired goal with the company. This is why these types of customer success interview questions should appear multiple times during the interview. 
• Great communication skills
  • Customer success managers stay in touch with customers during their entire journey. This is why it is crucial that a candidate have excellent communication skills to be able to communicate with customers about complex matters in a clear, concise yet friendly way. They need to remain open to answering all customer questions and educate them along the way so that the customers can get the most out of the product in the shortest amount of time. Also, customer success managers must share the best customer success practices and trends with other team members. Therefore, excellent presentation and verbal skills are aspects that must be carefully evaluated during the interview. 
• Effective problem-solving
  • CS managers face multiple problems every day., both small and big ones. A good customer success manager should identify issues rapidly and come up with creative solutions for them while collaborating across departments and teams. 
• Customer-centric mindset
  • Customer always comes first. Period. This is the motto of any successful CS manager who is aware that delivering a positive customer experience is one of their main responsibilities. This is how you build customer loyalty, improve customer retention and satisfaction, and build long-term customer relationships. A list of interview questions for a customer success manager should contain multiple interview questions that prove whether the candidate possesses a customer-centric mindset or not. 
• Technical expertise 
  • To get the job done, customer success managers should be able to learn how to use the given product or service quickly and proficiently, but also to explain its core functionalities and features during the interview. During the onboarding process, customers face various problems when faced with the new product, so CS managers must be able to break it down for them from time to time to facilitate the onboarding. Although potential candidates don’t need to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the product at the first interview, it is important to ask a few interview questions that prove that they know the core functionalities and features, which is the bare minimum. 
• Experience in customer success or other related fields
  • A good candidate should have experience in customer success, customer service, account management or other similar fields.
• Loves teamwork
  • CS managers collaborate constantly with other departments like marketing, product development, sales and others, so it is crucial to look for a team player when hiring a customer success manager. In the end, with so many responsibilities, it is imperative that a candidate show great organizational skills as well. 

Now, let’s see 20 core CSM interview questions and ideal answers:  

1. What is your approach to building relationships with customers?

• I believe that customer relationships should be built on understanding, trust and respect. This is why I always strive to be a trustworthy advisor for customers who take time to listen to their concerns and needs and provide proactive solutions to help them achieve their goals. 

2. Can you tell us more about your previous experience in customer success or related roles? 

• I have more than 5 years of experience in customer success, where I worked closely with clients to ensure they succeeded with the product. During this time, I managed numerous accounts of various sizes and industries, which gave me an understanding of customer success strategies. 

3. How do you prioritize workload when handling multiple customer accounts?

• I prioritize my workload based on the urgency and impact of the given tasks. To stay organized, I use a set of strategies and tools, like task management software and prioritization frameworks, to ensure that I address the most vital issues first. 

4. How do you communicate with customers if the problem can’t be solved immediately?

• I’ll make sure to remain proactive while communicating. If the customer looks for a feature that the product doesn’t have, I will let them know that the feature isn’t available at the moment and present them with the best alternatives. 

5. Can you give us an example of the most challenging customer interaction you had and how you resolved it?

• One of my clients was experiencing issues with the product that were affecting their business operations. I worked with the tech-team to identify and resolve the issue rapidly, while keeping the client informed about the progress until the issue was resolved. 

6. How do you stay informed about the newest industry trends in customer success?

• I attend webinars, conferences, and networking events to stay up-to-date about the latest trends and best practices in the industry. I also read various industry publications and participate in online forums. 

7. How do you measure the success of your customer success efforts?

• I measure the success of customer success strategies by tracking core customer success metrics like customer satisfaction scores, customer retention rates, and upsell or cross-sell opportunities. I also collect customer feedback to make sure their needs are met. 

8. Can you explain how a product or feature/ works?

• Akita is a customer success platform created to help SaaS companies manage customer relationships and drive customer success. It comes with features like customer health scoring, customer segmentation and communication tools, and automated workflows that help teams manage customer accounts and reduce customer churn. Akita integrates with helpdesk software and CRM, which ensures that customer data is centralized and metrics’ data sharing and tracking are facilitated. In the end, Akita aims to help companies improve customer retention and revenue by providing a comprehensive option for managing all customer success efforts. 

9. Why do you want to work in the customer success department?

• I genuinely like to help people achieve their goals. I am a good team player who feels content when helping others succeed in their endeavors. 

10.  How do you handle customers who are at risk of churning?

• I work closely with at-risk customers to understand their needs and pain-points, address their issues rapidly, and provide personalized solutions that can help them achieve contentment with our product or service. 

11.  How do you act when facing rejection?

• Failure is an opportunity to improve myself and learn. I’ll make sure to ask for feedback if the circumstances allow it and apply the knowledge in the future. 

12.  Can you give us an example of the strategy you implemented that improved customer satisfaction or retention?

• I created and implemented a customer success program that contained personalized training sessions, check-in calls, and proactive communication to keep the customers motivated and engaged. This resulted in a significant improvement in customer satisfaction scores and retention rates. 

13.  How do you handle conflicts or difficult conversations with customers?

• I make sure to approach these types of conversations with understanding and empathy. I listen carefully to the customer’s concerns and work collaboratively to find an adequate solution. My goal is to stay professional and calm in these situations while focusing on finding the right solution that satisfies the customer. 

14.  Can you tell us about an instance when you had to advocate for a customer within your company?

• The customer experienced a persistent issue with our product, which had an impact on their operations. I advocated on customer’s behalf to our product development team and provided detailed feedback and suggestions for improvement. The issue was resolved quickly and the customer was satisfied. 

15.  How do you set goals and KPIs for your customer success efforts?

• I believe in setting SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. I review and modify my goals based on the KPIs and feedback to make sure that the expectations are met or, even better, exceeded. 

16.  What would you do to prevent customer churn?

• I would prevent churn by continuing to communicate proactively with the customer. If I notice that there is a potential issue that might prevent the customer from achieving their goal, I will reach out to them with a solution. I would also stay in touch to make sure that the customer is satisfied and that our product is still relevant and effective for them. 

17.  How do you deliver difficult news to customers?

• I usually schedule a Zoom call, if possible, since it is easier to evaluate their response when I can see them. If that’s not an option, I’ll inform them about the bad news via a phone call so that I can answer their questions in real time and provide customer support immediately. 

18.  How do you collaborate with other teams to ensure customer success?

• Teamwork is the essence of customer success. I make sure to communicate regularly with the sales team to understand customer expectations and needs, and with the product development team to provide them with feedback and suggestions for product improvements. 

19.  What skills are you hoping to improve and develop in the customer success manager role?

• I would like to improve my problem-solving abilities and learn how to think creatively as I go. I expect that working with clients in face-to-face situations will help me hone these skills and become more proficient in this role. 

20. What feedback would you give to our interviewers?

• I always expect transparency in the interview process. This is why it is good to know how many interviewers will be there, if there are more interviews than one, and who the interviewers are. 

Conclusion

Hopefully, our list of customer success manager interview questions can help you find the ideal candidate for the role or prepare yourself properly for the upcoming interview. The most successful CS managers are empathetic people with a customer-centric mindset, excellent communication skills and a creative problem-solving approach. Knowing how to use customer success software like Akita is a bonus, as it can help them automate multiple CS processes and always remain fully informed about every account’s health and status.