2015 Customer Success Salary & State of the Profession Report

2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |

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Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report

2015


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Executive Summary

Meet the Survey Participants

Customer Success Salary Survey Results •  Compensation Structure •  Bonus Components •  Commission Components

•  Annual Compensation Distribution •  Annual Compensation Distribution: Year-Over-Year Comparison •  Median Annual Compensation: By Job Title

•  Annual Compensation Distribution: By Job Title •  Average Annual Compensation By Job Title: Year-Over-Year Comparison

State of the Customer Success Profession •  Where Does Customer Success Reside In Your Company? •  Customer Success Maturity

•  What Was Your Previous Background? •  Customer Success Team Growth And Turnover •  Top Goals Of Customer Success Teams •  Challenges Of Customer Success Teams

•  Systems Used By Customer Success Teams

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report | 3

The 2015 edition of the Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report surveyed 748 respondents to understand Customer Success compensation trends, the growth and maturity of the role, as well as its goals and challenges.

This year’s survey saw a 300% increase in the number of respondents, attesting to the rapid growth of the profession.

INTRODUCTION


Trend From Previous Year Compared to last year’s salary data, compensation is more uniformly distributed this year indicating hiring across all levels (i.e. companies growing out teams as well as leadership for Customer Success).

Compensation structure A large majority (almost 75%) of Customer Success professionals receive variable compensation in addition to a base salary. Bonuses are almost five times as common as commissions.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – SALARY SURVEY

Compensation by Title Median compensation ranges are as follows: •  $150-175K for VP of Customer Success •  $125-150K for Director of Customer Success •  $75-100K for Customer Success Manager


Reporting Structure More than one-third of Customer Success teams report directly to the CEO, a significant increase from 15% last year. Being part of a larger Services/Support organization is the next most common structure.

Goals and Challenges Product adoption and churn reduction are top goals for Customer Success teams. Upsells still remains a lower priority. Operational issues are now a bigger challenge for Customer Success teams compared to organizational obstacles such as executive buy-in and definition of role.

Customer Success Maturity Data continues to show that Customer Success as a profession is still in its early days. -  75% of companies have had Customer Success for 0-3 years -  60% of professionals have been in Customer Success for 0-3 years -  95% of professionals have previously worked in other roles

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – STATE OF THE PROFESSION


16%

35% 36%

2%

11%

CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER / VP OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS DIRECTOR OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS CUSTOMER SUCCESS MANAGER CUSTOMER SUCCESS ENGINEER OTHER ROLES *

* Includes CEO, COO, Sales, Support, Operations

34%

34%

32%

0-5 TEAM MEMBERS

6-25 TEAM MEMBERS

>25 TEAM MEMBERS

BY SIZE OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS TEAM

BY JOB TITLE

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MEET THE SURVEY PARTICIPANTS


CUSTOMER SUCCESS SALARY SURVEY RESULTS


26%

54%

11%

9%

Of the survey participants, 26% earn only a base salary. A majority receive other incentives, with bonuses being the most common form of variable compensation (earned by over 60% of all survey participants). Commissions are less common for Customer Success teams with only 20% earning commissions based on meeting revenue goals.

BASE SALARY ONLY

BASE SALARY + BONUS

BASE SALARY + COMMISSON

BASE SALARY + BONUS + COMMISSON

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COMPENSATION STRUCTURE


Customer Success teams earn bonuses based on a wide range of criteria. Overall team and company performance is the primary driver of bonuses followed by attainment of renewal and upsell goals. For a smaller percentage of customer success professionals, bonuses also depend on MBOs such as onboarding, training, and case studies.

57%

23%

14%

10%

6%

4%

9%

TEAM/COMPANY PERFORMANCE

RENEWALS GOAL

UPSELL GOAL

NET PROMOTER SCORE (NPS)

ONBOARDING/TRAINING

CASE STUDIES

OTHER

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BONUS COMPONENTS


20%

23%

57%

COMMISSION ON RENEWALS

COMMISSION ON UPSELLS

COMMISSION ON RENEWALS + UPSELLS

For a majority of Customer Success professionals who earn commissions, both renewals and upsells are part of the commission structure.

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COMMISSION COMPONENTS


7%

17%

13%

19%

20%

13%

11%

Note: Compensation figures include variable compensation (bonus and/or commissions)

$0 - 50K

$50K - 75K

$75K - 100K

$100K - 125K

$125K – 150K

$150K – 175K

$175K+

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ANNUAL COMPENSATION DISTRIBUTION


0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

$0-50K $50K-75K $75K-100K $100K-125K $125K-150K $150K-175K $175K+

2015

2014

Compared to last year’s salary data, where there was higher concentration in certain tiers, compensation is more uniformly distributed this year indicating hiring across all levels (i.e. companies growing out teams as well as leadership for Customer Success).

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ANNUAL COMPENSATION DISTRIBUTION: YEAR-OVER-YEAR COMPARISON


CCO/VP: DIRECTOR: MANAGER:

$150K – 175K

$75K – 100K

$125K – 150K

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MEDIAN ANNUAL COMPENSATION: BY JOB TITLE


2% 2% 2%

8% 7%

45%

34%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

CUSTOMER SUCCESS MANAGER

DIRECTOR OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS

CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER / VP OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS

2% 3%

8%

29%

40%

10% 9%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

9%

33%

26%

16%

11%

3% 2%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

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ANNUAL COMPENSATION DISTRIBUTION: BY JOB TITLE


MANAGER

DIRECTOR

CCO/VP

2014

2015

$159,168

$180,427

$135,062

$94,864

$133,606

$86,570

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AVERAGE ANNUAL COMPENSATION BY JOB TITLE: YEAR-OVER-YEAR COMPARISON


STATE OF THE CUSTOMER SUCCESS PROFESSION


34%

28%

15% 11%

3% 8%

REPORTS DIRECTLY TO CEO

PART OF SERVICES/SUPPORT

ORGANIZATION

PART OF COO ORGANIZATION

PART OF SALES PART OF MARKETING OTHER

More than one-third of Customer Success teams are now a standalone function reporting directly to the CEO, a significant increase from last year when this figure was only 15%. The next most common structure has the Customer Success team being part of a larger post-sales Services/Support organization.

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WHERE DOES CUSTOMER SUCCESS RESIDE IN YOUR COMPANY?


27%

50%

23% <1 YEAR

1-3 YEARS

3 YEARS+

Of all the respondents, more than 75% of the companies have had Customer Success teams for 3 years or less, and more than 60% of professionals have been in Customer Success roles for 3 years or less, an indication that Customer Success as a profession is still in its early days.

15%

46%

39%

HOW MANY YEARS HAVE YOU BEEN IN CUSTOMER SUCCESS?

HOW LONG HAS YOUR COMPANY HAD A CUSTOMER SUCCESS TEAM?

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CUSTOMER SUCCESS MATURITY


20%

24%

23% 5%

8%

2% 1% 8%

9% ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT

SUPPORT/SERVICES

SALES

CUSTOMER SUCCESS

MARKETING

PRODUCT/ENGINEERING

FINANCE

CONSULTING

OTHER

95% of the respondents have come to Customer Success from other fields and backgrounds, reinforcing that Customer Success as a profession is very young. Only 5% of the respondents view their background as being in Customer Success.

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WHAT WAS YOUR PREVIOUS BACKGROUND?


12%

13%

38%

14%

23%

NO GROWTH 1-25% 26-50% 51-100% 100%+

Customer Success teams are growing rapidly. Three-fourths have expanded staffing by more than 25%, with approximately one-third of these having more than doubled in the last year. At the same time, turnover numbers indicate a fair degree of employee churn and movement as companies expand their teams and look for people with prior Customer Success experience in this emerging profession.

34%

22%

37%

5% 2%

NO TURNOVER 1-10% 11-25% 26-50% 51%

HOW MUCH HAS YOUR TEAM GROWN IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS

HOW MUCH TURNOVER HAS YOUR TEAM SEEN IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS

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CUSTOMER SUCCESS TEAM GROWTH AND TURNOVER


TOP GOALS OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS TEAMS

57% Product Adoption

55% Churn Reduction

47% Onboarding

42% Customer Advocacy

39% Customer Support

20% Upsell

See next page for the relative priority of each goal for Customer Success teams.

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57%

55%

47%

42%

39%

20%

18%

30%

35%

41%

27%

37%

15%

13%

15%

16%

29%

36%

10%

2%

4%

2%

5%

7%

PRODUCT ADOPTION

CHURN REDUCTION

ONBOARDING

CUSTOMER ADVOCACY

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

UPSELLS

HIGH MEDIUM LOW NOT A PRIORITY

Product adoption and churn reduction are top goals for Customer Success teams. Upsells still remains a lower priority compared to churn reduction.

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TOP GOALS OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS TEAMS


30%

27%

23%

22%

18%

10%

47%

32%

38%

36%

29%

36%

21%

34%

37%

38%

32%

38%

2%

7%

2%

4%

21%

17%

REACTIVE APPROACH TO CUSTOMERS

TIME MANAGEMENT AND FOCUS

VISIBILITY INTO CUSTOMERS

SCALING THE TEAM

CLARITY OF ROLE AND GOALS

EXECUTIVE SUPPORT

HIGH MEDIUM LOW NOT A CHALLENGE

Operational issues including a reactive approach to customers, time management and focus, and scaling the team are bigger challenges for Customer Success today compared to broader organizational obstacles such as executive buy-in and definition of team role.

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CHALLENGES OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS TEAMS


22%

25%

29%

41%

50%

74%

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

CUSTOMER SUCCESS PLATFORM

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

EMAIL AUTOMATION

HELPDESK

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM)

CRM followed by helpdesk remain the systems most widely used by Customer Success teams. Only 25% are using a Customer Success platform.

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SYSTEMS USED BY CUSTOMER SUCCESS TEAMS


ABOUT TOTANGO

Totango is the leader in customer success management. We help businesses take a data-driven approach to reducing churn, driving customer adoption and advocacy, and maximizing lifetime revenue. Totango monitors customer behavior – along with data from CRM, billing, and other enterprise systems – to generate insights on customer health and engagement. The company's platform combines big data analytics with powerful segmentation and predictive tools to help companies pinpoint customers who need attention, spot opportunities for upsell, and then manage the touchpoints with customers to drive productivity and scale for customer success teams. You can find more customer success resources at: www.totango.com/resources

[email protected]

1-800-634-1990

www.totango.com

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2015 Customer Success Salary & State of the Profession Report

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Transcript of 2015 Customer Success Salary & State of the Profession Report