Customer relationships are the lifeblood of success. Even though customer support is a recognized priority, the concept of customer success is still fairly new in many organizations. To understand what each contributes, one needs to define a VP of Customer Success and a Customer Support Manager’s responsibilities.

While these roles are intertwined, they play specific roles that can lead a SaaS company toward the path of growth.

Understanding Customer Success vs. Customer Support

Customer support and customer success are two similar functions that improve the customer experience though under different approaches.

While customer support responds to points of friction, customer success seeks to prevent them and make sure that the customer attains their goals with the product.

Role of a VP of Customer Success

The role of a VP of Customer Success is a senior position charged with the overall responsibility for every stage from acquisition through the initial contacts, renewal, and follow-up sales.

This position plays the central role of ensuring that the customer success activities are in line with the organization’s strategic goals. This way, the VP-CS makes sure that the customers get the maximum out of the product, and create a long-term relationship.

Some of the tasks include: 

• Providing customer success solutions
• Training Customer Success Managers (CSMs)
• Making data-driven choices to improve customer satisfaction
• Establishing and growing a high-velocity customer success organization
• Supporting the firm’s overall growth strategy

Role of a Customer Support Manager

On the other hand, a Customer Support Manager is more concerned with the customers’ current concerns in the form of complaints and queries.

Some of the tasks of a Customer Support Manager include:

The Key Differences Between a VP of Customer Success and a Customer Support Manager

1. Proactivity vs. Reactivity: The difference in their implementation relies entirely on their strategy. A Vice President of Customer Success is like a strategic thinker who looks for ways to ensure customer satisfaction and prevent problems, while a Customer Support Manager is a more tactical leader who deals with problems as they occur. 
2. Strategic vs. Tactical: The responsibilities of the VP-CS position are more strategic because they involve defining and coordinating customer success, focusing on outcomes, and creating planning horizons and insights that guide long-term, data-driven decision-making. On the other hand, the Customer Support Manager’s function is operational, as they are responsible for the daily management of the team and addressing specific issues that arise.
3. Metrics and Goals: The metrics and goals for each role differ. A VP of Customer Success is measured by customer retention, expansion, and overall customer health scores. A Customer Support Manager, however, is evaluated based on response times, resolution rates, and customer satisfaction scores. 
4. Customer Journey Involvement: The VP-CS is involved throughout the entire customer journey, from onboarding to renewal. They ensure that customers are continuously finding value in the product. The Customer Support Manager, on the other hand, typically interacts with customers during specific touchpoints when issues arise. This continuous involvement by the VP-CS helps build long-term relationships and fosters customer loyalty.
5. Team Leadership: While both roles involve leadership, the scope differs. A VP-CS leads the customer success team and often works cross-functionally with other departments to align strategies. In contrast, a Customer Support Manager focuses on managing the support team, ensuring they meet service level agreements and provide high-quality support.
6. Data Utilization: Both roles rely on data, but how they use it differs. A VP of Customer Success uses data to identify trends, predict customer needs, and adjust strategies accordingly. Meanwhile, a Customer Support Manager uses data to track performance metrics like ticket resolution times and customer satisfaction scores. 

Benefits of Having Both Roles

If you are a SaaS company, having a VP of Customer Success and Customer Support Manager guarantees adequate coverage of the CSM field.

With both strategic approaches to outline comprehensive customer success initiatives and tactical measures to respond to customer complaints and concerns, the SaaS company would have an adequate structure for customer satisfaction and retention. 

For instance, research conducted by Gainsight established that a company’s customer retention rate can increase by 33% where there is a clear commitment towards practicing customer success or having staff adept at the craft.

On this note, Zendesk reveals that effective customer service can increase satisfaction ratings by 23%, hence the importance of addressing complaints.

Understand The Difference

Both a VP of Customer Success and a Customer Support Manager play vital roles in ensuring customer satisfaction and loyalty.

While their approaches and responsibilities differ, their combined efforts provide a comprehensive strategy for managing customer relationships.

By understanding these differences and leveraging the strengths of each role, SaaS companies can build stronger, more resilient customer relationships, driving long-term success and growth.