How to Build a Killer Customer Success Function (Without Losing Your Mind)

Let's be real, customer success (CS) is often treated like an afterthought. Founders pour their souls into building a fantastic product, only to realize that customers aren't magically sticking around. That's when panic sets in. "We need a CS function! Someone, please fix this!"

If that's where you're at, breathe. You're not alone. But if you slap together a CS function without a plan, you're just setting yourself up for more churn, more complaints, and more late-night existential crises.

So, let's do this right. Here are five useful tips for building a CS function that doesn't just exist but actually delivers results.

1. Start Before You Think You Need To

(Spoiler: If you're asking, you already need it.)

Too many companies wait until churn slaps them in the face before investing in CS. By then, the damage is done.

As Gainsight CEO Nick Mehta puts it:

"Customer success is where 90% of the revenue is."

That means if you're waiting until after you've lost customers to figure this out, you're literally throwing away future revenue. Be proactive. The moment you have paying customers, you need a plan to keep them happy.

And no, "hiring one CSM and hoping for the best" is not a plan.

2. Hire for Impact, Not Just Experience

(A resume full of big names doesn't mean they can actually do the job.)

Some companies think they need to hire a VP of Customer Success straight out of the gate. Others throw a junior hire into the deep end and expect miracles. Both are bad ideas.

What you really need are people who understand your customers and can build processes that scale. That means hiring for:

• Empathy: They should actually care about customers, not just "managing accounts."

• Problem-solving skills: CS isn't just about answering emails, it's about preventing problems before they happen.

• Tech-savviness: If they can't learn your product inside and out, they can't help customers succeed.

As Donna Weber, author of Onboarding Matters, says:

"Customer onboarding is where you make or break your customer relationships."

So, if you're hiring someone to handle onboarding (or any CS role), make sure they know how to build relationships, not just check boxes.

3. Stop Thinking of Customer Success as Just a Support Function

(CS isn't there to fix problems, it's there to prevent them in the first place.)

Many companies make the mistake of treating CS like a fancy version of customer support. But the best CS teams don't just respond to issues, they stop problems from happening in the first place.

That means:

• Helping customers get value from day one

• Identifying warning signs of churn early

• Partnering with sales and product teams to improve the customer experience

As Lincoln Murphy, a CS thought leader, puts it:

"The seeds of churn are planted early."

If your CS function only deals with unhappy customers, you've already lost. The goal is to ensure that customers never reach that point.

4. Measure What Actually Matters

(No one cares how many emails you sent this week.)

If you're drowning in vanity metrics, congratulations you've built a CS function that looks good on paper but does nothing in reality.

Instead of tracking nonsense like "number of customer interactions," focus on things that actually predict success, like:

• Customer Health Scores: Are your customers using the product? Are they seeing value?

• Expansion & Renewal Rates: Are they upgrading or renewing their contracts?

• Time to Value: How quickly are they getting ROI?

Or, as churn expert Jay Nathan puts it:

"If you're not measuring success in terms of customer outcomes, you're doing it wrong."

Make sure your CS team is focused on delivering real customer outcomes, not just racking up activity for the sake of it.

5. When in Doubt, Call in the Pros

(Because winging it isn't a strategy.)

If all of this sounds like a lot, that's because it is. Building a CS function from scratch is tricky, especially if you don't have the budget (or the patience) to figure it out on your own.

That's where the team at Barre Consulting comes in.

They are bar far (yes, that's a pun; deal with it) the best secret weapon a business can have to tackle the difficult but ultimately rewarding world of customer success.

Instead of spending months trying to DIY your CS strategy (and probably messing it up in the process), why not work with experts who've done it before? They'll help you build a CS function that works so you can focus on growing your business instead of putting out fires.

Final Thoughts

Customer success isn't just a department, it's a growth strategy. Get it right, and you'll keep customers longer, increase revenue, and build a sustainable business.

Get it wrong… and, well, let's just say your churn rate will keep you up at night.

Your move.