CSM's are the Jan Brady of the organization

I have uttered that line more than a few times over the past few months, and it always gets a laugh, and it also gets many nods of agreement.

If I was to break down classic functional roles for a SaaS B2B startup and map to the Brady Bunch, it might look something like this:

Mom- CEO

Dad - HR

Greg - Cool sales guy

Marsha - Marketing

Cindy -  Product

Peter - Dev

Bobby - Support

Why do CSM's constantly feel like the middle child? "Overshadowed" by the more popular older child (sales and marketing), and getting bypassed for care and concern that younger siblings (Product) get. Heck, I even put a picture of Marsha instead of Jan for this article!

Some real-life examples that quickly come to mind:

• Sales doesn't bring them in until the last minute of a deal when they need them.

• Marketing never reaches out until they need a case study or quote.

• Finance only contacts them when they want money (from the customer)

• Product doesn't want to listen to the CSM even though they are probably right

• CSM's chase down Support and dev when things get hairy

The list goes on and on. Yet the more research I did on the subject, the middle child syndrome maps exactly to the CSM role, and that's a good thing.

"Jan Brady Syndrome" is a real thing. In this article. The author talks about the common middle child symptoms, but then addresses how they overcome and succeed:

"The one that everyone forgets about. The one who reliably hauls out the welcome wagon and the parents’ fine china, whenever the parents arrive." with this ‘newness,’ parents give unconscious, extra attention and praise to the oldest child. The middle is dragged along to the activities for his/her sibling, but when it’s the middle’s turn to do activities, less attention is paid. ....And when the baby of the family enters the family scene, parents feel nostalgic toward their baby"

In my extensive Jan Brady research, I found some great character traits that I had never thought of before (complete list is here - https://www.metv.com/lists/7-major-reasons-we-should-all-remember-jan-brady). Let's map them to some of the CSM's responsibilities:

She's not afraid to say what she thinks.

CSM's put their customer’s success in front of anything else. If the sales team is going to sell a feature too early, or if a bug fix is taking too long, you know that the CSM's will speak up and let their voice be heard.

She solves her own problems.

Have a new customer that needs to be kicked off with 1-2 days notice? No problem, it will happen (this time). Once the big flashy deal is closed, who is asked to take over all of the responsibility? "Hey we just signed a new customer- can you do an in-person kickoff this week?" is a phrase we have all heard a few times. Just like that killer essay, your CSM will knock it out of the park.

She demands respect.

CSM's will ultimately own the client's success, including delivering QBR's, renewals, and upsells. Even if your organization does not specifically task them with renewals or upsells, neither of those are possible without a CSM excelling at their job. When done right, CSMs are a powerful growth engine. These are all crucial for your company, and

She worries about the future, just like us.

CSM's straddle the gap between customer service and sales, between company interest and customer interest, and between product expertise and customer insight.(3)

They complete the onboarding of new customers, from Implementation through unlocking the value of your product to them. They advocate for new features that your customers are begging for. They craft-fully deliver the roadmap of your company while mapping it to your customers' needs.

In the aforementioned article, there was a quote that shows how the middle child overcomes:

"My middle child has an uncanny ability to make friends and is one of the easiest children to get along with that I have ever encountered. Outside of the home, the middle child thrives when the pressures of being in the middle are removed."

I think that this translates to the customer love that can be seen when you have a great CSM. The next time you hear about Jan Brady or a middle child, I think that it’s time to see the positive, but not glamorous aspects of what that can mean.

3- https://hbr.org/2019/11/what-is-a-customer-success-manager