Gainsight’s Inaugural State of Customer Success Profession Report Now Available
[Redwood City, CA – May 7, 2019] — Today, Gainsight®, the customer success company, released The State of Customer Success Profession 2019 report, which presents data by LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network. The report details the growth of the customer success category, signaled by the rise of the Customer Success Manager (CSM) role, one of the top 10 fastest growing careers. According to LinkedIn data within the report, the role of CSM has seen a 736 percent increase since 2015, especially amongst the Software and IT industry, showcasing how pivotal the position is for subscription-based business growth.
“The rapid advancement of SaaS and cloud technology has opened up doors that we couldn’t have fathomed even five years ago, like the customer success manager role, which has quickly become one of the most sought after positions,” said Nick Mehta, Gainsight CEO. “Customer success is gaining traction in almost every industrialized economy on the planet, and as more companies adopt recurring revenue business models, the need for CSMs has become paramount in every major market on the globe. Validated by LinkedIn’s data, the CSM role continues to prove itself as an important position that forward-thinking companies are increasing their investment in for the growth of their businesses.”
A Rapidly Growing Profession
As indicated by its growth over the past couple of years, Customer Success Managers have become critically important to modern companies increasingly focused on delivering a customer-centric and personalized approach. By utilizing a unique skill set including management, sales, business, leadership, strategy, and communication, among others, combined with a deep understanding of technology, CSMs have become an important part of the expanding digital workforce.
According to the report findings, CSMs on average are in their roles for a tenure of less than two years before moving on to more senior positions. In fact, more than 50 percent of CSMs go on to hold leadership roles. While CSMs in the U.S. represent over half of the world’s total, proof of continued growth within the profession can also be seen on a global scale as the number of 2018 LinkedIn members with the CSM job title grew more than 8X year over year.
Additional insights regarding growth include:
- In 2018, CSM job postings grew an average of 84 percent YoY in the United States.
- There are nearly an equal number of women (47 percent) and men (48 percent) working in the profession globally.
- The major U.S. cities for accelerating a career within the CSM profession include New York, Boston, and Chicago.
- CSM positions on a global scale have grown more than 1.5X since 2015.
- 72 percent of CSMs work in the Software & IT industry.
- CSM positions are growing rapidly at over 1,000 percent YoY in industries like Wellness & Fitness, and Recreation & Travel.
- More than 50 percent of all CSM jobs exist in companies with fewer than 1,000 employees
“As companies look to remain competitive in today’s landscape, implementing or further investing in CS will enable them to adapt to the continuous release of new technologies to ultimately drive growth,” added Mehta.
Click here to see the full report.
About Gainsight: Gainsight®is the leading SaaS solution helping companies retain customers and grow revenue by improving their customer success and product experience. The platform provides relevant customer information and predictive analytics and turns them into actionable insights that anticipate customer needs. Learn how leading companies like Adobe, Box, GE Digital and Workday use Gainsight to increase retention, expansion, and advocacy at www.gainsight.com.
