The Strategic Customer Success Manager: A Blueprint for Elevating Your Impact and Advancing Your Career

“You need to be more strategic.” Those dreaded words from your manager leave you frustrated and unsure of what to do next.

But what if you could stop reacting to problems and instead become a trusted strategic partner who commands respect from both your customers and colleagues? Chad Horenfeldt—who has spent over two decades as a customer success manager (CSM) and building out high-performing customer success teams at Eloqua (Oracle), Kustomer (Meta), and other companies—shares a battle-tested approach to elevate your impact and advance your career.

In The Strategic Customer Success Manager, you will learn:

• How to quickly build unbreakable trust with customers

• Proven techniques for mastering strategic conversations, using frameworks and insights from leading CS practitioners

• Strategies for aligning with cross-functional teams across your organization

• Proven methodologies for conducting impactful kickoffs, QBRs, and renewal and expansion conversations

• Practical strategies for identifying and handling at-risk accounts and preventing churn

This comprehensive playbook includes ready-to-use templates, actionable exercises, and scripts designed to immediately improve your effectiveness as a CS professional.

Don’t wait for someone else to define what “being strategic” means. Take control of your career today and master the skills that will transform you and your team from ordinary CSMs to strategic advisors who drive measurable, exceptional results. Level up before you’re left out.

Praise for Chad Horenfeldt and The Strategic Customer Success Manager

I’ve known Chad Horenfeldt since the early days of Gainsight, and I’ve seen firsthand how he's helped shape the customer success profession into what it is today. His insights come from lived experience, and his ability to communicate them clearly and powerfully is unmatched. In The Strategic Customer Success Manager, Chad distills years of battle-tested lessons into a playbook that every CSM—from rookie to veteran—needs right now.

— Nick Mehta, CEO at Gainsight and author of Customer Success & The Customer Success Economy

The days of reactive, support-focused CSMs are behind us. Today’s CSMs must be consultative, commercially savvy, and capable of delivering meaningful value. The Strategic Customer Success Manager meets this moment. Chad has written an engaging, practical, and powerful guide that helps CSMs become true business partners ready to thrive in an AI-driven world. Every CS team should have this on their desk, and in their enablement programs.

— Donna Weber, Customer Value Realization Expert, author of Onboarding Matters

With customer expectations evolving at record speed, this book is the essential guide for forward-thinking CSMs. It builds on existing resources and elevates customer success to a strategic discipline.

— Wayne McCulloch, Chief Customer Officer at Alkami Technology, author of The Seven Pillars of Customer Success

Chad’s depth of experience and practical frameworks make this book a must-read for any CSM looking to elevate their impact. He brings clarity to what it means to be truly strategic in customer success, and his actionable insights will help CSMs at every stage of their career

— Irit Eizips, Chief Customer Officer & CEO at CSM Practice

Chad provides both practical and transformational steps to be a better CSM with real business value-driven frameworks, phrasing and easy-to-use templates to begin raising your skills today. The checklists, references and expert tips make it easy to get started and will set you apart, enabling you to bring your customers to the next level. It's earned a place in my go-to reference library and as a foundational building block for my team.

— Michael J. Boyd, Principal Advisor, ModernEdge Advisors

Chad Horenfeldt is a seasoned customer success executive with over two decades of experience in SaaS. Chad held key positions at companies such as Meta (Kustomer), Updater, Bluecore, Influitive, and Oracle (Eloqua), where he honed his expertise in customer success and customer experience strategies. Chad has been part of an IPO while at Eloqua and of two major acquisitions, one by Oracle and a second by Meta. Beyond his professional endeavors, Chad has received numerous industry awards, including being a 3X Top 25 Customer Success Influencer. He is a recognized thought leader, frequently sharing insights on customer success through various industry publications and speaking engagements. Among his many contributions, Chad authored a section on customer advocacy in the book The Customer Success Professional's Handbook: How to Thrive in One of the World's Fastest Growing Careers-While Driving Growth for Your Company. Chad graduated from Western University with a Master of Arts in history and completed a postgraduate diploma in applied information technology. He is originally from Toronto, Ontario, but now lives in Northern New Jersey with his wife, three children, and dog, Timbit.

Kristi Faltorusso is a powerhouse in the Customer Success space, known for her strategic leadership, operational rigor, and relentless focus on driving impact. With a career spanning over a decade, she has built, scaled, and transformed Customer Success functions at multiple SaaS companies, helping organizations increase retention, expand revenue, and deliver world-class customer experiences.​Currently serving as the Chief Customer Officer at ClientSuccess, Kristi has previously held leadership roles at high-growth companies like Intellishift, BetterCloud, and BrightEdge. Her approach to CS is deeply data-driven and results-oriented, combining automation, scalable processes, and proactive engagement strategies to maximize customer lifetime value.Beyond her executive roles, Kristi is an influential thought leader, sharing her expertise through speaking engagements, webinars, and LinkedIn content that blends tactical insights with witty, no-nonsense advice. Kristi's impact on the industry is undeniable. Whether she's mentoring emerging CS leaders, shaping best practices, or advocating for the strategic importance of Customer Success, she's a driving force in the evolution of the field.