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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
presents
Customer Success
Salary Survey &
State of the Profession Report
2015

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Executive Summary
Meet the Survey Participants
Customer Success Salary Survey Results
• Compensation Structure
• Bonus Components
• Commission Components
• Annual Compensation Distribution
• Annual Compensation Distribution: Year-Over-Year Comparison
• Median Annual Compensation: By Job Title
• Annual Compensation Distribution: By Job Title
• Average Annual Compensation By Job Title: Year-Over-Year Comparison
State of the Customer Success Profession
• Where Does Customer Success Reside In Your Company?
• Customer Success Maturity
• What Was Your Previous Background?
• Customer Success Team Growth And Turnover
• Top Goals Of Customer Success Teams
• Challenges Of Customer Success Teams
• Systems Used By Customer Success Teams
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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report | 3
The 2015 edition of the Customer Success Salary
Survey & State of the Profession Report surveyed
748 respondents to understand Customer Success
compensation trends, the growth and maturity of the
role, as well as its goals and challenges.
This year’s survey saw a 300% increase in the
number of respondents, attesting to the rapid growth
of the profession.
INTRODUCTION

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
Trend From Previous Year
Compared to last year’s salary data, compensation is more uniformly
distributed this year indicating hiring across all levels (i.e. companies
growing out teams as well as leadership for Customer Success).
Compensation structure
A large majority (almost 75%) of Customer Success professionals
receive variable compensation in addition to a base salary. Bonuses
are almost five times as common as commissions.
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – SALARY SURVEY
Compensation by Title
Median compensation ranges are as follows:
• $150-175K for VP of Customer Success
• $125-150K for Director of Customer Success
• $75-100K for Customer Success Manager

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
Reporting Structure
More than one-third of Customer Success teams report directly to the
CEO, a significant increase from 15% last year. Being part of a larger
Services/Support organization is the next most common structure.
Goals and Challenges
Product adoption and churn reduction are top goals for Customer Success
teams. Upsells still remains a lower priority. Operational issues are now a
bigger challenge for Customer Success teams compared to organizational
obstacles such as executive buy-in and definition of role.
Customer Success Maturity
Data continues to show that Customer Success as a profession is still
in its early days.
- 75% of companies have had Customer Success for 0-3 years
- 60% of professionals have been in Customer Success for 0-3 years
- 95% of professionals have previously worked in other roles
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – STATE OF THE PROFESSION

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
16%
35%36%
2%
11%
CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER / VP OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS
DIRECTOR OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS
CUSTOMER SUCCESS MANAGER
CUSTOMER SUCCESS ENGINEER
OTHER ROLES *
* Includes CEO, COO, Sales, Support, Operations
34%
34%
32%
0-5 TEAM MEMBERS
6-25 TEAM MEMBERS
>25 TEAM MEMBERS
BY SIZE OF CUSTOMER
SUCCESS TEAM
BY JOB TITLE
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MEET THE SURVEY PARTICIPANTS

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
CUSTOMER SUCCESS SALARY
SURVEY RESULTS

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
26%
54%
11%
9%
Of the survey participants, 26% earn only a base salary. A majority receive other incentives, with bonuses
being the most common form of variable compensation (earned by over 60% of all survey participants).
Commissions are less common for Customer Success teams with only 20% earning commissions based on
meeting revenue goals.
BASE SALARY ONLY
BASE SALARY + BONUS
BASE SALARY + COMMISSON
BASE SALARY + BONUS + COMMISSON
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COMPENSATION STRUCTURE

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
Customer Success teams earn bonuses based on a wide range of criteria. Overall team and company
performance is the primary driver of bonuses followed by attainment of renewal and upsell goals. For a
smaller percentage of customer success professionals, bonuses also depend on MBOs such as
onboarding, training, and case studies.
57%
23%
14%
10%
6%
4%
9%
TEAM/COMPANY PERFORMANCE
RENEWALS GOAL
UPSELL GOAL
NET PROMOTER SCORE (NPS)
ONBOARDING/TRAINING
CASE STUDIES
OTHER
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BONUS COMPONENTS

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
20%
23%
57%
COMMISSION ON RENEWALS
COMMISSION ON UPSELLS
COMMISSION ON RENEWALS + UPSELLS
For a majority of Customer Success professionals who earn commissions, both renewals and upsells
are part of the commission structure.
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COMMISSION COMPONENTS

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
7%
17%
13%
19%
20%
13%
11%
Note: Compensation figures include variable compensation (bonus and/or commissions)
$0 - 50K
$50K - 75K
$75K - 100K
$100K - 125K
$125K – 150K
$150K – 175K
$175K+
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ANNUAL COMPENSATION DISTRIBUTION

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
$0-50K $50K-75K $75K-100K $100K-125K $125K-150K $150K-175K $175K+
2015
2014
Compared to last year’s salary data, where there was higher concentration in certain tiers,
compensation is more uniformly distributed this year indicating hiring across all levels (i.e. companies
growing out teams as well as leadership for Customer Success).
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ANNUAL COMPENSATION DISTRIBUTION:
YEAR-OVER-YEAR COMPARISON

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
CCO/VP:
DIRECTOR:
MANAGER:
$150K – 175K
$75K – 100K
$125K – 150K
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MEDIAN ANNUAL COMPENSATION:
BY JOB TITLE

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
2% 2% 2%
8% 7%
45%
34%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
CUSTOMER SUCCESS
MANAGER
DIRECTOR OF
CUSTOMER SUCCESS
CHIEF CUSTOMER OFFICER /
VP OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS
2% 3%
8%
29%
40%
10% 9%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
9%
33%
26%
16%
11%
3% 2%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
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ANNUAL COMPENSATION DISTRIBUTION:
BY JOB TITLE

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
MANAGER
DIRECTOR
CCO/VP
2014
2015
$159,168
$180,427
$135,062
$94,864
$133,606
$86,570
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AVERAGE ANNUAL COMPENSATION BY JOB TITLE:
YEAR-OVER-YEAR COMPARISON

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
STATE OF THE CUSTOMER SUCCESS
PROFESSION

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
34%
28%
15%
11%
3%
8%
REPORTS
DIRECTLY TO CEO
PART OF SERVICES/
SUPPORT
ORGANIZATION
PART OF COO
ORGANIZATION
PART OF SALES PART OF MARKETING OTHER
More than one-third of Customer Success teams are now a standalone function reporting directly to the
CEO, a significant increase from last year when this figure was only 15%. The next most common structure
has the Customer Success team being part of a larger post-sales Services/Support organization.
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WHERE DOES CUSTOMER SUCCESS RESIDE IN
YOUR COMPANY?

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
27%
50%
23%
<1 YEAR
1-3 YEARS
3 YEARS+
Of all the respondents, more than 75% of the companies have had Customer Success teams for 3
years or less, and more than 60% of professionals have been in Customer Success roles for 3 years
or less, an indication that Customer Success as a profession is still in its early days.
15%
46%
39%
HOW MANY YEARS HAVE YOU BEEN
IN CUSTOMER SUCCESS?
HOW LONG HAS YOUR COMPANY
HAD A CUSTOMER SUCCESS TEAM?
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CUSTOMER SUCCESS MATURITY

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
20%
24%
23%
5%
8%
2% 1%
8%
9% ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT
SUPPORT/SERVICES
SALES
CUSTOMER SUCCESS
MARKETING
PRODUCT/ENGINEERING
FINANCE
CONSULTING
OTHER
95% of the respondents have come to Customer Success from other fields and backgrounds,
reinforcing that Customer Success as a profession is very young. Only 5% of the respondents view
their background as being in Customer Success.
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WHAT WAS YOUR PREVIOUS BACKGROUND?

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
12%
13%
38%
14%
23%
NO GROWTH 1-25%
26-50% 51-100%
100%+
Customer Success teams are growing rapidly. Three-fourths have expanded staffing by more than 25%, with
approximately one-third of these having more than doubled in the last year. At the same time, turnover
numbers indicate a fair degree of employee churn and movement as companies expand their teams and look
for people with prior Customer Success experience in this emerging profession.
34%
22%
37%
5%
2%
NO TURNOVER 1-10%
11-25% 26-50%
51%
HOW MUCH HAS YOUR TEAM GROWN
IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS
HOW MUCH TURNOVER HAS YOUR
TEAM SEEN IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS
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CUSTOMER SUCCESS TEAM GROWTH AND TURNOVER

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
TOP GOALS OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS TEAMS
57% Product Adoption
55% Churn Reduction
47% Onboarding
42% Customer Advocacy
39% Customer Support
20% Upsell
See next page for the relative priority of each goal for Customer Success teams.
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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
57%
55%
47%
42%
39%
20%
18%
30%
35%
41%
27%
37%
15%
13%
15%
16%
29%
36%
10%
2%
4%
2%
5%
7%
PRODUCT ADOPTION
CHURN REDUCTION
ONBOARDING
CUSTOMER ADVOCACY
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
UPSELLS
HIGH MEDIUM LOW NOT A PRIORITY
Product adoption and churn reduction are top goals for Customer Success teams. Upsells still remains a
lower priority compared to churn reduction.
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TOP GOALS OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS TEAMS

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
30%
27%
23%
22%
18%
10%
47%
32%
38%
36%
29%
36%
21%
34%
37%
38%
32%
38%
2%
7%
2%
4%
21%
17%
REACTIVE APPROACH TO
CUSTOMERS
TIME MANAGEMENT AND FOCUS
VISIBILITY INTO CUSTOMERS
SCALING THE TEAM
CLARITY OF ROLE AND GOALS
EXECUTIVE SUPPORT
HIGH MEDIUM LOW NOT A CHALLENGE
Operational issues including a reactive approach to customers, time management and focus, and
scaling the team are bigger challenges for Customer Success today compared to broader
organizational obstacles such as executive buy-in and definition of team role.
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CHALLENGES OF CUSTOMER SUCCESS TEAMS

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
22%
25%
29%
41%
50%
74%
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
CUSTOMER SUCCESS PLATFORM
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
EMAIL AUTOMATION
HELPDESK
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM)
CRM followed by helpdesk remain the systems most widely used by Customer Success teams. Only
25% are using a Customer Success platform.
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SYSTEMS USED BY CUSTOMER SUCCESS TEAMS

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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |
ABOUT TOTANGO
Totango is the leader in customer success
management. We help businesses take a data-driven
approach to reducing churn, driving customer adoption
and advocacy, and maximizing lifetime revenue.
Totango monitors customer behavior – along with data
from CRM, billing, and other enterprise systems – to
generate insights on customer health and engagement.
The company's platform combines big data analytics
with powerful segmentation and predictive tools to help
companies pinpoint customers who need attention, spot
opportunities for upsell, and then manage the
touchpoints with customers to drive productivity and
scale for customer success teams.
You can find more customer success resources at:
www.totango.com/resources
info@totango.com
1-800-634-1990
www.totango.com
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2015 Customer Success Salary Survey & State of the Profession Report |