Why Your CS Team Deserves the Same Investment as Sales

When was the last time your company truly invested in your Customer Success (CS) team? Not just a quick CRM update or a fluffy motivational talk—but real, high-impact training? In this episode of the Customer Success Pro Podcast, Anika Zubair breaks down the critical need for CS-specific SKO-style sessions and why CS professionals deserve more than a half-day workshop and a “be more customer-centric” pep talk.

While sales teams get high-energy kickoffs filled with practical playbooks, CS teams are often left to “keep customers happy” with little to no structure. But in 2025, renewals and expansions are revenue. And your Customer Success team? They’re the ones making those sales stick.

Let’s explore why investing in your CS team is a business necessity—not a nice-to-have.

Treat CS Like a Revenue Team, Not a Support Function

The first mistake many companies make is viewing Customer Success as a support arm rather than a strategic revenue function. As Anika explains, sales focuses on acquisition while CS focuses on adoption, outcomes, and long-term growth. Yet many companies lump CS into sales training or exclude them entirely from meaningful enablement.

This misstep leads to training that doesn’t resonate. Sales SKOs are designed for closing new business, not nurturing and growing existing accounts. When CS teams attend these sessions, they often leave feeling unseen and unsupported.

What works instead? Build a dedicated CS training experience. Teach your team how to drive outcomes, deliver ROI, and negotiate renewals with confidence. Tailor training to the post-sale journey—not the pre-sale pitch.

Build Commercial Confidence with Practical Frameworks

Another common pitfall? Avoiding commercial training for CSMs.

For years, Customer Success was about relationship building. But in today’s economy, your CSMs need more than just soft skills—they need commercial acumen. That means knowing how to speak to ROI, spot upsell opportunities, and navigate difficult renewal conversations.

And guess what? That kind of skill doesn’t come naturally to everyone. It must be taught.

Anika emphasizes that most CS teams don’t fail because of a lack of effort—they fail because they weren’t given the frameworks and confidence to act commercially. Salespeople are trained on negotiation, objection handling, and decision frameworks like MEDDIC. CSMs should be too.

The fix: Implement repeatable playbooks. Run training on commercial confidence. Don’t just tell CSMs to “drive value”—show them how.

Say Goodbye to Fluff and Hello to Real Skills

Too many CS trainings focus on motivation rather than implementation. You’ve seen it before—an engaging speaker who fires up the room, gets applause and selfies, and then… nothing changes.

Because inspiration alone doesn’t improve renewal rates.

Anika makes it clear: motivation fades. What CS professionals really need are tools, templates, and strategies they can apply right away. She outlines key training areas that actually move the needle:

• Turning check-in calls into value-driven conversations

• Showing ROI in every interaction—not just in QBRs

• Handling objections during renewals and upsells

• Building scalable, plug-and-play frameworks

• Multithreading accounts to avoid single-threaded risk

If you’re not training your CS team on these areas, you’re leaving money on the table.

Transform Your CS Team from Firefighters to Strategic Partners

This episode is packed with insights from Anika’s real-world experience training global teams at Atlassian, Microsoft, Flywire, Arbor Education, and more. Her hands-on workshops are designed to shift CS teams from reactive support into revenue-driving business partners.

Her most in-demand workshops include:

• Commercial CS Confidence: How to own the revenue conversation

• From Check-Ins to Value Calls: Making every call a business conversation

• Success at Scale: Scaling impact without burning out

• Account Mapping for CS: Multithreading and opportunity spotting

• ROI-Driven Success Plans: Showing value through structured plans

These aren’t feel-good sessions—they’re actionable, repeatable, and proven.

And when CS teams are equipped with the right tools? Renewals go up. Expansions become easier. And most importantly, your team’s confidence skyrockets.

Key Takeaways

• CS teams need SKO-style training: Not fluff, not CRM tips—real training that drives business outcomes.

• Don’t copy-paste sales training into CS: CS focuses on post-sale growth. It deserves its own strategy.

• Commercial acumen is critical: Without it, you’re limiting the impact your team can have on revenue.

• Templates and playbooks are essential: Stop reinventing the wheel. Build scalable systems.

• Train on multithreading and objection handling: One champion is not enough. And usage alone won’t secure a renewal.

If your CS team feels stuck in a cycle of check-ins and reactive firefighting, it’s time to give them the tools to think—and act—strategically.

Listen Now & Build a Team of Strategic CSMs, Not Firefighters

This episode is a must-listen for CS leaders looking to shift from reactive support to revenue-driving excellence.

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Book Anika for your next CS Team Workshop or Event: https://www.thecustomersuccesspro.com/team-event