Success has become a vital function for SaaS companies, but building and leading an effective CS team comes with unique challenges.
We spoke with Stijn Smet, Head of CS at software development company Whale. Stijn has 8 years of experience in the field, and he shared his insights on hiring & motivating teams, leveraging AI, and more!
🔍 Hiring
Q: What qualities do you prioritize when hiring for your CS team?
A: I look for people who are like “Dora the Explorer” – willing to try new things, figure things out, and explore. You can’t say that you want to do CS if you’re not a people person! You need to be passionate about helping clients and interested in building relationships. I care less about the size of someone’s previous book of business and more about how they collaborated with internal teams. I want to know what your expansion strategies were. I want to know how you experiment at your firm. You need to live and breathe what CS is all about and have that hunger to always strive and try new stuff.
💪 Keeping the team motivated
Q: How do you maintain motivation and engagement with your team?
A: Give your team room to try things. It’s important to see yourself as on the same level as them, I’m not better than my team, not at all! They all bring unique strengths to the table. This collaborative mindset helps create a motivated, engaged team with room to grow. Don’t just delegate tasks you’re not comfortable with, get in the trenches with your team. I push myself to do things I’m not initially comfortable with, like revenue-focused activities, so I can guide my team through those challenges. Remember where you came from and give your team the same chances you got.
😎 Driving upsells
Q: What’s been effective for driving upsells without using hard sales tactics?
A: My team has developed a unique approach to upselling that feels natural and value-driven. I think the first thing that I investigated was, what is the value that our customers are getting right now?
We built a return on investment calculator based on product usage data. This tool shows customers their concrete savings and value, providing hard proof of the product’s impact. We’re not here to sell the dream. We’re here with proof, with hard value.
This data-driven approach opens the door for natural conversations about expansion opportunities – \we pair it with strong relationship-building and storytelling to make upsells feel like a logical next step rather than a hard sell.
🎯 Tailoring engagement
Q: How do you segment customers for tailored engagement?
A: Beyond traditional segmentation by plan or company size, we’ve found success with personality-based segmentation.
We match customers with CSMs who have complementary communication styles and personalities.
For example, one team member excels with “rational, straight to the point, no fluff” clients, while I tend to work well with Gen Z clients, or women over 40… people who are ambitious but aren’t afraid to show emotions.
This approach has led to better rapport, more productive meetings, and faster time-to-value. Our customers get to a greater health score and get into adoption quicker.
I believe that building a personal connection is crucial for retention in today's "Netflix generation" of SaaS buyers, where customers can easily switch to competitors. If you have a dedicated CSM that is really invested in your clients and driving that value, they will stick with you.
💕 Acting on feedback
Q: How do you gather and act on customer feedback?
We use UpdateAI whenever we’re in calls, and that’s doing an excellent job of capturing customer feedback.
I built a custom AI extension that allows us to easily process and categorize this feedback. I can easily copy-paste the feedback that is captured via UpdateAI into that extension. Then I fill in some other key metrics like ARR of the client, the size of the company, and the industry – and the feedback is analyzed and fed directly into our product development workflow. It lands directly into a spreadsheet that the Product team can use.
This streamlined process allows us to efficiently collect, analyze, and act on customer input. We can ensure that customer voices are getting heard and that that’s getting reflected in our product development.
📊 KPIs
Q: What key metrics do you track to measure CS success?
A: Health scores are important, but we don’t just focus on product usage. We also track an engagement score that looks at things like email interactions, support tickets, meeting frequency, and marketing email opens.
A customer can have great product usage but low engagement, which is a potential churn risk. In the past, I was often taken by surprise when a customer churned who had this super great health score – now, if we see a low engagement score, we investigate right away.
🌱Advice for new leaders
Q: Any advice for someone stepping into a CS leadership role for the first time?
A: Approach the role with humility. Remember that you’re essentially back to being a junior in this new role, so don’t get cocky with the new title. Find a great mentor who’s been in your shoes – you can find incredible mentors on LinkedIn. Communicate clearly with your managers to set expectations. Listen to your team; you’re still a team member, just with a different title now.
✨ Breaking the mold
Q: What’s an unconventional CS approach you believe in?
A: Authenticity is very important, so don’t lose your own voice. You’re perfect as you are! There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to being a great leader.
I’m not the textbook definition of a “great manager”, leaning more towards the emotional side than the rational side. And yet, we brought in more sales revenue than the sales department did this year.
Be yourself, have your own voice, and don’t be afraid to fall. That’s the only way we’ll move CS forward as an industry.
By embracing authenticity, experimenting, and focusing on genuine relationships, Stijn has developed a unique and effective approach to customer success leadership. His insights offer valuable food for thought for both new and experienced CS leaders looking to drive results.
