Account Manager vs. Customer Success Manager: What’s the Real Difference?

Ever wondered why some companies have both Account Managers and Customer Success Managers? These roles may seem similar, but their responsibilities are quite different. While Account Managers focus on driving revenue growth, Customer Success Managers ensure clients stay happy and engaged.

Here’s a stat for you: A 5% increase in customer retention can boost profits by 25%–95% (Harvard Business Review). That’s why businesses need both roles working together.

So, which one does your company need? Let’s break it down and help you decide.

Who is the Account Manager?

An Account Manager is the main contact for existing customers. Their job is to build long-term relationships, ensure customer satisfaction, and help businesses grow.

They work closely with sales teams to drive account growth through cross-sell and contract renewals. They also handle customer retention by maintaining customer relationships and providing ongoing support.

Think of them as relationship builders who focus on customer success and account management. Their goal? To retain customers, boost account revenue, and keep clients happy.

Who is a Customer Success Manager?

A Customer Success Manager (CSM) helps existing customers get the most out of a product or service. Their job is to ensure customer satisfaction, reduce churn, and increase customer lifetime value. Customer success management plays a crucial role in ensuring that businesses meet client expectations and improve customer experience.

They guide customer onboarding, track customer success metrics, and provide ongoing support. They also work with account managers to improve customer retention and drive account growth.

A great CSM focuses on the customer journey, meets client requirements, and helps businesses retain customers. Their goal? To make sure customers achieve success and stay loyal for the long term.

Defining the Roles: Account Managers vs. Customer Success Managers

Key Responsibilities: How Each Role Contributes to Business Growth

Account Managers and Customer Success Managers both play a big role in helping businesses grow. But their day-to-day responsibilities are different.

Let’s look at what each of them do to help a business succeed.

Responsibilities of Account Managers

1. Drive revenue growth

An Account Manager helps the company make more money by expanding business with existing customers. They identify cross-sell opportunities, handle contract renewals, and find ways to increase account revenue.

How to:

• Work closely with the sales team to bring in new customers.
• Offer cross-sell products that match client requirements.
• Manage customer accounts to retain customers and grow revenue.

2. Maintain strong relationships

Account Managers build long-term relationships with existing clients. They ensure customer loyalty and a positive customer experience.

How to:

• Regularly check in with customers and offer ongoing support.
• Make sure customers understand the company’s products and how to use them.
• Focus on relationship building to keep customers happy and engaged.

3. Act as problem solvers

Account Managers help customers when things go wrong. They listen to customer concerns, provide solutions, and ensure customer success.

How to:

• Understand customer data to spot potential issues.
• Offer ongoing support and ensure customers reach their business goals.
• Work with customer success teams to solve problems fast.

4. Strategically position the company’s offerings

Account Managers ensure that customers understand how a company’s products solve their problems. They explain why their solution is better than competitors. Their goal is to drive cross sales, increase customer satisfaction, and boost long-term relationships.

How to:

• Identify customer needs and match them with the right solutions.
• Highlight the unique benefits of the company’s products.
• Educate existing clients on how to get maximum value from their purchase.

5. Collaborate with sales teams

Account Managers work with the sales team to drive revenue growth. They help bring in new customers, manage ongoing support, and find cross-sell opportunities.

How to:

• Share customer data with the sales team to target the right audience.
• Work together to ensure a smooth customer onboarding process.
• Use customer success metrics to measure client engagement.

Responsibilities of Customer Success Managers

1. Ensure customers use the product effectively

Customer success focuses on understanding customer needs, tracking customer success metrics, and providing proactive solutions to improve retention.

A Customer Success Manager helps customers understand and use the product. They make sure clients see value in their purchase and don’t feel lost after signing up.

How to:

• Guide customers through customer onboarding to get them started.
• Provide ongoing support to help customers meet their goals.
• Track customer success metrics to measure how well clients are using the product.

2. Reduce churn

Customer churn happens when customers stop using a product. A CSM’s job is to retain customers by making sure they are happy and engaged.

How to:

• Identify unhappy customers through customer health metrics.
• Provide personalized support to solve their problems.
• Work with account managers to offer cross-sell and contract renewals.

3. Help clients scale their usage

A Customer Success Manager ensures that customers fully use the product and expand their engagement. They want clients to get the most value so they stay long-term and contribute to customer lifetime value.

How to:

• Identify customer needs and recommend new features that help them grow.
• Provide ongoing support and customer onboarding for smooth adoption.
• Work with account managers to offer cross-sell and upsell opportunities.

4. Gather customer insights

Customer data is key to understanding customer outcomes and improving customer experience. CSMs gather insights to improve retention and exceed expectations.

How to:

• Track customer success metrics to measure engagement.
• Collect feedback on the company’s products to improve services.
• Share customer insights with sales teams to refine marketing strategies.

5. Advocate for customers

A Customer Success Manager (CSM) ensures that customers get the best experience. They act as the customer’s voice, making sure the company listens to customer feedback and meets client requirements.

Their goal is to improve customer satisfaction, customer retention, and long-term relationships.

How to:

• Gather customer insights and share them with account managers and the sales team.
• Ensure the company focuses on customer success metrics to improve products.
• Offer ongoing support and resolve issues quickly.

How Sales Teams Work with Account Managers for New Customers

Sales teams and account managers work together to bring in new customers and grow the business. While sales reps focus on closing deals, account managers ensure that clients have a smooth customer onboarding experience.

Their teamwork helps build long-term relationships, drive revenue growth, and improve customer satisfaction.

Sales Teams Identify and Close Deals

Sales teams find potential new customers and convince them to buy the company’s products. They handle customer accounts until the contract is signed.

To do this effectively, they rely on customer data to understand client needs and highlight key customer success metrics to demonstrate the product’s value.

They also collaborate with marketing strategies to attract the right audience. Once a customer signs up, the account manager takes over to ensure a smooth transition.

Account Managers Ensure a Smooth Transition

Once a sale is made, the role of the account manager becomes crucial. They focus on customer retention by guiding clients through customer onboarding and helping them use the product effectively.

They also provide ongoing support to resolve issues quickly and collaborate with customer success teams to enhance the overall customer experience. A great account manager ensures customers don’t just buy the product but continue using it for the long term.

Aligning Goals for Long-Term Success

For a business to grow, sales teams and account managers must work as one. They align their goals by sharing customer insights, planning for account growth, and improving cross-sell opportunities.

Regular meetings help them track customer health, measure key customer success metrics, and strengthen relationship building to retain customers.

Why Customer Success Teams Offer Ongoing Support after the Initial Sale

The job of a Customer Success Team does not end when a deal is closed. In fact, their real work begins after the initial sale. Their goal is to keep existing customers happy, help them see value in the company’s products, and ensure long-term success.

A strong customer success team builds long-term relationships, increases customer retention, and drives account growth.

Helping Customers Use the Product Efficiently

Many customers struggle to use a product effectively after buying it. They may have questions or face technical challenges. Without proper guidance, they might stop using the product altogether.

Customer success teams play a crucial role in this stage by providing customer onboarding, offering ongoing support, and tracking customer success metrics to identify potential issues.

When customers receive the right help early on, businesses are more likely to retain customers and improve customer satisfaction.

Reducing Customer Churn

A business cannot grow if customers keep leaving. Churn happens when customers stop using a product due to dissatisfaction or lack of support.

The customer success team works to prevent churn by keeping clients engaged. They monitor customer health and proactively reach out before problems arise.

Regular check-ins help maintain a positive customer experience, ensuring customers continue to see value. Companies that provide ongoing support experience higher contract renewals and an increased lifetime value from each customer.

Identifying Upsell and Cross-Sell Opportunities

Happy customers are more likely to buy more. When a customer success team builds strong relationships, they can identify new opportunities for growth.

They introduce cross-sell products that fit the customer’s needs, suggest upgrades to increase account revenue, and collaborate with sales teams to align growth strategies. This not only helps increase revenue growth but also strengthens customer loyalty.

Turning Customers into Brand Advocates

Satisfied customers become brand advocates who promote the company and bring in new customers through referrals. A great customer success team builds trust and loyalty by exceeding expectations with personalized support.

They also collect customer data to improve future experiences and showcase success stories to encourage customer engagement.

How Can Account Management Teams and Customer Success Teams Work Together for Business Growth

A strong alignment between account management customer success ensures businesses retain customers while continuously increasing account revenue.

1. Shared Customer Intelligence

Both teams need customer data to make informed decisions. Account managers track customer account health, while customer success teams analyze customer success metrics to identify engagement patterns.

Sharing this information helps businesses understand customer lifetime value and uncover new cross-sell opportunities.

How to Implement it:

• Use a CRM system to store customer data and track interactions.
• Hold regular meetings to discuss customer relationships, feedback, and goals.
• Monitor customer health and take action when engagement drops.

2. Collaborative Success Plans

A collaborative success plan helps businesses align their goals with customer expectations. Account managers and customer success teams should work together to define clear strategies that improve customer retention and long-term relationships.

How to Build it:

• Identify client requirements and set clear customer outcomes.
• Offer ongoing support through customer onboarding and training.
• Create check-in schedules to track day-to-day responsibilities and exceed expectations.

3. Seamless Handoffs

A seamless handoff happens when the sales team brings in a new customer and smoothly transitions them to the customer success team. If this process is not handled well, customers may feel lost or frustrated.

How to Ensure it:

• Share important customer data – The sales team and account managers should document key details like customer expectations, pain points, and business goals in a CRM system. This helps the customer success team understand how to provide the best support.
• Introduce the customer success team early – Before closing the deal, the customer should meet their customer success manager. This builds trust and sets clear expectations for ongoing support.
• Follow a structured onboarding process – A well-planned customer onboarding program ensures customers know how to use the product effectively. This reduces churn and increases customer satisfaction.

4. Joint Business Reviews

A joint business review (JBR) is a scheduled meeting between a business and its existing clients to discuss progress, challenges, and future plans.

Account managers and customer success teams should conduct JBRs together to ensure customers stay engaged and continue to see value in their customer account.

How to Conduct it:

• Review customer goals and progress – Discuss how the customer is using the product and whether they are meeting their business objectives. Look at customer success metrics and key performance indicators.
• Identify growth opportunities – Use the review to explore potential cross-sell or upsell opportunities. If the customer is happy, introduce cross-sell products that could bring them more value.
• Address concerns and provide solutions – If a customer faces challenges, both account managers and customer success teams should work together to find solutions. This builds trust and strengthens long-term relationships.

5. Data-Driven Retention Efforts

These are strategies based on real numbers, not guesses. Businesses track customer data, such as customer satisfaction scores, usage trends, and customer success metrics to understand what keeps customers engaged.

How to Use it:

• Monitor customer health – Track how often a customer uses the product. If they stop, the customer success team should step in to offer ongoing support.
• Predict churn before it happens – If a customer is unhappy, data can reveal warning signs. Customer retention improves when businesses act early.
• Personalized solutions – Use customer insights to suggest cross-sell products or offer upgrades that fit their needs. This strengthens long-term relationships and account growth.

Conclusion

Both account managers and customer success teams play vital roles in business growth. Account managers focus on sales and revenue, while customer success managers ensure long-term customer satisfaction and retention. Working together, they create stronger relationships, drive revenue growth, and improve customer experience. Understanding their differences helps businesses maximize success. Want to build a better strategy? Start aligning these teams today!

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