Thread regarding Teradata Corp. layoffs

What exactly are the roles of a CSM and a CXM ?

In our region, we have one CSM and one CXM. In theory, their responsibility should be to drive customer expansion and manage renewals. However, in practice, their weekly activities mainly consist of casual conversations with clients—grabbing coffee, bringing back customer feedback, and then attributing any issues to product or solution gaps. These are then handed off to SEs or data scientists to develop solutions or proposals. Their main follow-up action is simply scheduling the next customer visit and attending meetings, which they record as their weekly accomplishments.

What’s more concerning is that even for events like Innovation Day, they are unable to present independently and need to request support from SEs or data scientists to explain products or AI capabilities. They are also unable to conduct basic training sessions on their own. Their role seems limited to client engagement, collecting issues, and setting up the next meeting—while relying entirely on others for the actual work.

If the customer is dissatisfied, it's the product or solution that needs improvement. But when there are successful outcomes, they claim credit. They act like salespeople but aren’t required to commit to any numbers. Despite being "Customer Success Managers," they have very limited knowledge of our own products and solutions.

Is it the same with your CSMs or CXMs? What real value is this role supposed to deliver?

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Post ID: @OP+1jsctd5yc

5 replies (most recent on top)

Wow, these guys sound like the waste of oxygen and money the Marketing department is.

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Post ID: @ey+1jsctd5yc

They are just Brown Nosers protected by their legacy managers. They do not do anything.

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Post ID: @e1+1jsctd5yc

Having read the two essays, I say these fine individuals are doing just enough. OP, If you are asking how can they go over and above, please explain their incentive to do so? If you are implying they should do even less - I say let them eat cake. Either way when the pay stops, they will find productive and meaningful work to go above and beyond.
Innovation day, AI, teradata - fake work right there. Why wrong few individual who can play artificial sense of urgency to their benefit? If anything, they are providing work for other roles, as you mentioned.
Every role is a sales role. Some with quota, few without. Since SM and their buddies has no shame, why would these foot soldiers have any? If you are concerned about your own role, wake up now and work your prompt engineering skill.

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Post ID: @dk+1jsctd5yc

Sales team can’t have new logo; CX team can’t expand or sustain the customers; PS team can’t make an independent deal and product team didn’t have 3yrs roadmap….too many big problems here…

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Post ID: @ch+1jsctd5yc

Great question-- I asked AI and here is the response.. Hope it helps..

Your observations align with a common issue in organizations where the CSM (Customer Success Manager) and CXM (Customer Experience Manager) roles are poorly defined or inadequately executed. Here's a breakdown of what these roles should be doing versus what you're describing, along with an evaluation of their intended value.

  1. Core Responsibilities – What Should a Customer Success Manager (CSM) Be Doing?

Primary Objective: Ensure customers realize value from the product, leading to retention, expansion, and advocacy.

Expected Activities:

  • Own the customer lifecycle post-sale.
  • Develop success plans with clear KPIs tied to customer business goals.
  • Monitor product adoption and proactively mitigate churn risks.
  • Drive expansion via upsell/cross-sell in partnership with sales.
  • Conduct QBRs (Quarterly Business Reviews) with meaningful metrics.
  • Be a power user or at least deeply familiar with the product.

What is a Customer Experience Manager (CXM)?

Primary Objective: Optimize end-to-end customer interactions to drive satisfaction and loyalty.

Expected Activities:

  • Own customer journey mapping and pain point identification.
  • Work across functions to improve CX metrics (e.g., NPS, CSAT).
  • Identify and advocate for experience improvements.
  • Analyze voice of the customer (VOC) data to drive changes.
  • Enable a frictionless support experience across touchpoints.
  1. What You're Describing
  • Tactical, superficial engagement: Casual check-ins, event attendance, note-taking.
  • Dependency on others: Can't present independently, lack product knowledge.
  • No ownership of outcomes: Blame assigned to product teams; credit taken for success.
  • Lack of metrics: No pipeline accountability, no retention/expansion ownership.
  • Low value delivery: Functionally reduced to relationship management with minimal strategic contribution.
  1. The Real Value These Roles Should Deliver
  • Drive measurable outcomes: Increase in NRR (Net Revenue Retention), expansion revenue, and reduced churn.
  • Act as trusted advisors: Product fluency, strategic insight, and execution on customer goals.
  • Bridge customer-product gap: Feedback collection is useful only when turned into actionable insights and prioritized roadmaps.
  • Accelerate adoption: Proactively drive usage through training, success planning, and advocacy.
  1. Symptoms of Dysfunctional CSM/CXM Roles
  • Lack of KPIs or OKRs aligned to retention, adoption, or growth.
  • Role ambiguity—neither sales, support, nor product.
  • Over-reliance on SEs or data scientists for technical work or even basic enablement.
  • Operating in a reactive, concierge-style mode instead of being proactive and value-focused.
  • No revenue accountability—yet positioned as owners of the customer relationship.
  1. How High-Performing Orgs Handle This
  • CSMs have renewal and expansion targets (sometimes with variable compensation tied to them).
  • CSMs are product-proficient, capable of doing enablement, demos, and onboarding.
  • CXMs are data-driven, aligned to journey improvements and customer advocacy programs.
  • Regular executive reviews where CSMs present business impact, adoption trends, and expansion opportunities.
  • SEs and data scientists support specialized needs—not carry the relationship.
  1. Recommendations If You're Leading or Influencing This
  • Redefine the role expectations: Shift from relationship managers to outcome owners.
  • Set measurable KPIs: NRR, adoption %, time-to-value, expansion $, CSAT/NPS impact.
  • Require product proficiency: Make enablement and certifications mandatory.
  • Limit reliance on technical teams: Create playbooks and training to build CSM/CXM self-sufficiency.
  • Tie compensation to performance: No skin in the game → no real accountability.

Summary
You're describing a low-accountability model where CSMs/CXMs function more as event planners and not strategic partners. The actual value these roles should bring is measurable customer growth, retention, and satisfaction, backed by deep product understanding and proactive execution. Without this, they’re just expensive middlemen.

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Post ID: @ba+1jsctd5yc

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