This paper defines Customer Success Management (CSM) as an emerging evolution in customer-focused business practice that builds on CRM, customer experience, and engagement by proactively ensuring customers achieve value and shaping organizational design to support that success.

“Customer Success Management… forefronts the customer as the primary actor supported by the seller, rather than the seller acting upon the customer.”

It frames CSM not just as a new job title or role but as a distinct management approach that prioritizes customers’ outcomes and long-term value, prompting further research and experimentation in how firms structure strategies around customer success.