why your “catch-all” CSM is killing your scale

There are only three types of SaaS success managers I’ve seen.

In a world obsessed with scaling CS, leveraging AI, and proving value, the most fundamental step (defining what your CSMs actually do) is often overlooked. How can you scale a role that has no clear definition?

Most teams fall into one of these three archetypes:

1. The Commercial CSM

These are the Customer Success Account Managers. They’re fully responsible for account retention and proactively drive relationships. They don't just check in; they seek out new stakeholders and have the "juice" to engage with the Executive Buyer. This commercial engagement is what uncovers hidden blockers.

I saw an interesting interaction once where a CSM engaged a new executive in their account. In doing so, she uncovered a latent blocking issue that was keeping the customer from using more of her company’s product. If issues aren’t identified, we can’t resolve them. We identify issues when we proactively push for expansion and value, not just wait for check-in calls.

2. The Product Specialist CSM

Most CSMs fall into this category. They possess deep product knowledge, and the company makes them available in a white-glove way — via email, Slack, etc. When the customer asks a question, they answer. It’s a "pull" model, usually facilitated during a recurring call.

These folks provide valuable services by helping tailor the product to the customer’s environment. But they usually aren’t seeking out blockers proactively like the Commercial CSM. This model is often reactive and, if not managed carefully, can be viewed internally as a high-touch support function — a cost center.

3. The Catch-All CSM

Then there’s the "catch-all" CSM. The one who does a little bit of onboarding, some support, renewals, and maybe even cash collections. To be fair, this jack-of-all-trades is often warranted in early-stage companies.

But the catch-all CSM becomes a major liability as a company scales beyond $20MM in ARR. It doesn’t scale well long-term. Plus, it creates confusion for customers and leads to team burnout. And yet, I’ve seen companies attempt this model well into the 9-figure ARR range, wondering why their processes are broken.

Why This Matters Now (Especially for AI)

If you want to leverage AI to scale your customer success efforts, you must be clear about what your CSMs actually do.

You can't apply AI to the chaos of a "catch-all" role. You can’t train an AI to be strategic when your base process is just reactive. AI excels at augmenting a defined, focused role. It can help a Commercial CSM find more expansion signals or a Product Specialist answer questions faster, but it can't fix a broken, undefined function.

Which kind of CSMs do you have today? And do you need to reframe what you expect from the role?

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