Too many companies talk a big game on "Scaling Customer Success".

 

But when you look under the hood... They're still throwing more people at the problem because they don't have the tools or the data to truly scale.

 

But adding more people is not scaling.

 

Real scale comes from infrastructure and leverage.

You need to remove manual work, bring the data that gives CS teams deep insights and implement the tooling that lets your team spend more time delivering value, and less time chasing it.

 

And who is responsible for building all of that?

Customer Success Operations.

 

And yet, CS Ops remains one of the most overlooked and underfunded areas in Customer Success. How is that possible?

 

What Happens Without CS Ops

 

You’d be surprised how many companies still see CS Ops as optional (I feel like I talk to at least one every week). They have a little bit of budget, but instead of giving to CS Ops, they hire one more CSM to make things easier.

 

So CS Ops is a “nice-to-have” they’ll get to once things calm down.

But guess what? Things never slow down.

 

And before you know it, the fire-fighting has taken over.

 

CSMs are stuck copying data between platforms, or writing EBR decks from scratch every month, and no one knows if what they’re doing is actually moving the needle.

 

Without CS Ops:

• You hire more CSMs to compensate for inefficiency

• You increase costs, not impact

• You collect data you can’t access or trust

• You chase shiny tools without a foundation to support them

The lack of infrastructure means that your team compensates with brute force.

 

And when AI enters the chat?

Forget it.

 

You'll talk about AI, but you won’t be able to implement it in any meaningful way, because your systems are fragmented, your data is unreliable, and your team is too busy just trying to keep their heads above water.

 

That's why only 3% of CS teams moved from piloting AI to implementing.

 

If that sounds familiar... I just got an early peak into Matik's Latest E-Book on How to Build an Operations Strategy for Customer Success and found it to be a really awesome resource for teams who are starting in this journey.

 

Building Your CS Ops Team

 

Too often, even when companies make the investment, they hire someone junior, hand them a bunch of requests, and expect them to "do ops".

 

But real CS Ops isn’t a ticket system.
It’s a strategic function.

 

The ones who build the engine, design programs that actually scale, and translate strategy into systems. They do things like:

• Proactive health scoring
• Customer value tracking
• Automated Executive Business Reviews
• Success Plans that actually get integrated 

They’re the reason good strategies don’t die in slide decks.

 

At HubSpot, we call this function “CS Strategy & Operations.” Because that’s exactly what they do, build strategy into the operating model (oh and we're hiring).

 

When I was at Lufthansa, our RevOps team had dedicated post-sale strategy and operations that span intelligence, enablement, and tooling.

 

In both companies, the partnership between the business and operations changed everything. It aligned the entire post-sale motion and turned good ideas into real programs.

 

Still on the fence?

 

Watch this webinar on How Ops Teams are Supercharging Customer Success.

 

If You’re Thinking About AI, Think About Ops First

 

Many businesses are unable to harness the power of AI because their systems are siloed, their data is a mess, and they have no understanding of customer goals.

 

They're stuck in level 1 AI maturity (if even).

 

So they can't leverage technologies that can help them scale.

And they will be left behind.

 

There's a lot that we don't know about the future.

 

But one thing is clear to me: The future of CS hinges on the smart integration of data, technology, and content.

 

A great example of this is when a great EBR is automated.

 

- Data comes from product usage and value insights

- Feeds a took like Matik

- And GenAI can work on killer content to target customer's specific needs

 

But to unlock these use cases, you'll need a CS Ops function.

 

Without addressing operational challenges at the foundation, you won’t be able to deploy AI (or any scaling strategy) effectively. You'll only get stuck, unable to innovate or scale

 

So... if you haven’t yet invested in CS Ops, the clock is ticking.

 

The Future Needs CS Ops

 

Neglect CS Operations early on, and you’ll scale chaos, not success.

 

It's time to stop reaching for the same broken fix: hire more CSMs.

 

It feels safe. It buys time. But it doesn’t solve the real problem, and it definitely doesn’t scale. So if you're serious about scale, build the CS Ops your team needs.

 

Because the companies that win in the age of AI?

 

They definitely won’t have the biggest teams. 

They’ll have the best systems.

 

Ready to make a change? Go check out Matik's webinar on How Ops Teams are Supercharging Customer Success.

Daphne Costa Lopes

Linkedin

Follow my Everest Base Camp Trek next week! 

 

If you're ready for more, there are 3 ways I can help you:

 

• The CSM Skills and Drills Guide: This simple guide has helped over 300 CSMs develop the skills to ace retention and growth targets. You'll find 8 core CSM skills with tools and frameworks to support them and 24 exercises to help you and your team develop these skills.  

• The 2025 CS Trends Report: With over 450 participants across companies of every size, this free report shines a light on what are the top challenges and opportunities for Customer Success for next year.

• Book a 1:1 Consultation: Sometimes content isn't enough. You need to talk through the nuances of the challenges to devise a good strategy. Get 1:1 access to Daphne’s 10+ years of experience building and scaling Customer Success teams starting at €300.