Customer Success Career Coach, Career Tips and Proven Job Interview Strategies For Every Customer Success Manager

We analyzed 1,474 CSM conversations to uncover why they are leaving and what keeps them in 2026. Grab the Talent Report here: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/report
What if I told you that 85% of CSM turnover is completely preventable — and most leaders are missing the real reason their top performers are walking out the door?
In this episode, I break down insights from 1,474 Customer Success professionals who told us exactly why they’re job hunting. And spoiler alert, it’s not layoffs, pay, or return-to-office mandates. I reveal the surprising truth about what CSMs want most in their next role, and how even your most loyal team members start considering exits.
I’ll also unpack the three types of CSMs who leave for growth, the invisible ceiling stopping your best people, and the #1 leadership blind spot you can correct to transform retention overnight. This is part one of a two-part series, and today we’re starting with the data leaders need to see.
By the end of this episode, you’ll finally understand what’s normal, what’s fixable, and where your blind spots might be, whether you manage a CS team or you’re a CSM quietly feeling stuck. Want to know how to turn your team into unstoppable, loyal top-performers? Hit play and let’s dive in.
4:04 – Why Most CSM Turnover Is Preventable
5:57 – What “Growth” Actually Means for CSMs
8:20 – Three Types of CSMs Who Leave for Growth
13:03 – Why Impact Really Matters
15:43 – Next Steps for CS Leaders & CSMs: Action Plans Are Coming in Part Two
🛎️ FREEBIES & RESOURCES:
Download the Talent Report: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/report
Actively looking for a job in Customer Success or plan to in the near future? Apply for 1:1 Coaching with me HERE
Optimize your resume for Customer Success jobs to land consistent interviews with my FREE Training: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/resume
Learn how to sell yourself as the best candidate & walk into your next Customer Success job interview with confidence with my FREE Training: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/sellyourself
Learn how to Master Behavioral Interviews with my FREE Training: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/behavioral

♥️ CONNECT WITH ME:
Let's be LinkedIn friends: www.linkedin.com/in/carly-agar/
Got any questions? Send me an email at [email protected]

➡️ HEAD TO THE SHOW NOTES:

That line on your resume that makes your stomach drop in interviews isn’t the problem. The way you’re talking about it is. In this episode, I’m breaking down exactly why career gaps and layoffs quietly derail otherwise strong candidates and how most people accidentally confirm an interviewer’s worst fears without realizing it.
I walk you through what hiring managers are actually thinking when they see a gap on your resume and the two mistakes that cost candidates job offers every single day. I also share the simple three-part formula I use with clients to turn layoffs and career gaps into one of the most confident moments of the interview. No over-explaining. No defensiveness. No awkward justifications. Just a clear, calm story that reassures the interviewer and shifts the conversation back to your value.
By the end of this episode, you’ll know how to talk about layoffs without spiraling or apologizing for your existence, and you’ll finally feel in control of a question that used to throw you off your game. If you’ve been dreading this part of the interview or replaying your answer in your head after every call, this one might change everything. Hit play and I’ll walk you through exactly what to say and why it works.
1:16 – Why Career Gaps Aren’t Automatically Dealbreakers for Hiring Managers
2:52 – The Three Hidden Fears Recruiters Have About Resume Gaps (and How to Disarm Them)
6:06 – The Most Common Mistakes People Make When Discussing Layoffs in Interviews
8:17 – The Simple 3-Step Formula That Turns Your Career Gap Into an Interview Strength
13:09 – How to Pivot from Explaining Your Gap to Proving You’re Perfect for the Role
16:17 – Why Owning Your Story (Not Over-Explaining) Makes You Instantly More Attractive to Employers
🛎️ FREEBIES & RESOURCES:
Actively looking for a job in Customer Success or plan to in the near future? Apply for 1:1 Coaching with me HERE
Optimize your resume for Customer Success jobs to land consistent interviews with my FREE Training: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/resume
Learn how to sell yourself as the best candidate & walk into your next Customer Success job interview with confidence with my FREE Training: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/sellyourself
Learn how to MASTER Behavioral Interviews with my FREE Training: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/behavioral

♥️ CONNECT WITH ME:
Let's be LinkedIn friends: www.linkedin.com/in/carly-agar/
Got any questions? Send me an email at [email protected]

➡️ HEAD TO THE SHOW NOTES: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/episode103
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What if the only thing standing between you and your next career breakthrough is a lesson you haven’t learned yet? In this milestone episode, I’m reflecting on 100 plus episodes of podcasting and the unexpected career lessons that came with it. This isn’t a highlight reel or a victory lap. It’s the real mindset shifts that changed how I approach hard things, fear, and consistency in my career and with my clients.
I walk you through three lessons that apply just as much to your job search or next promotion as they did to building this podcast. We talk about why your future identity deserves a vote, how fear is often a green light instead of a stop sign, and why big goals sound impressive but realistic ones are what actually move the needle. Each lesson is grounded in real experiences and practical takeaways you can start using immediately without overhauling your entire strategy.
By the end of this episode, you’ll feel clearer, calmer, and more confident about the next move you’ve been avoiding or overthinking. If you’ve been stuck in your head, burning out, or waiting to feel ready, this conversation might be the shift you didn’t know you needed. The real question is which of these lessons are you finally going to act on.
2:20 – Why Your “Future Self” Should Have a Say in Your Career Decisions
3:56 – How Acting Like the Confident Version of You Can Transform Your Interviews
7:19 – Why Fear Means You’re Heading in the Right Direction—Not the Wrong One
8:18 – The Surprising Reason Fear is a Signal You’re on the Right Path
14:22 – Why Tiny, Realistic Goals Beat Unsustainable Large Ones for Consistency
17:06 – How Consistency (Not Overwhelm) Helps You Get Hired and Promoted
🛎️ FREEBIES & RESOURCES:
Actively looking for a job in Customer Success or plan to in the near future? Apply for 1:1 Coaching with me HERE
Optimize your resume for Customer Success jobs to land consistent interviews with my FREE Training: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/resume
Learn how to sell yourself as the best candidate & walk into your next Customer Success job interview with confidence with my FREE Training: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/sellyourself
Learn how to MASTER Behavioral Interviews with my FREE Training: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/behavioral

♥️ CONNECT WITH ME:
Let's be LinkedIn friends: www.linkedin.com/in/carly-agar/
Got any questions? Send me an email at [email protected]

➡️ HEAD TO THE SHOW NOTES: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/episode102
🌟 FOLLOW & REVIEW:
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If you have ever walked out of an interview thinking I nailed that and still did not move forward, this episode is your wake up call. Today, I’m breaking down one of the most common reasons qualified CSMs struggle to land offers even when they prepare and practice. Most candidates prep for every interview the exact same way, and it quietly works against them. Recruiters, hiring managers, and cross-functional partners may ask similar questions, but they are listening for very different signals.
In this episode, I walk you through a smarter, more strategic way to prepare based on who you are interviewing with so you can tailor your answers without sounding scripted or inauthentic.
By the end, you will know exactly how to shift your messaging so you come across confident, credible, and intentional in every round. If you are tired of guessing what interviewers want and ready to finally control the outcome, hit play and let’s dive in.
And if you want to discover the easiest and most effective way to prepare for your Customer Success interviews, watch my Free Training on how to Nail Your CS Interviews: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/nailinterviews
02:37 – Why Memorizing Interview Answers Backfires (and What to Do Instead)
8:13 – How to Prep Differently for Recruiters vs. Hiring Managers vs. Cross-Functional Teams
14:42 – The "Checklist" Approach Recruiters Really Use And How to Make It Work for You
21:23 – How to Show Hiring Managers You're the One Who’ll Help Them Hit Their Goals
27:00 – Ways to Stand Out in Cross-Functional Interviews by Addressing What Each Team Actually Cares About
10:44 – The Fastest Way to Level Up Your Interview Prep (Hint: It’s All About the Interviewer’s Perspective)
Other Episodes You’ll Love:
Episode 3: Falling short in interviews? ACE your next Customer Success job interview with these simple tips!

🛎️ FREEBIES & RESOURCES:
Actively looking for a job in Customer Success or plan to in the near future? Apply for 1:1 Coaching with me HERE
Optimize your resume for Customer Success jobs to land consistent interviews with my FREE Training: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/resume
Learn how to sell yourself as the best candidate & walk into your next Customer Success job interview with confidence with my FREE Training: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/sellyourself
Learn how to MASTER Behavioral Interviews with my FREE Training: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/behavioral

♥️ CONNECT WITH ME:
Let's be LinkedIn friends: www.linkedin.com/in/carly-agar/

What if the reason you feel stuck in your Customer Success career has nothing to do with your performance and everything to do with the path you’re blindly following?
On today’s episode, I’m unpacking the uncomfortable truth about traditional CS career paths and why doing “the next logical step” can quietly derail your growth, happiness, and earning potential. We’ll talk about why promotions that look good on paper can feel miserable in real life, how following the crowd leads to boring roles and regret, and the simple mindset shift that changes how you make career decisions inside Customer Success.
By the end of this episode, you’ll walk away with a completely new way to think about success in your Customer Success career, one that’s built around what you’re actually good at, what you enjoy, and where you want to end up, not what everyone else is doing. If you’ve ever felt pressure to go enterprise, become a CSM, or say yes just because it’s “the path,” this conversation will give you clarity, confidence, and permission to choose differently.
3:05 – Why Blindly Following a Career Path Can Lead to Burnout and Missed Potential
5:41 – How Peer Pressure (and ‘Default’ Decisions) Steer You Off-Course
8:33 – Why Enterprise CSM Isn't Automatically the Next Best Step
15:56 – The Power of Defining Your Own Success in Customer Success (and Knowing You Have Choices)
22:00 – How Tech Touch Customer Success Offers Rapid Growth and Thought Leadership Potential
28:12 – The One Interview Question That Reveals If a Future Manager Is There by Choice
🛎️ FREEBIES & RESOURCES:
Optimize your resume for Customer Success jobs to land consistent interviews with my FREE Training: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/resume
Learn how to sell yourself as the best candidate & walk into your next Customer Success job interview with confidence with my FREE Training: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/sellyourself
Learn how to MASTER Behavioral Interviews with my FREE Training: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/behavioral
Actively looking for a job in Customer Success or plan to in the near future? Apply for 1:1 Coaching with me HERE

♥️ CONNECT WITH ME:
Let's be LinkedIn friends: www.linkedin.com/in/carly-agar/
Got any questions? Send me an email at [email protected]

➡️ HEAD TO THE SHOW NOTES: https://customer-success-career.captivate.fm/episode100
🌟 FOLLOW & REVIEW:
Are you loving the podcast? I'd appreciate it if you could take a few seconds to do these two things:
hit the...