Change in Customer Success isn’t just about adopting new processes—it’s about aligning behaviors with business outcomes. This involves intentional planning, clear communication, and crafting systems that motivate people to adopt change. The challenge for CS leaders? Getting people to embrace the change you need for your organization to grow.
And to do that, you need to answer: What’s in it for them?
Motivating Change Through Recognition & Compensation
As one participant pointed out, “everyone is coin-operated.” People are motivated by two main factors: recognition and money. Customer success leaders need to align compensation plans with what employees can control—rewarding the behaviors that drive outcomes, such as retention, onboarding success, and product upsells.
Align incentives with control: Compensation should reflect tasks the team can directly influence. For example, one CSM was incentivized with 20% of the ARR saved from cancellations—motivating them to achieve a 40-60% save rate.
Reward desired behaviors: Small incentives—whether competitions or rewards like merchandise—can encourage team members to adopt new behaviors, such as logging activities or improving handoffs.
Takeaway: People will support change when they see how it benefits them personally and professionally.
Start Small, Build Success
Launching a change initiative can be overwhelming, so the group emphasized starting small and scaling gradually. This aligns with the idea of “scaffolded adoption,” where leaders focus on success within a small group of early adopters before rolling out changes more broadly.
Tiger team strategy: Begin with a small, flexible team. These early adopters not only validate the new process but also evangelize its success to others.
Scaffold your rollout: Roll out the change in phases—focusing on 30/60/90-day goals or smaller milestones to build momentum.
Takeaway: Success breeds success. By starting with a focused rollout, you can build a track record that convinces the broader team to follow suit.
Intentional Communication & C-Suite Buy-In
Change doesn’t happen in isolation—it requires alignment across departments and buy-in from leadership. Leaders need to clearly communicate the purpose of change and how it aligns with business objectives.
'What’s in It for me' campaign: This strategy focuses on "selling the change" to internal teams, communicating the benefits in clear terms with each department.
C-suite support is key: Leadership must set expectations and provide open forums—like office hours—to address questions and ensure alignment.
Cross-department collaboration: Leverage tools like Planhat to bridge the gap between departments, helping sales, marketing, and customer success teams stay aligned.
Takeaway: Clear communication and leadership alignment create the foundation for smooth change management. Leaders must demonstrate how the change helps everyone succeed, not just the company.
Use Strengths to Drive Adoption
The Role of KPIs & Gamification in Change Management
Final Thoughts
Change Is a Leadership Responsibility
Our discussion highlighted that successful change doesn’t happen by accident. Leaders must take an intentional approach, creating systems, incentives, and structures that align with business goals and team motivations. As one participant put it, “Things don’t happen by chance; they happen because you make sure they happen.”
VP Customer Success, Americas
Planhat
Malin brings over 15 years of experience scaling SaaS businesses across global markets. Before joining Planhat, she spent nearly a decade at Meltwater, where she rose to Vice President overseeing a $50M+ ARR portfolio and a 100+ person team across six countries—playing a key role in both the company’s growth to $400M+, and its subsequent IPO. With deep expertise in both sales and post-sales, Malin blends sharp commercial instincts with no-nonsense leadership, consistently building high-performing teams through every stage of scale.
