A Common Career Advice You Should Ignore (#17)

CSMs - Ignore your bosses. "Public Speaking" is overrated. Here's what high performers focus on instead

Hey friend. This is NLCS. The tactical newsletter that will transform you into an influential leader with your customers, and colleagues in as little as five minutes a week.

What's the most overrated career advice that seems to be universally accepted?

I'll go ✋

"Become a great public speaker."

Here’s what I got for you today:
- A common career advice CSMs should ignore, and what high performers focus on instead.

What I’m learning:

When I worked at LinkedIn a few years ago, I never had to stand on a stage and give Ted talks to my coworkers.

How often do you act like Dwight during a meeting? You probably don't have to give a Ted talk during your meetings, either.

In TV shows and movies we love, the main character stops the crowd and gives an impassioned speech

But reality isn't like this picture at all…

Here’s what the top performers focus on instead:

All the top customer facing professionals, and CSMs around me at LinkedIn were insanely good at day-to-day conversations. Their emails were short. Their instant messages were punchy. Their recommendations during a meeting were to the point.

While most coworkers saw emails and meetings as just another "interaction," these coworkers understood that it was the moments in meetings, small one-time messages, and other "interactions" that mattered the most.

These top performers taught me that your reputation is built through the small conversations you have on Zoom calls every day.

And initially, like everyone else after learning the power of effective communication, I went on YouTube, attended workshops, and attended a few Toastmasters events to improve my communication skills even more, only to come to the same conclusion:

They all suck.

Writing my newsletter and talking with my subscribers has shown me that there is a significant need for an online community of customer service professionals where we can practice finding and using the right words with our customers.

And over the next few weeks, I'm making a modern version of Toastmasters for CSMs to do exactly this.

In just 21 days, this digital online community for client-facing professionals will transform you into an unstoppable communicator with your clients and colleagues.

Whether your goal is to increase sales, win over customers, motivate employees, or get that raise you worked so hard for, if you can say what you believe in a way that compels people to trust and listen to you, it can have a significant impact on your life.

It will be a place to level-up your communication efforts without needing to leave your house, or learn cringe worthy tactics. A safe online community where you can engage in role-playing practice sessions with others without the pressure of performing in front of an important client.

More details to come as I’m still finalizing the details, but here’s what we’ll work on within this modern Toastmasters communication community for CSMs:

✅ Pitching your story, and your product brand without stumbling and fumbling

Ever been on an meeting where the customers asks what you do out of nowhere? Or is asking for a short succinct recap? We've all been there.

✅ Frameworks to use when communicating your recommendations to influence customers

You can move around buttons on Salesforce and organized your book of business all you want but it's your ability to persuade customers to act on what you suggested that will drive results

✅ How to write amazing emails, and craft killer meetings

If a tree falls down in a forest, nobody hears it. Same for your emails, and meetings when you have no structure.

---

Actors and athletes do a lot of work to get ready for their big, million-dollar moments.

So why do we, as business professionals who manage customers worth millions of dollars, never practice our communication skills that have the potential to change our life?

If you work with customers and are tired of feeling like a punching bag and want your customers to see you as the leader you are, here's what you can do:

1) Contact a high-performing member of your team and listen to their calls. Request that they walk you through specific emails they've sent to clients and explain "why" they said what they did.

2) Respond to this email if you are interested in collaborating with me on what I should include in this modern Toastmasters for CSMs. I am looking for ambassadors.

My goal is that you’ll join our group of CS professionals from companies such as Microsoft who are learning how to communicate effectively with their clients 🤙

That’s a wrap up for this week -

If you know any Customer Success professionals who could benefit from this level of transparency, I would love to bring them into our small circle of people who care about Customer Success. Please feel free to forward this article and others from the NLCS (New Laws of Customer Success) universe to grow our tight-knit community one person at a time.

Sending you great vibes