While everyone else in Customer Success focuses on post-sales, I’m moving CS forward. Way forward. Into the sales cycle itself.

This goes against conventional wisdom. The traditional model is clean and linear: Sales closes the deal, then hands the customer to CS. Sales owns the revenue target; CS owns the retention and expansion target: clear ownership, clear handoffs, clear swimlanes.

But here’s what I keep seeing: by the time CS gets involved, we’ve already lost opportunities. We’ve sold the wrong solution. We’ve set incorrect expectations. We’ve missed the context that would have helped us deliver value faster. And then CS spends the first 90 days trying to recover from a sales process that promised things we can’t exceptionally provide the way the customer expected.

So I’m experimenting with a different model: bringing Customer Success into the pre-sales motion, not as support, but as core participants.

The Model: Growth Squads

Instead of individual contributors working in sequence, we’re building what I’m calling “Growth Squads,” teams of CSM, AE, and SE working together throughout the entire customer lifecycle.

Not just coordinating. Actually collaborating. On every deal. From the first conversation through expansion.

Right now, we’re testing four specific combinations:

CSM + Marketing: Building thought leadership and proof points

CSM + SE: Co-creating technical solutions and demos

CSM + AE: Strategizing on fit, opportunity, and contract structure

CSM + AE + SE: Delivering rapid value during the sales cycle

Each pairing serves a different purpose, but they all share the same goal: deliver value faster, more strategically, and more authentically.

CSM + Marketing: Walking In With Proof

Traditionally, marketing creates content, sales uses it, and somewhere down the line, maybe six months post-sale, marketing reaches back out to ask for a case study or testimonial. It’s awkward. It feels transactional. And it’s completely disconnected from the sales motion.

We’re flipping this.

My CSMs are working with marketing to build their thought leadership before they walk into customer meetings. We’re publishing articles. Recording podcast interviews. Creating customer success stories and frameworks that establish credibility.

When a CSM joins a sales call now, they’re not just another face on Zoom. They’re someone the prospect might have already encountered—through an article they read, a talk they watched, a framework they’ve seen referenced.

That changes the dynamic entirely.

But here’s the more interesting part: we’re setting up the “your story next” conversation from day one. Instead of an awkward post-sale handoff to marketing (“Hey, now that you’ve been a customer for six months, would you be willing to talk about your experience?”), The CSM can say on the first call:

“We love sharing customer success stories. Once we start working together and you’re seeing results, we’d love to feature your story as well.”

It’s natural. It’s expected. And it positions success stories as a regular part of the partnership, not a favor we’re asking for later.

The CSM walks into every conversation with a portfolio of proof. Actual evidence of customer transformation, in the customer’s own words.

CSM + SE: Building Solutions Together

This pairing might be the most powerful thing we’re testing.

Traditionally, SEs do demos. They show what’s possible. They answer technical questions. But they’re not usually in a position to customize solutions during the sales cycle; that comes later, after the deal closes.

We’re changing that.

CSMs and SEs are partnering to build self-deployable sandboxes, customized demos, and even early product prototypes during the sales process. Not generic demos. Actual working solutions built around the customer’s specific use case.

Here’s how it works in practice:

We run a three-day workshop with the prospect. Not a sales pitch. A working session that brings executives together with our CSM and SE. They get their development team and engineers.

Together, we identify a specific problem they’re trying to solve. Then we build a solution. Right there. In three days.

By the end of the workshop, they have something working. Their team has learned how to use our platform. They’ve experienced what it’s like to work with us. And they’ve already been onboarded before signing a contract.

This does two things:

First, it dramatically accelerates time to value. The moment the contract is signed, they can start using what we built together. No 90-day onboarding. No learning curve. They’re already running.

Second, it creates reusable assets. That demo we built? That sandbox we configured? We can use those for the next customer in the same vertical. We’re not starting from scratch every time.

The SE gets a CSM partner who thinks strategically about outcomes rather than just technical feasibility. The CSM gets an SE partner who can rapidly prototype solutions. Together, they’re delivering value before the deal even closes.

CSM + AE: Strategic Alignment on Opportunity

This might be the subtlest shift, but it’s critically important.

Account Executives are trained to sell what customers ask for. That’s their job. Customer says they need X, AE figures out how to price and package X.

But sometimes… often, actually, what the customer asks for isn’t what they actually need.

The AE might not see this. They’re focused on closing the deal. They’re thinking about quota. They’re in sales mode.

The CSM sees it differently. They’re not compensated on this deal closing. They’re thinking about what happens after the sale. They’re pattern-matching against other customers. They’re asking: “Will this actually solve their problem? Is this the right fit? Are we setting them up for success?”

When CSMs and AEs strategize together, we catch misalignment early.

Sometimes the CSM suggests a bigger deal, not because of upsell targets, but because they can see the customer’s whole initiative and know they’re under-scoping. Sometimes the CSM suggests a smaller deal because we shouldn’t be selling something the customer doesn’t actually need yet.

This isn’t the CSM playing sales engineer or deal desk. It’s the CSM bringing a success lens to the commercial conversation.

The result: better fit, better contracts, better outcomes. And honestly, better relationships with customers who feel like we’re actually trying to help them succeed rather than just maximize deal size.

CSM + AE + SE: The Full Squad

When you bring all three together, something interesting happens.

You get speed, strategy, and technical precision all at once.

The AE understands the business context and builds the relationship. The SE translates that into technical solutions. The CSM ensures everything aligns with actual success outcomes.

Instead of sequential handoffs (AE sells, SE demos, CSM onboards), it’s a simultaneous collaboration. Everyone’s in the room together. Everyone’s contributing their expertise. Everyone’s focused on the same goal: get this customer to success as fast as possible.

We’re calling these “Growth Squads” because they’re designed to support growth across the entire customer lifecycle. Not just new logos. Not just retention. The whole arc: acquisition, onboarding, adoption, expansion.

Instead of the traditional model where the CSM gets handed NRR responsibility post-sale, the squad maintains the relationship together:

• AE owns sales motions and contract negotiations
• SE owns technical solutions and demos
• CSM owns strategy and value outcomes

But they’re all in it together. The customer has a team, not a series of contacts they talk to at different stages.

What’s Working (So Far)

It’s still early, but I’m seeing a few patterns emerge:

Sales cycles are compressing. When prospects see value during the sales process, they move faster.

Implementation timelines are shrinking. When customers are already onboarded before they sign, they start seeing value in weeks instead of months.

Expansion conversations are more natural. When the squad has been together from the beginning, growth opportunities emerge organically rather than feeling like upsells.

Customer relationships are stronger. They’re not talking to a salesperson who disappears after close. They have a team that’s been with them from day one.

Why This Matters

Here’s what I believe: the traditional linear handoff model from sales to CS doesn’t reflect how customers actually buy and adopt solutions anymore.

Customers want to see proof before they commit. They want to experience value during evaluation, not months after signing. They want relationships with people who understand their business, not just their technical requirements or contract terms.

And if we wait until after the sale to bring in the people who actually understand what makes customers successful, we’ve already missed the opportunity to set the relationship up correctly.

By bringing CS forward, we’re not just supporting sales. We’re fundamentally changing how we engage with customers throughout their entire journey.

We’re building Growth Squads, not handoff chains.

And while I’m still figuring out all the details, I’m convinced we’re onto something.