We all know how important communication is with a Customer Success role. So much time is spend in various types of communication:

Emails.
QBRs.
Executive business reviews.
Renewal conversations.
Slack messages.
Success plans.
Product updates.
Internal handoffs.
Follow-ups.

And yet, communication is rarely treated as a core CS skill.

We talk endlessly about methodologies, health scores, playbooks, forecasting, stakeholder mapping, and product knowledge.

But we don’t spend nearly enough time teaching CSMs how to communicate in a way that actually changes customer behavior.

That’s a problem.

Because the best CSM in the world can have perfect product knowledge and an impeccable success plan, and still struggle if customers don’t understand the message, don’t see the value, or don’t feel compelled to act.

Recently, I came across David Ogilvy’s classic piece, “How to create advertising that sells.”

Ogilvy was writing about advertising, not Customer Success.

But many of his principles apply almost perfectly to the modern CSM.

Because advertising has one fundamental challenge:

You have a limited amount of attention to communicate something valuable enough to make someone act.

Sound familiar?

That’s Customer Success.Here’s a breakdown of what we can learn from Ogi

1. The most important decision: What do you want the customer to do?

One of Ogilvy’s first principles is to focus on the most important decision.

This sounds obvious.

Yet watch what happens in a typical customer meeting.

A CSM walks through:

The customer leaves thinking:

“That was a lot of information.”

Not:

“I know exactly what we need to do next.”

That’s the difference between communication and information.

A strong CSM doesn’t ask:

“What do I need to tell the customer?”

They ask:

“What do I need the customer to understand, believe, or do?”

Before every important customer interaction, define one desired outcome.

For example:

Bad objective:
“Review adoption.”

Better objective:
“Get the VP of Sales aligned on increasing manager adoption from 42% to 70%.”

Bad objective:
“Talk about renewal.”

Better objective:
“Confirm the business outcomes the customer needs to demonstrate to justify renewal.”

Bad objective:
“Introduce our new AI feature.”

Better objective:
“Show the customer how this feature can eliminate a manual workflow they’re currently struggling with.”

The second version of each conversation is dramatically easier to prepare for.

Because you know where you’re going.

2. Stop communicating features. Start communicating outcomes.

This is probably the biggest lesson for Customer Success.

Ogilvy understood that people don’t buy products because of the product itself.

They buy what the product does for them.

CSMs often fall into the same trap.

A new feature launches.

The CSM sends:

“We just released our new AI-powered analytics dashboard. It includes X, Y, and Z…”

Technically accurate.

But the customer is asking:

“Why should I care?”

Instead, communicate the outcome.

“You can now identify which managers aren’t coaching their teams effectively without manually reviewing dozens of records.”

Now I have a reason to pay attention.

This distinction is especially important as SaaS products become increasingly complex.

The customer doesn’t need the CSM to become the world’s greatest product tour guide.

They need someone who can translate:

Product → Capability → Business Impact

For example:

Feature: AI-generated call summaries
↓
Capability: Managers can review key moments without listening to entire calls
↓
Business impact: Managers spend less time reviewing calls and more time coaching reps

The further downstream you can communicate, the more valuable you become.

3. Your customer is not impressed by your vocabulary

One of Ogilvy’s principles was remarkably simple:

Write clearly.

This may be one of the most underrated skills in Customer Success.

Somewhere along the way, business communication became a competition to see who could use the most impressive words.

“Strategic alignment.”

“Business transformation.”

“Drive efficiencies.”

“Unlock synergies.”

“Optimize workflows.”

“Enhance stakeholder engagement.”

None of these words are inherently bad.

The problem is that they often hide the actual message.

Consider:

“We should leverage the platform to optimize your team’s workflow and drive greater operational efficiency.”

What does that mean?

Now compare it with:

“Your managers are spending three hours a week manually reviewing calls. Let’s use the platform to cut that time in half.”

The second sentence wins.

Not because it’s sophisticated.

Because it’s clear.

And clarity builds trust.

4. Your customer doesn’t need more information. They need better information.

This is where many CSMs get communication wrong.

When engagement drops, the instinct is often:

Send more.

More emails, More resources, More webinars, More product updates,More documentation, More newsletters, More meetings.

But attention doesn’t work that way.

More information doesn’t necessarily create more understanding.

Sometimes it creates the opposite.

Think about the difference between these two emails.

Hi team,

I wanted to follow up regarding some of the resources and opportunities we discussed during our QBR.

I’ve included several resources below that may be helpful as you continue your enablement initiatives.

Let me know if you’d like to discuss any of these further.

And:

Your managers are the biggest adoption opportunity

Only 38% of managers have used the platform this quarter.

If we can get that number above 60%, we believe you’ll have enough manager participation to make the program sustainable.

I’d like to spend 20 minutes next week discussing what’s preventing adoption and agree on a plan.

The second email is shorter.

But it communicates more.

That’s the paradox:

Great communication isn’t about saying more. It’s about removing everything that doesn’t matter.

5. Headlines aren’t just for marketers

Ogilvy placed enormous importance on headlines.

CSMs should too.

Your customer often decides whether something deserves their attention before they read the first sentence.

That means your:

are all opportunities to communicate value.

Instead of:

QBR Follow-Up

Try:

3 actions to increase manager adoption

Instead of:

Product Update

Try:

A faster way to identify coaching gaps

Instead of:

Renewal Discussion

Try:

What we need to prove before renewal

Instead of:

Q3 Business Review

Try:

How we’re tracking against your Q3 goals

The principle is simple:

Lead with the thing your customer cares about.

Not the thing that’s easiest for you to label.

6. Tell stories instead of presenting data

Data is important.

But data rarely creates emotion by itself.

Imagine telling an executive:

“Adoption increased 23% this quarter.”

That’s useful.

Now tell the story behind the number:

“Three months ago, only 14 managers were actively using the platform. We identified that managers weren’t logging in because they didn’t know where to find the coaching workflows. After changing the onboarding process, that number increased to 31.”

Now the customer understands what happened.

More importantly, they understand why it happened.

Great CSMs don’t just report metrics.

They create narratives around them.

A good customer story usually contains:

Where we started → What was getting in the way → What we changed → What happened → What comes next

This is incredibly powerful during QBRs.

Instead of showing 15 adoption metrics, tell the customer:

“Here’s what changed.”

That’s the story executives actually want.

7. Don’t make the customer work to understand your point

This is perhaps the most important communication principle for CSMs.

The burden of clarity belongs to the communicator.

If your customer has to interpret your chart…

If they have to figure out what your recommendation means…

If they have to connect three slides together…

If they have to ask, “So what are you recommending?”

You’ve made them do the work.

A strong CSM does that work before the meeting.

Don’t put this on a slide:

Q2 Adoption Metrics

Then show six charts.

Instead:

Adoption is growing, but manager engagement is limiting expansion

Then show the evidence.

Now the slide has a point.

The chart supports the argument.

The customer doesn’t have to figure out what you’re trying to say.

8. Specific beats vague

Weak communication is often vague because vague communication feels safer.

Consider:

“We should continue focusing on adoption.”

Okay.

What does that mean?

Instead:

“Let’s increase weekly manager participation from 42% to 65% by September 30.”

Now we have:

The same applies to customer risk.

Don’t say:

“The account has some engagement concerns.”

Say:

“The executive sponsor hasn’t attended the last two meetings, usage is down 18%, and we haven’t identified a business outcome for the renewal.”

That’s uncomfortable.

But it’s useful.

Specificity creates action.

9. Don’t confuse honesty with pessimism

There’s another important lesson here.

Good communication isn’t always positive communication.

CSMs sometimes feel pressure to make every customer interaction sound optimistic.

That’s dangerous.

If adoption is declining, say it.

If the customer hasn’t achieved the expected outcome, say it.

If the renewal is at risk, say it.

If your product isn’t solving the problem they originally bought it for, say it.

Customers don’t need a cheerleader.

They need someone they can trust.

Try:

“We’re not where we expected to be.”

Then:

“Here’s why I think that’s happening.”

Then:

“Here’s what I recommend we do.”

That’s strategic Customer Success.

The CSM who tells the truth early is far more valuable than the CSM who makes everything sound fine until renewal is 30 days away.

10. The best CSMs are editors

This may be the biggest communication skill CSMs need to develop.

Editing.

Not writing.

Editing.

Before you send an email, ask:

Can I remove 30% of this?

Before your QBR:

Can I remove five slides?

Before your executive presentation:

Can I communicate the same idea with one chart instead of three?

Before your recommendation:

Can I say this in one sentence?

Before your meeting:

What absolutely doesn’t need to be discussed?

Your goal isn’t to demonstrate how much you know.

Your goal is to make the customer understand what matters.

That’s a very different skill.

11. Communication is ultimately a revenue skill

This is where the conversation becomes bigger than “communication skills.”

Customer Success communication directly influences revenue.

Think about the chain:

Clear communication → Better understanding → Better decisions → More customer action → Better outcomes → Stronger retention → Greater expansion

And the opposite is also true:

Poor communication → Confusion → Inaction → Weak adoption → Poor outcomes → Renewal risk

That’s why communication shouldn’t be treated as a soft skill.

It’s a commercial skill.

A CSM who can clearly articulate:

is incredibly valuable.

Not because they’re a great presenter.

Because they help customers make better decisions.

The Customer Success Communication Checklist

Before your next important customer interaction, ask yourself:

If you can’t answer this, you’re not ready.

Don’t confuse understanding with action.

Not your product. Not your agenda.Not your feature.

Their outcome.

Remove jargon.

Remove filler.

Remove unnecessary context.

Don’t make customers hunt for your point.

What changed?

Why?

What happened?

What’s next?

Numbers, dates, owners, targets, actions.

Don’t hide risk behind positive language.

Great communication is often the result of aggressive editing.

Every meaningful customer conversation should create clarity around the next step.

One of the biggest misconceptions about Customer Success is that our job is to communicate value.

I think that’s incomplete.

Our job is to make value obvious.

There’s a difference.

Customers don’t renew because their CSM sent 47 emails.

They renew because they believe the investment is producing an outcome worth continuing.

Customers don’t expand because their CSM showed them every new feature.

They expand because the CSM helped them see a bigger problem they can now solve.

And executives don’t trust CSMs because they use sophisticated language.

They trust them because they can walk into a meeting and say:

Here’s where we are. Here’s what’s working. Here’s what’s not. Here’s what I recommend. And here’s what we need to do next.

That’s communication.

And when you get really good at it, it becomes something more:

Influence.

That’s the skill every Customer Success Manager should be working to master.

David Ogilvy’s lessons were written for advertisers trying to sell products.

But the underlying principle applies just as well to Customer Success:

Attention is earned. Clarity creates trust. Relevance creates action. And action creates outcomes.

The best CSMs aren’t necessarily the ones who communicate the most.

They’re the ones who make every communication matter.

That’s how communication becomes a competitive advantage in Customer Success.

We hope you found this weeks newsletter insightful. Remember to share with your team or CS friends this helps us a TON!

Also connect with me on Linkedin or check out our YouTube Channel with CSM tips and best practices.