Customer Success Manager

Overview

You're the main point of contact for 40-60 existing customers who've bought Zonda's data and software platform. Your job is to keep them using the product, renewing their contracts, and ideally expanding into additional modules or user seats. You'll run QBRs, troubleshoot issues, and coordinate with their internal teams to make sure they're getting value from the platform.

Role Snapshot

Company Context

Stage: Growth stage (900+ employees, backed by PE firms)

Size: 921 employees

Growth: Expanding product offerings (recently launched new APIs, upgraded Envision platform)

Market Position: Established in homebuilding vertical - customers know the brand but you're competing with their internal data teams and cheaper point solutions

GTM Reality

Book Structure: 40-60 accounts ranging from $20K to $200K ARR. Mix of builders, developers, manufacturers, lenders.

Expansion Opportunities:

• Adding user seats as customers' teams grow
• Upselling additional data feeds (new markets, granular permit data)
• Cross-selling software modules (Envision design center tool, custom consulting)
• Multi-year contract renewals with growth commitments

Support Model: You're tier-2 support - handling escalations from the help desk, but also proactive about preventing churn

Competitive Landscape

Main Competitors: For renewals, you're competing against:

• Internal data teams at large builders who think they can build it themselves
• "Good enough" free data sources (census data, public permit records)
• Budget cuts when housing market softens

How You Keep Them: Show clear ROI (better land decisions, faster market analysis), make the platform sticky by getting multiple teams using it, stay close to power users

Churn Risks: Budget freezes during housing downturns, mergers/acquisitions changing priorities, platform adoption issues

What You'll Actually Do

Time Breakdown

Customer Calls/QBRs (40%) | Issue Resolution (25%) | Expansion Selling (20%) | Internal Coordination (15%)

Key Activities

• Quarterly Business Reviews: Preparing and presenting QBRs for your top 15-20 accounts. Walking through usage data, ROI, and roadmap. These are 60-90 minute Zoom calls where you're trying to keep the buyer engaged and identify expansion opportunities.
• Reactive support escalations: Customer can't access a data feed, their team needs training on a new feature, they're confused about billing. You're troubleshooting and looping in technical support or product teams.
• Expansion conversations: When a customer's team grows or they're entering new markets, you're positioning additional seats or modules. This means building business cases and navigating procurement (again).
• Adoption initiatives: Running webinars, sending usage reports, and proactively reaching out to accounts with low login rates before renewal time. Trying to prevent churn before it happens.

The Honest Reality

What's Hard

• Renewals are never automatic. Even happy customers go through budget reviews where your platform gets scrutinized. You'll spend Q4 every year in renewal negotiations.
• You're managing a wide range of account sizes and sophistication. A $25K SMB builder needs totally different support than a $200K enterprise homebuilder.
• Low product adoption is your enemy. If only 2 people at a 50-person company are using the platform, you're getting churned at renewal. You spend a lot of time trying to drive usage.
• You get blamed for product issues you can't control. When data is late or a feature breaks, you're the one fielding angry customer calls.
• Housing market cyclicality impacts your book - when starts drop, builders cut costs and your platform is on the chopping block.

What Success Looks Like

• Net revenue retention above 100% (renewals + expansions exceed any churn)
• 92%+ gross retention rate in your book
• You successfully expand 30-40% of your accounts in a given year
• Customers actually show up to QBRs and engage (not a passive audience)
• Your top accounts become referenceable for sales team

Who You're Working With

Primary Contacts:

• Directors of Market Research at builders (day-to-day users)
• VP of Land Acquisition (economic buyer for renewals)
• Analysts and associates (end users of the platform)
• Finance/Procurement (involved in renewal approvals)

What They Care About:

• "Is this platform saving us time vs. manual data gathering?"
• "Can we justify the cost based on better decisions we've made?"
• Responsiveness when they have issues or questions
• Roadmap alignment - are you building features they actually need?

Requirements

• 3-5 years in customer success, account management, or consulting
• Experience managing a portfolio of 40+ B2B accounts
• Comfortable with data/analytics products - you need to understand how customers are using the platform
• Some sales skills for expansion conversations - you're not just support, you're growing accounts
• Ability to present business reviews to director and VP-level stakeholders
• Knowledge of homebuilding or real estate industry is a plus but not required
• Proficient with Salesforce, Gainsight or similar CS platforms, BI tools