In one program we took over, almost the whole delivery team was let go. Complaints fell to almost none within two months.
That is the exception. We almost never let anyone go, because how good a person turns out depends on the onboarding. Replacing people who were never set up to do the job restarts the same learning curve with new names.
How do you know the team is the problem?
Look at what clients experience first, then at what the team was given. These are the signs we look for when we take over an offer:
- Client complaints that keep coming in, week after week.
- Overdue clients nobody has messaged, even with the time per stage on the board.
- Long messages and complicated answers in the chat.
- Team members who cannot explain the offer, or what a client does next.
- People whose work no client would notice if it stopped.
Then the second question: what did the team get? A worksheet for the role, SOPs, Loom recordings and a few trainings, or none of it. A team without SOPs cannot be held to anything, because there is no guide to hold them to.
Is it the people or the load?
Check the load before you judge the people. A client success manager carries up to 200 to 300 clients, and at 300 they are busy. Past that, overdue clients wait whoever is in the seat.
For coaches the number depends on the offer. A full-time coach with one-to-one calls and chat support carries maybe 200 to 300 clients, and a half-time coach fewer. What breaks the number is how many one-to-one calls and how much chat support the offer includes.
| What you see | What it usually is | What we do first |
|---|---|---|
| Long messages, complicated answers | A habit nobody trained out | Regular trainings: write like a friend, keep it simple, send links |
| The team cannot explain the offer | Never trained on the offer and the client path | Regular trainings on the offer and the path |
| Overdue clients with no message | Too many clients per person, or no time per stage | Up to 200 to 300 clients per client success manager, and a time on every stage |
| Nobody can be held to anything | No SOPs | An SOP for every touchpoint |
| Toxic, not doing the work, no job a client notices | The wrong people | Let them go, then hire again with a Loom first |
How good a person turns out depends on the onboarding. A worksheet for the role, the SOPs, Loom recordings, a few training sessions, then freedom to learn and regular check-ins. What client success managers get wrong is simple. They send long messages; write like a friend, professional, never send books. They make things complicated; send links, make it easy. And they do not fully understand the offer, which regular trainings fix.
How do you retrain a team that is not working?
The same way you onboard a new hire, even for people already on the team. A worksheet for the role, the SOPs for every touchpoint, Loom recordings of the work done well, and a few training sessions. Then regular check-ins and reporting back.
KPIs come after that, and they are about client results: the client success rate, the on-track rate and the share of winners who give proof. A client success manager whose numbers are tied to results does the work that moves results.
A new person gets no KPIs in the first month. Every person has a learning curve, and early KPIs are pressure for no reason.
When do you replace someone?
When they are there for no reason. In the program we took over, the team was toxic, not doing the work, and most of them were unnecessary. Once they were gone, client complaints went from many a week to almost none in two months.
Then hire slowly. No meeting until a candidate sends a Loom of themselves, and out of about 30 Looms we meet one or two. Be very clear about what the role needs before the posting goes up.
Telling a founder the team is the problem is part of the job. People do not like hearing it on a call. Short term they feel offended; it usually turns out correct, and they appreciate it afterwards.
Watch out. Do not answer a team problem with more hires. Some coaches spend tremendous money on random hires inside fulfillment. Train and structure the team you have, then hire for the gap that is left.
Further reading: The interview questions that find a real client success manager · How to train a client success manager in 30 days
Diego Miescher
