A Simple Addition to Your Customer Success Training Strategy
By Kristen Hayer
When people think about training customer success teams, they often picture programs, platforms, or formal enablement initiatives. Those approaches can be valuable, but they are not always realistic. Budgets are limited. Time is constrained. Teams are stretched across customers and priorities. Yet the need for growth, alignment, and better decision making does not go away.
One of the most effective and accessible training tools is also one of the simplest: a book club. When designed intentionally, a book club is not a social activity or a nice to have. It is a structured way to build shared thinking, strengthen judgment, and create space for meaningful discussion about how the team shows up for customers.
Book clubs work because they shift learning from consumption to conversation. Instead of passively absorbing content, team members reflect, interpret, and apply ideas together. That shared dialogue builds a common language and exposes different perspectives, both of which are critical in customer success work. Over time, these discussions help teams move beyond tactics and toward better decision making in complex, real-world customer situations.
How to Run a Customer Success Book Club
A book club works best when it is treated as real training, not optional enrichment. Start by setting a clear expectation with your team that participation matters. Everyone is expected to read the assigned material and come prepared to engage in discussion. Consistency is what turns a book club into a learning habit rather than a one time experiment.
Design a simple, achievable schedule. One chapter per week is a strong starting point. Most business books have around twelve chapters, which means you can complete a full book in a quarter without overwhelming the team. The goal is steady progress, not speed.
Before each discussion, prepare two or three questions to help kick off the conversation. These do not need to be complex. Questions like what resonated, what did not, or what the team could do differently based on the reading are often enough to spark meaningful dialogue. Once the discussion gets going, let it evolve naturally.
The most important step comes after the conversation. Document the commitments team members make based on what they learned. Identify specific changes, set goals, and revisit them over time. This is where reading turns into behavior change. The Book Club Cheat Sheet in the Resources section of our website outlines this structure and includes sample questions and facilitation guidance you can reuse across books and teams.
Effective training does not always require a large investment. Sometimes it requires creating space for teams to think together. A well-run book club builds skills, alignment, and trust at the same time. That combination is hard to beat.