Planning next year’s org? Start with your titles.
By Parul L. Bhandari / December 16, 2025
As the calendar year winds down, most organizations are deeply entrenched in the annual planning cycle - forecasting budgets, setting ambitious revenue targets, and, inevitably, sketching out next year's organizational chart. While the focus often zeroes in on headcount numbers and reporting structures, I have been getting wind of some bigger changes in our function - titles.
Customer Delivery Manager.
Customer Support Engineer
Forward-deployed Engineer.
And more…
The titles you choose for your customer-facing roles, be it traditional Customer Success Manager (CSM), Account Manager (AM), or more nuanced delivery roles, are more than just labels. They are powerful reflections of your organization's philosophy on value, customer maturity, and how success is ultimately achieved.
When you designate a role as a "CSM," you are signaling internally and externally that the primary function is to guide customers toward achieving success with your product. If you opt for "Forward-deployed Engineer” the role implies a build and delivery element, which may vary from a traditional CSM role.
Choosing titles like "Strategic CSM" or "Customer Success Executive" for your top-tier accounts declares that the relationship is consultative, focused on executive-level alignment, and centered on shared, long-term business outcomes, not just product feature adoption.
The core takeaway is that year-end planning isn't solely about budgets and boxes on a chart; it is fundamentally about establishing clarity. Internally and externally.
When titles are vague or conflated, it breeds confusion and low morale. Instead, lead with:
Defined Accountability: Everyone knows precisely what they are measured on.
Established Career Paths: Titles become rungs on a ladder, providing a clear vision for growth (e.g., CSM I -> Senior CSM -> Strategic CSM). (Like Elizabeth talks about in Section 3 of The Customer Success Talent Playbook)
Updated Salaries: Yes, I said it. If you are redoing roles, you need to look at compensation.
Customers are also evaluating your organization based on the titles you present. A customer with a large contract expects a different level of expertise and strategic dialogue from a "Strategic CSM" than they would from a junior "CSM." When titles are accurate you better manage expectations.
How to get started on designing your new roles and titles for 2026?
Before finalizing your headcount increase or budget allocations for 2026, take a critical look at your existing and proposed titles. Ask these simple questions:
Do our titles accurately reflect the primary business goal of that role (Adoption, AI-enablement, Retention, or Expansion for example)?
Are we following industry-standard nomenclature? (or making it up)
Do we have clear roles and responsibilities mapped to titles internally?
Do our customers intuitively understand the difference between these titles?
Does compensation match the new responsibilities we are introducing?
If your planning session starts with the clarity of titles, you are setting a foundation that builds trust. Trust within your team that their efforts are recognized and defined, and trust with your customers that they are engaging with the right experts at every stage of their journey.
Ready to get started on designing your titles? Follow my simple method to design a better JD (found in The Customer Success Talent Playbook), research industry titles (use your favorite GPT), or design a better JD (using sample templates, found in our Resources section of our website).
If you are looking for more hands-on support to get set up for 2026 Parul offers coaching and other services for CS leaders to design better for their teams. Inquire here.
Happy 2026 and wishing you great Customer and Company Success!
