Productiv Customer Success Manager Interview Questions
& Process

The interview process was a huge disappointment, even though everyone was nice. The mock presentation prompt didn't match how the interview actually went. The prompt asked to show value to a team not using the product and secure a renewal. But during the mock, they immediately used escalation tactics like wanting to cancel or cut costs due to the recession. They had to cut the meeting short, so we couldn't even discuss the renewal. It felt like a waste of the many hours spent preparing the presentation because the hiring managers seemed unaware of the prompt's details. The prompt should have included that they'd discuss performance while reviewing vendors for budgets, not just suddenly say they want to cancel. In reality, customers usually email to cancel, not to schedule a meeting to discuss incorporating the product more. My advice is to set candidates up for success by reviewing and modifying the prompt with the team. If the company is experiencing changes or an increase in cancellation requests, this should be added to the prompt. This way, candidates won't waste time on unnecessary decks and can prepare appropriately with relevant talking points and data.

I was initially contacted via LinkedIn and had a conversation with a recruiter. Following that, I spoke with two individuals from the Customer Success team. The final stage involved a workshop and pitch presented to a group of Productiv employees. I really liked how the whole process was managed, moving along quickly and efficiently, and the recruiter was very supportive throughout.

I got put in touch with Productiv by a mutual acquaintance in early July and the whole thing took about 6 weeks from the first call to getting the offer. Everything was remote, calls or Zoom. First up was the recruiter, who gave me the lowdown on the company and asked for a quick background. Then I had a call with the hiring manager to get more details on the company and the role itself, like what I'd actually be doing. I also talked about my work history and why I was interested in Productiv. The last initial call was with someone already on the CS team, which was great for understanding the daily grind and expectations. They hit me with some challenging questions about customer success, handling specific customer scenarios, and my experience with teams like product and engineering. After that third call, they said things looked promising and the next step was to prep one of two things: either a presentation on how I kick off new customers or a business review for a fictional customer nearing renewal. The HR director sent over the presentation details and said I could use the Productiv site for my deck. On the day of the panel interview, which was still on Zoom, I met with two executives, an account executive, someone from product management, and a current CS team member. The interview lasted almost an hour. I started by walking them through my new customer kickoff process for about 25 minutes, which felt pretty straightforward since it's a standard CSM task. The next 35 minutes or so was the case study – the business review, pretending they were the customer. This was also in my comfort zone, but I was a bit jittery since it was my first Zoom panel. As I got going, though, I felt more confident, not just with the material but with the panel too; they were really nice and asked some tough questions. By the end, I felt pretty good about it, especially since I'd spent about two weeks getting ready.