Create CS and SA roles comparison page on handbook
Problem
There is no single handbook page that compares all customer-facing roles across Customer Success and adjacent functions (SA, ASE, PS). Customers, candidates, partners, and internal teams frequently ask: "What's the difference between a CSM, CSE, CSA, SA, and PSE?"
Each role is documented on its own page, but there is no cross-role view.
Proposal
Create a comparison page covering seven roles across four dimensions:
| Role | Primary Focus | Typical Activities | Engagement Model | Hands-on vs. Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSM | Drive adoption, outcomes, satisfaction; align/enable/expand | Success Plans, onboarding, cadence calls, EBRs, risk management | Assigned owner for qualifying accounts | Advisory / programmatic — not hands-on keyboard |
| CSE | Technical product expertise at scale | Webinars, labs, pooled sessions, scaled enablement | Pooled / on-demand (Success On-Demand) | Technical advisory — not hands-on keyboard |
| CSA | Highest-rated technical experts; architecture guidance | Strategic planning, maturity assessments, Accelerator delivery | Designated for Advanced/Signature tiers | Strategic/architectural advisory — PS handles implementation |
| PSE | Project-based implementation and migration | Installations, migrations, training under SOWs | Project-scoped, sold by PS Engagement Management | Explicitly hands-on — can be "hands on keyboard" |
| RM | Own the renewal moment; customer retention | Renewal pipeline, contracts, playbooks, risk/expansion | Global Renewals Organization within CS | Commercial / deal-focused |
| SA | Pre-sales technical win | Discovery, demos, POCs, pre-sales Success Plans | Aligned to AEs, engaged per opportunity | Advisory and demonstrative |
| ASE | Incident resolution for Signature customers | Support tickets, triage, coordination with product/engineering | Designated for Signature tier | Hands-on troubleshooting in support contexts |
The page should highlight three key distinctions:
- The "hands on keyboard" boundary (CS roles are advisory; PS crosses that line)
- The engagement model spectrum (pooled → named → project-scoped → opportunity-scoped)
- The pre-sales to post-sales handoff (SA → CSM/CSA)
File options
Either:
- Expand
content/handbook/customer-success/csm/segment/_index.md, or - Create new
content/handbook/customer-success/roles-overview/_index.md
Branch
add-cs-roles-comparison
Priority
High — addresses the most common cross-role confusion.