Customer Success Manager - SMB

About the role

Balto, a pioneering tech startup that has built a suite of AI tools for large sales and customer service teams, is seeking a talented SMB Customer Success Manager to join our team. Your mission will be to manage a portfolio of new and existing customers, making sure they have the help, resources, and insights they need to get the most out of Balto.

Our SMB team runs a scaled model. You'll own a book of customers who can reach you directly, and you'll use AI and automation to stay ahead of every account instead of relying on one-to-one outreach alone. You will be instrumental in facilitating ongoing business and fostering lasting partnerships. This is a fully remote position, offering you the flexibility to work anywhere in the U.S.

What you’ll own

• Your book: 60 SMB accounts, about $1.5M in total book of business.
• Renewals: the full renewal process for every account in your portfolio.
• Growth: retention, expansion, and adoption across your book. These are the numbers you’ll be measured on.

Who we’re looking for

You’re an empathetic, organized, and driven customer success professional. You build strong relationships, learn how each customer’s business works, and connect what they need to the value Balto delivers. You’re also their advocate inside Balto, working with our teams to remove obstacles and spot opportunities to grow.

You may be a great fit if you:

• Thrive on building trust and strong customer relationships
• Enjoy solving problems and removing obstacles for customers
• Are proactive, organized, and comfortable managing a large portfolio of accounts
• Get excited about using AI and automation to do more for customers, not less
• Love connecting customer goals to measurable outcomes and ROI
• Can balance customer advocacy with business needs like renewals and expansion
• Want to help build out a new initiative within Balto

Key responsibilities

Customer Relationship Management

• Build strong relationships with customers and key stakeholders
• Lead ongoing customer communications, including check-ins, business reviews, and renewal conversations, using a mix of one-to-one conversations and automated, scaled outreach
• Develop a clear understanding of each customer's goals, needs, and success metrics

Scaled Engagement and Automation

• Run automated customer plays in our customer success platform for onboarding, adoption, and re-engagement, and step in personally when an account needs it
• Use AI tools to draft, review, and personalize customer emails, in-app messages and other customer engagements so every message still sounds like it came from you
• Contribute to and help run our scaled programs, including a weekly tips email, live office hours, and a customer community
• Spot patterns across your book and suggest new plays, content, or automations that help many customers at once

Adoption and Value Delivery

• Support new and existing customers with resources, guidance, and best practices
• Identify opportunities to increase product adoption and usage across customer teams
• Help customers measure and communicate Balto's value, including ROI and performance impact
• Partner with internal teams to ensure customers have what they need to be successful

Renewal and Expansion

• Own the contract renewal process for your portfolio, including timelines, customer alignment, and execution
• Identify and pursue opportunities to expand accounts through additional licenses and product add-ons
• Propose pricing, product expansions, and terms for existing customers in partnership with internal stakeholders

Problem Solving and Risk Management

• Proactively identify customer risks, roadblocks, and adoption challenges, using AI-driven health scores and signals to catch them early
• De-escalate issues and coordinate solutions to keep customers on track
• Track customer health, usage, and engagement to prevent churn and improve outcomes

What you’ll bring

• 3+ years of experience in Customer Success, Account Management, or a related customer-facing role
• Experience managing SMB or mid-market customer relationships, ideally in a scaled or tech-touch model
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Strategic and detail-oriented thinking style
• Strong organization and time management skills
• Ability to analyze customer usage data and identify trends
• Hands-on experience using AI tools (such as Claude or ChatGPT) in your daily work
• Experience building or running automated playbooks in a customer success platform such as ChurnZero, Gainsight, or similar
• Experience with change management and adoption initiatives
• Working knowledge of Excel and comfort with basic data analysis
• Empathetic, customer-first mindset with a passion for delivering value

Career growth

This role offers multiple paths for growth at Balto:

• Senior Customer Success Manager. Take on more complex relationships and lead higher-impact renewals and expansions.
• Enterprise Customer Success Manager. Manage larger implementations and deepen your strategic partnership skills.
• Leadership. Grow toward a Customer Success leadership track, mentoring other CSMs and driving retention and expansion.

Our hiring process

Our process includes virtual interviews and a take-home assessment. Together, they show us how you solve problems, how you communicate, and how comfortable you are with the tools and data a CSM works with every day.

Why Balto

Six values shape how we work:

• Anchor on Success. We start every task by picturing what success looks like, then set ambitious goals to get there.
• Love Every Customer. Every customer, whatever their size or complexity, should feel valued and supported.
• Talk Things Out. We solve problems through open, honest conversations, without the barriers of hierarchy.
• Always Be Growing. Everyone owns their professional development, and our culture backs them up.
• Own the Work. We take initiative, solve problems proactively, and produce results we’re proud of.
• Start with Gratitude. We recognize each other’s contributions, even in tough discussions.

Choosing Balto means joining a company where your work is meaningful, your growth is encouraged, and your contributions are valued. It’s go time.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Balto is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace where all individuals are treated with respect and have equal opportunities to succeed. We make employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Balto is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities throughout the hiring process.