Strategic Customer Success Manager

AppFolio; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 114,000 - 143,000; Full time

Job summary

AppFolio is seeking a Strategic Customer Success Manager to own the success of a portfolio of its largest accounts within the Revenue Organization. You will be the trusted advisor to senior operators, building relationships from owners to VPs and day-to-day teams.

You'll drive adoption and expansion by mapping platform capabilities to customer workflows, coordinating with TAMs, and delivering measurable ROI. The role requires strong leadership, analytics, and a client-first mindset.

Qualifications

• 6-8 years in customer success, account management, or related roles.
• Proven record of managing strategic, relationship-driven accounts and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Ability to work both collaboratively and independently in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Proficiency with Customer Success platforms (e.g., Vitally), CRM (Salesforce), and Google Suite.
• Willingness to travel about 35% for onsite client visits and industry events such as NAA.

Responsibilities

• Own the success of a portfolio of large, valuable accounts in AppFolio's Revenue Organization.
• Be the trusted advisor to operators across owners, VPs, and day-to-day teams.
• Partner with a Technical Account Manager and the account pod to design solutions around client challenges.
• Lead business reviews focused on ROI, value realization, and progress toward goals.
• Identify and qualify expansion opportunities, and pass leads to Sales and Growth teams.

Skills

Leadership

Influence

Analyticalrigor

Organization

Creative problem solving

Communication

Customer focus

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Vitally

Salesforce

Google Suite

Job description

Description

Hi, We're AppFolio

We're innovators, changemakers, and collaborators. We're more than a software company. We're pioneers in cloud and AI who deliver magical experiences that make our customers' lives easier. We're revolutionizing how people do business in the real estate industry, and we want your ideas, enthusiasm, and passion to help us keep innovating.

About The Role

As a Strategic Customer Success Manager (SCSM) in AppFolio's Revenue Organization, you'll own the success of a portfolio of our largest, most valuable accounts. You'll be the trusted advisor to sophisticated operators. You'll build relationships at every level, from owners and VPs to day-to-day teams. You'll use your industry knowledge to help customers get measurable results from the AppFolio Real Estate Performance Management (RPM) platform.

You’ll bring the right resources in at the right moment in the customer journey so customers reach their evolving business goals. You'll partner closely with a Technical Account Manager (TAM) and the rest of your account pod to design solutions around each customer's challenges.

Your Impact

Retention and risk mitigation

• Protect and grow long-term revenue by positioning AppFolio as a strategic partner and showing continuous, measurable platform ROI.
• Spot churn signals early through health-score monitoring, then run data-driven plans to protect at‑risk revenue.
• Forecast renewals and analyze past churn to sharpen your account‑health strategy.

Adoption and usage

• Educate customers on underused features and best practices that fit their business model.
• Use platform usage data to find gaps and deliver targeted training to key stakeholders.
• Map platform capabilities to customer workflows so they get full value against their goals.

Growth and expansion

• Identify and qualify expansion opportunities, including add‑on products and service‑tier upgrades.
• Pass insights and qualified leads from your customer relationships to Sales and Growth teams.
• Map white space within existing accounts to uncover new revenue potential.

Stakeholder relationships and success planning

• Build strong relationships with senior decision‑makers (VPs, Directors, Owners) across your portfolio.
• Translate customer business goals into technology‑driven strategies on the AppFolio platform.
• Create and own Joint Success Plans that tie AppFolio adoption to goals like increasing NOI or reducing operational overhead.
• Lead Business Reviews (QBRs/EBRs) focused on ROI, value realized, and progress toward goals.
• Support executive‑alignment efforts on your most strategic accounts with senior CSMs and leadership.

Renewal and lifecycle management

• Recommend subscription tiers (Core, Plus, Max) that match each customer's unit‑growth path.
• Manage renewal timing and lifecycle milestones across your portfolio.
• Find and nurture reference customers for testimonials and case studies, working with Marketing and Sales.

Cross‑functional collaboration

• Partner with TAMs to design and implement solutions for specific client challenges.
• Advocate for customers by relaying product feedback to the right teams and helping shape roadmap priorities.
• Work with your account pod (GAEs, TAMs, Product Managers) to coordinate delivery and value.
• Stay current on industry trends and the AppFolio platform, and add to the team's knowledge base.

How We Define Success

• Strong gross and net revenue retention across your Strategic portfolio
• Completed Business Reviews and active relationships with key stakeholders
• Portfolio expansion through tier upgrades, V+ services, and cross-sell leads
• Early risk identification and measurable gains in platform adoption
• Growing customer advocacy by building engaged reference customers who contribute to testimonials, case studies, and other advocacy activities

What You Bring

• Leadership: Strong business acumen and credibility as an industry expert and trusted advisor to executives. You lead and work well with cross‑functional teams.
• Influence: You persuade and negotiate at every level to reach win‑win outcomes, and you build consensus across different perspectives.
• Analytical rigor: You use data to make decisions and build buy‑in. You can size up a situation, define objectives, and recommend a plan.
• Organization: Excellent project management and organizational skills.
• Creative problem solving: You connect client needs to what AppFolio can do. You're entrepreneurial, a proactive learner, and at home in a fast‑paced environment.
• Communication: Excellent written and verbal skills. You're a natural presenter and storyteller.
• Customer focus: A client‑first mindset and a drive to exceed expectations.

Must Have

• 6-8 years in customer success, account management, sales, or a related role, preferably in Enterprise SaaS or the property management industry
• Proven record of managing, growing, and retaining strategic, relationship‑driven accounts and influencing senior stakeholders
• Ability to work both collaboratively and independently in a fast‑paced, dynamic environment
• Proficiency with Customer Success platforms (e.g., Vitally), CRM (Salesforce), and Google Suite
• Proficiency with Claude Willingness to travel about 35% for onsite client visits and industry events such as NAA
• Bachelor's degree

Compensation & Benefits

The base salary that we reasonably expect to pay for this role is: $114,400 to $143,000 [base pay].

The actual base salary for this role will be determined by a variety of factors, including but not limited to: the candidate’s skills, education, experience, etc.

Please note that base pay is one important aspect of a compelling Total Rewards package. The base pay range indicated here does not include any additional benefits or bonuses/commissions that you may be eligible for based on your role and/or employment type.

Regular full-time employees are eligible for benefits - see here.

About AppFolio

AppFolio is the technology leader powering the future of the real estate industry. Our innovative platform and trusted partnership enable our customers to connect communities, increase operational efficiency, and grow their business. For more information about AppFolio, visit appfolio.com.

Why AppFolio

Grow | We enable a culture of high performance, where delivering results is recognized by opportunities for growth and compelling total rewards. Our challenging and meaningful work drive the growth of our business, and ourselves.

Learn | We partner with you to realize your potential by investing in you from the start. We're cultivating a team of big thinkers through coaching and mentorship with our best‑in‑class leaders, and giving you the time and tools to develop your skills.

Impact | We are creating a world where living in, investing in, managing, and supporting communities feels magical and effortless, freeing people to thrive. We do this by innovating with purpose while cultivating a culture of impact. We learn as much from each other as we do our customers and our communities.

Connect | We excel at hybrid work by fostering an environment that feels flexible, personal and connected, no matter where we are. We create space to fuel innovation and collaboration, and we come together to celebrate, connect, and succeed.

Paddle as One.

Learn more at appfolio.com/company/careers

Statement of Equal Opportunity

At AppFolio, we value diversity in backgrounds and perspectives and depend on it to drive our innovative culture. That’s why we’re a proud Equal Opportunity Employer, and we believe that our products, our teams, and our business are stronger because of it. This means that no matter what race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identification, national origin, age, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, or veteran status, you’re always welcome at AppFolio.