Last updated: November 2026
Customer Success has its own body of knowledge now. A handful of books shaped how the job works, from the first CSM role to a seat at the executive table.
These are the nine worth your time in 2026. Each one says who it’s for, what it teaches and when to read it. If you’re new to CS, start at the top. If you lead a team, jump to the second half.
Looking for books on account management and customer experience instead? See my list of the best account management and CX books.
Books for Getting Started in Customer Success
1. Customer Success by Nick Mehta, Dan Steinman and Lincoln Murphy
How Innovative Companies Are Reducing Churn and Growing Recurring Revenue
Best for: anyone new to CS, and anyone who needs to explain CS to their company.
The book that defined Customer Success as a function. The authors, from Gainsight, set out ten laws of customer success, from selling to the right customers to tying success to customer outcomes, with examples from companies that built CS early.
Read it for: the foundations every CSM and CS leader works from.
2. The Customer Success Professional’s Handbook by Ashvin Vaidyanathan and Ruben Rabago
How to Thrive in One of the World’s Fastest Growing Careers, While Driving Growth for Your Company
Best for: CSMs in their first few years.
A practical guide to the day-to-day job: managing a book of accounts, running customer conversations, working with sales and product, and building a CS career.
Read it for: the practical side of being a CSM.
3. How to Become a Customer Success Manager by Hakan Ozturk (my book)
The Hottest and Fastest Growing Job in the World
Best for: people trying to land their first CSM role.
Full disclosure: I wrote this one, in 2021. It’s for anyone moving into Customer Success from another career, and Custify included it in its list of top Customer Success books for the modern CSM.
What it covers:
The CSM role: what the job is and why it matters. Your job is to help customers reach their goals.
Relationships: how to communicate, show empathy and listen at every level of an account.
Data: how to use customer data to spot patterns, track engagement and act before problems grow.
Engagement: how to stay close to customers across the full journey.
Growth: how to keep your skills current as the field changes.
Books for Onboarding, Retention and Growth
4. Onboarding Matters by Donna Weber
How Successful Companies Transform New Customers Into Loyal Champions
Best for: CSMs and onboarding leads.
Weber argues that onboarding decides most of what happens later in the customer relationship. She gives a framework for building onboarding around customer outcomes, with clear milestones, instead of product training.
Read it for: redesigning onboarding to cut early churn.
5. Farm Don’t Hunt by Guy Nirpaz
The Definitive Guide to Customer Success
Best for: CSMs and leaders who need to make the case for growing existing customers.
The core idea is in the title. Revenue grows more reliably from “farming” the customers you have than from “hunting” for new ones. Nirpaz covers customer journeys, customer health and building a team around retention and expansion.
Read it for: the business case for investing in existing customers.
6. The Customer Success Economy by Nick Mehta and Allison Pickens
Why Every Aspect of Your Business Model Needs a Paradigm Shift
Best for: CS leaders and anyone working with executives on retention.
A follow-up to Customer Success (book 1), written for the whole company rather than the CS team. The authors show how recurring revenue changes sales, product, marketing and finance, not only CS.
Read it for: getting the rest of the company to care about retention.
Books for CS Leaders
7. The Seven Pillars of Customer Success by Wayne McCulloch
A Proven Framework to Drive Impactful Client Outcomes for Your Company
Best for: CS leaders building or rebuilding a CS organization.
A framework for building a CS function, written by a long-time CS executive. It covers strategy, people, process and measurement, and how they connect.
Read it for: a structure for building a CS team from scratch or fixing one that isn’t working.
8. Customer Success Mindset by Jyo Shukla
Building Customer-Centricity into the DNA of Your Growth Strategy
Best for: leaders trying to make the whole company customer-focused.
Shukla’s case is that Customer Success works best as a company-wide way of thinking, not just a team. The book covers focusing on customer outcomes, proactive engagement, and measuring success beyond revenue and renewal rates.
Read it for: spreading customer focus beyond the CS team.
9. The Chief Customer Officer Playbook by Rod Cherkas
8 Strategies That Will Accelerate Your Career and Win You a Seat at the Executive Table
Best for: CS leaders aiming for VP or CCO.
Cherkas sets out eight strategies for moving from running a CS team to holding a seat on the executive team: tying CS metrics to business results, working across departments and influencing company strategy.
Read it for: the move from CS manager to executive.
Where to Start
Pick by where you are now:
Trying to land your first CSM role: How to Become a Customer Success Manager, then Customer Success.
In your first CSM role: The Customer Success Professional’s Handbook and Onboarding Matters.
Building or leading a CS team: The Seven Pillars of Customer Success and Farm Don’t Hunt.
Aiming for the executive table: The Chief Customer Officer Playbook and The Customer Success Economy.
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Hakan, The CS Café
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