Kaptive, specialists in customer-led growth, has detailed a common challenge for growing startups: winning customers isn’t the issue, but managing resources to retain and expand them is.
In the earliest stages of a startup, customer-facing processes are often kept lean and informal. Founders and early hires juggle product development, support queries, and onboarding in the same breath. But as customer numbers grow and teams expand, these ad-hoc approaches start to show cracks.
To help scale-up leaders strengthen their customer success foundations, Deborah Knight, CEO and Founder of Kaptive, has shared practical strategies for catching burnout early, separating support from CS, hiring for scale, and tracking outcomes over activity.
Key insights include:
Catch CS burnout early
Pressure points within customer-facing teams often surface long before they’re acknowledged. Burnout starts with subtle signs: firefighting and blurred priorities, disengagement in meetings, slower response times, or hollow wins . Left unchecked, these indicators can quickly escalate.
“Implementing regular check-ins, fostering open communication, and promoting a balanced workload gives leaders the visibility they need to step in early,” Deborah explained. “Spotting and addressing these challenges before they grow is the difference between a sustainable team and one in crisis.”
“Implementing structured check-ins that provide space for both short-term problem-solving and reflection and prioirtisation are key to help monitor burnout and focus,” Deborah explained. “Simplifying communication and being intentional about how and when we communicate can also reduce overwhelm”.
Separate support from Customer Success
In the earliest days, a single CSM might handle everything from onboarding to troubleshooting. But once a business begins to scale, this dual role can limit both impact and efficiency.
“To drive long-term value, success needs to be about proactive engagement and not just problem resolution,” Deborah said. “Defining clear roles and mapping key, proactive, customer touchpoints ensures both success and support can specialise and excel, ultimately improving satisfaction and retention.”
Hire for scale readiness
Periods of rapid growth can push founders into reactive hiring. But, this solves today’s problem at the expense of tomorrow’s stability.
“Sustainable scaling depends on people who are adaptable, growth-minded, and aligned with your vision,” Deborah advised. “When you hire for the future, you’re not just filling gaps, you’re building resilience into your organisation.”
Scaling businesses don’t run on perfect, predictable plans – they run on people who can think clearly when things aren’t, who can make sense of chaos. Some thrive in that uncertainty, others find it draining. The trick is knowing which kind of environment you’re really offering, and hiring people who’ll grow within it rather than fight against it.
“Not everyone thrives in uncertainty, and scaling is full of it,” Deborah explained. “Hire people who stay curious and calm when the path isn’t clear. You don’t need to hire for tomorrow; you need people who can dig in today and help shape what tomorrow looks like.”
Track outcomes over activity
Activity data matters — it tells you where time goes, what’s draining your team, and where customers might be over- or under-serviced. But these metrics don’t reveal whether customers are actually finding value.
“Activity shows effort,” Deborah explained. “Outcomes show impact. The most effective CS teams use both. They look at what’s happening day-to-day, but they also measure what it achieves — shorter time to first value, higher retention, deeper product adoption, more advocacy. That’s what turns effort into growth.
By the time a startup reaches scale-up stage, customers expect a seamless, strategic experience. Putting the right people, roles, and metrics in place early prevents small cracks from widening and ensures Customer Success becomes a growth engine rather than a bottleneck.
To find out more, visit: www.kaptivecx.com/.
About Kaptive
Kaptive specialises in customer-led growth, helping businesses succeed through exceptional customer experiences. By delivering on promises and maximising customer value, Kaptive engages customers, drives retention, and fuels long-term growth.
Founded by Deborah Knight, a seasoned CS and CX leader with experience at fast-growing scale-ups like Doctify and Perkbox, Kaptive provides businesses with the clarity, structure, and resources needed to unlock customer-led growth. Rather than simply advising, Kaptive leads from within, combining strategic insight, operational expertise, and experience-led thinking to empower Customer Success teams to perform confidently and scale sustainably at every stage of growth.
With over 20 years of hands-on experience, Kaptive partners with businesses to develop practical, data-driven strategies that transform customer success into a powerful engine for long-term business performance.