CherryPeople Market Insights
State of Customer Success
The ANZ SaaS Benchmark Report 2026
Actual insights from Customer Success professionals on the ground, covering compensation, commercial ownership, capacity, retention, AI and what great Customer Success looks like.
State of Customer Success: The ANZ SaaS Benchmark Report 2026
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Headline findings
Three of the six numbers from the report’s executive summary. Read these first.
- 75%
- Responsible for renewals
- 62%
- At capacity, over capacity or unsustainable*
- 90%
- Use AI daily
*33 of 53 respondents where portfolio capacity was applicable.
The story behind the data
CherryPeople’s read of the research, in four themes.
Commercial ownership
Customer Success has crossed into commercial territory.
Retention, renewals, NRR and expansion increasingly sit inside the CS remit, while compensation structures are following.
Accountability
Accountability has moved faster than ownership.
Many CSMs are measured against commercial outcomes they do not wholly control. Organisations need clearer operating models around renewal and expansion ownership.
Capacity
Capacity is becoming a structural constraint.
As portfolios expand and expectations rise, organisations risk asking CSMs to behave strategically while designing roles that force them to operate reactively.
Talent
The bar for talent is rising.
As AI absorbs more administrative work, the premium shifts toward commercial judgement, customer understanding, strategic thinking, proactive ownership and human influence.
“We want CSMs to be more strategic and commercial at precisely the moment we’re giving many of them less capacity to do it.”
More from the data
- 83%
- Receive variable compensation or a performance bonus
- 67%
- Are responsible for expansion / upsell
- 65%
- Report company retention performance on or ahead of target
- 98%
- Use AI at least weekly
Compensation benchmarking across Customer Success
The full report includes compensation benchmarking for Customer Success Manager, Senior Customer Success Manager and Head / Director Customer Success roles in Australia, covering current base salary, OTE and variable compensation. It also includes an indicative snapshot of New Zealand compensation, reported separately in NZD.
The report is clear that what incumbents earn today is not the same as what it costs to hire experienced Customer Success talent in the external market.
Methodology
- 60 ANZ SaaS Customer Success professionals.
- Respondents span individual contributor, team leadership and senior Customer Success leadership roles.
- 72% have 5+ years’ Customer Success experience.
- Six Australian / New Zealand locations represented.
- Fieldwork: 8 September to 7 October 2026. Responses are anonymous.
- Capacity findings apply to the 53 respondents where portfolio capacity was applicable.
The findings should be interpreted as a directional benchmark of the surveyed cohort rather than a census of the entire ANZ Customer Success profession. The sample is deliberately experienced and Sydney-weighted.
The report separates survey data from CherryPeople market observation. Market observations reflect CherryPeople’s active hiring work and are not calculated from the survey.
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