Customer Success European Salary Benchmark

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We have created an interactive Benchmark that you can use. To create your benchmark, filter by job title, company stage, and region. For the best results, click on full screen in the bottom right corner or open this page.

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Introduction

Twenty years ago, post-sales customer relationships were managed by multiple departments—sales teams secured new business, account managers handled up-selling, and tech support solved system issues. The concept of a dedicated Customer Success role was nonexistent. 

However, this model shifted with the rise of subscription software in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Unlike traditional software, where switching providers was expensive and complicated, SAAS customers could easily switch systems, creating the need for Customer Success to manage customer retention.

Today, Customer Success teams and experts own the entire post-sale journey in B2B relationships. As the industry expands, employees and employers face uncertainty around salary expectations and compensation practices.

Job seekers want to know where to apply, employees are eager to assess if they’re being paid fairly, and companies want to set competitive salaries to attract and retain top talent. Without clear benchmarks, job seekers may undervalue their skills, employees could miss out on deserved compensation, and employers risk offering non-competitive salaries, resulting in talent loss. 

HR professionals also have difficulty setting fair salary bands, particularly with remote work and the rise of cross-border teams.

This report addresses these challenges by providing comprehensive salary benchmarks based on responses from more than 1,500 CS professionals across Europe. It offers valuable insights for job seekers, employees, employers, and HR professionals to make informed compensation decisions. Additionally, diversity advocates can leverage this data to analyse pay gaps and promote fair and equitable salary practices across the industry.

Regional Salary Analysis For All Roles

As expected, salaries vary greatly depending on the region in which the respondents were based. In fact, of all the factors measured in our survey, location had the greatest impact on compensation – exceeding even company size and experience level. This disparity is largely driven by factors such as cost of living and the concentration of tech companies across different regions.

You’ll see below that salaries in select countries such as Switzerland, the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands and Germany are far greater than those in Southern Europe and nearly twice as much as those in Eastern Europe.

What does this mean for remote workers or companies drawing from a regional talent pool? Should salary structures be determined by local rates or by the company’s location? 

Here’s what Markus Rentsch, founder of Remark-able has to say:

If you want to attract top talent, you need to pay beyond what’s fair. Fair pay means matching salaries to the cost of living in the employee’s home country.

Western Europe

The mean salary in Western Europe is €73,000 making it the highest in Europe. Switzerland, the UK and Ireland are the forerunners in providing competitive remuneration for CS professionals. At €160,000, salaries in Switzerland are more than twice the Western European mean.

The UK and Ireland come in second with €81,000. The Netherlands is right in the middle with €75,000 followed by Germany which pays €72,000. The lowest reported salaries were in Austria which pays €63,000. Despite this, Austria still paid far more than all Southern and Eastern European countries.

Mick Weijers, founder of Customer Success Snack attributes this difference in regional salaries to the large presence of American companies headquartered in Western Europe. 

“I believe that the disparities are influenced by the number of American companies headquartered in certain European countries. Their impact is especially visible in cities like Dublin, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin.”

Northern Europe

Northern Europe offers the second highest salaries, with the average CS professional earning €68,000. 

In Sweden, most people make between €45,000 to €75,000. Similar trends are observed in Denmark and Finland, where the most respondents reported making €35,000 to €90,000.

Daphne Costa Lopes: “This disparity highlights how global companies tailor their compensation structures not just to the skills and value of the role, but also to the economic realities of each region. However, as remote work continues to blur geographical boundaries, I expect we’ll see increasing pressure for compensation frameworks that prioritize the value of talent over location.”

Southern Europe

Southern European salaries are the second lowest in Europe.

In Spain, most people earn between € 35,000 and € 90,000. Italian salaries are lower, with most CS professionals earning €35,000 and €75,000.

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe has the lowest overall salaries. 

In Poland, 53% of the respondents reported making €35,000. Poland also has the highest percentage of fully remote workers, with 80% of respondents working remotely. Given the lower cost of living in Poland and Eastern Europe in general, it’s possible that companies are choosing to outsource their CS needs to Eastern Europe.

Salary Satisfaction and Willingness to Relocate

Our findings reveal a slight correlation between salary satisfaction and the willingness to relocate. Those open to relocating reported a mean satisfaction score of 7.2, while those who were unwilling scored 6.2. The difference is marginal which indicates that the willingness to relocate is influenced by more than just salaries; external factors such as family and career growth opportunities may play a role.

Senior and mid-level professionals reported higher satisfaction levels overall. However, in Northern and Eastern Europe, satisfaction among senior professionals was slightly lower than in other regions. 

Notably, mid-level professionals in Eastern Europe were the least satisfied. They scored a 5 which is not only lower than the overall score – but also lower than the score for junior level professionals in Eastern Europe.

Satisfaction based on company stage

Satisfaction levels vary depending on the size and funding stage of the companies. 

Professionals at post-IPO and Series E+ companies reported the highest satisfaction, with a mean score of 7, while those working at bootstrapped companies expressed the lowest satisfaction, with a mean score of 6. 

This may be explained by the fact that post-IPO and Series E+ companies are often larger and, therefore, have the budget to narrow down roles. In contrast, bootstrapped companies often require one person to perform multiple roles. The lack of specialisation and additional responsibilities may cause employees to feel overextended.

Satisfaction Based on Compensation Structures

Professionals who received a fixed salary only reported an average satisfaction level of 6.1. In contrast, those with a fixed salary combined with variable pay and equity recorded higher satisfaction levels, averaging 7.1. Meanwhile, respondents with a fixed salary and variable pay (OTE) rated their satisfaction at 6.6. This suggests that relying solely on fixed pay may leave employees feeling undervalued.

Markus Rentsch says that CS compensation should feature larger variable pay components. More precisely, an uncapped commission-based part. After all, CS is a revenue function and if CSMs grow the revenue of their portfolio, they should be paid for it.

Relocation for Better Compensation

A significant proportion of professionals, especially in Southern Europe, expressed a willingness to relocate for higher salaries. Interestingly, despite Eastern Europe having the lowest salaries by a large margin, it was respondents from Southern and Northern Europe who were more inclined to relocate. This may be attributed to the lower cost of living in Eastern Europe, which could make the local salaries more sustainable in that region.

With 53% of respondents indicating that they would relocate for higher salaries, what can companies do to ensure they retain top talent? Susan Nabeth, co-founder of Success Chain says that: “Regional salary differences may shrink over time due to the rise of remote work (30% fully remote, 62% hybrid). To attract and retain top talent, companies should benchmark salaries and offer flexible compensation packages. Candidates may prefer a mix of fixed and variable pay (we see here 25% only receive a fixed salary, including 24% of leaders), and some CS leaders value equity over higher OTE. Additional perks, like more paid time off, extended paid maternity/paternity leave, bonuses for long-term employees, and relocation with remote possibilities or digital nomad options (within time zone limits), can also enhance employee compensation and retention efforts.”

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Company Size and Stage

Startups and Early-Stage Companies

In early-stage companies, compensation can vary widely, particularly for roles critical to customer acquisition and retention, such as Onboarding Specialists and customer success managers. Base salaries in startups and companies in the Series A or Bootstrap stage typically range from €40,000 to €90,000.

Scale-ups and Large Enterprises

As companies mature and move into the Series B to Series D stages or become large enterprises, compensation packages become more substantial. In large enterprises, base salaries for senior roles often exceed €120,000.

Salary per company stage