In this episode of ClearPath Conversations, Mark Bernardin tackles one of the most underappreciated skills in Customer Success: internal advocacy. Many CSMs do exceptional work but struggle to make their impact visible to leadership, which limits career growth and advancement opportunities. Mark shares practical frameworks for documenting wins, communicating value, and positioning yourself for promotion without coming across as self-promotional or arrogant.

The episode opens with a story from Mark's time at Palo Alto Networks, where he drove a $385,000 expansion with Lowe's through months of executive relationship building and strategic positioning. When the deal was announced internally, Sales received the spotlight while Customer Success was mentioned only in passing. Mark shares how this experience taught him that proactive communication isn't about taking credit - it's about giving leadership the context they need to understand how Customer Success contributes to business outcomes.

Mark introduces three core components of effective internal advocacy: documentation, communication, and positioning. He walks through his Impact Log methodology, a simple weekly practice of capturing wins in real time with four key data points: date, customer name, action taken, and business impact. This systematic approach ensures CSMs have a complete record of their contributions when review conversations and promotion discussions happen.

The episode provides concrete guidance on monthly manager updates, explaining how to structure communications around outcomes rather than activities. Mark contrasts task-focused reporting ("I had 12 customer calls") with impact-focused updates ("Closed $47K expansion with Ernst & Young after three months of executive engagement"). He emphasizes that consistent, outcome-oriented communication changes how managers perceive CSM contributions and influences decisions about promotions and high-visibility projects.

Mark shares multiple real-world examples, including a retail account recovery at Swimlane where he not only rescued the renewal but also documented his approach as a reusable playbook. When two other CSMs successfully used that framework to save their own at-risk accounts, the VP of Customer Success cited it as an example of how the team was building scalable processes. This story illustrates how individual advocacy can elevate to functional advocacy, demonstrating strategic thinking beyond task execution.

The episode also addresses common pitfalls: taking solo credit for collaborative wins, badmouthing colleagues, overwhelming managers with excessive updates, and waiting until annual reviews to start documenting impact. Mark provides a clear framework for quarterly career development conversations, including preparation steps, conversation structure, and follow-up actions.

A particularly powerful section focuses on elevating teammates alongside personal advocacy. Mark shares an example from his time mentoring seven CSMs at Palo Alto Networks, where he highlighted a colleague's successful account turnaround in leadership meetings, framing it as a learning opportunity for the entire team. This approach positioned him as someone who builds team capability, not just individual success.

The episode concludes with an action plan: start an Impact Log this week, send a monthly summary to your manager, and schedule quarterly career development conversations. Mark emphasizes that internal advocacy isn't about ego - it's about ensuring the people who influence your career have the information they need to support you. The companion download (available at https://clearpathcx.com/) provides a complete Impact Tracker template with weekly documentation structure, monthly summary framework, and quarterly review checklist.