Pay is terrible - Customer Success Manager (CSM) KnowBe4 Employee Review

3.0
6 Jan 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

The culture and people are great, bonding through struggle. The training as a new hire was decent, and open pto which is becoming the standard anyway, and which I havent taken much of, but the 2 times I have I fell way behind on work for a bit. It seems like leadership try to care about work life balance, but actions would be louder than what they say.

Cons

The Pay. If you are just getting started out of college, it might be ok, but apprx $40k per year is not livable wages in florida. The bonus game we do equates to $150 to maybe $700 at most for the month based on sales goals, if you reach them. It was $0 in november, even though there were less days because of the holiday, they didnt adjust the sales goals for the bonuses that month. Assuming the company reached $700 every month for a year, that is only $8400 extra on the year, bringing your gross income still to less than $50k before taxes...once taxes and deductions do hit it's no wonder people get their experience and then leave. It is significantly less than what MANY other companies pay for a remote csm role. Forcing people to drive to the office for "hybrid" work. countless CSM roles across industries are remote jobs, this one is not because I'm sure they want to use the real estate they have. The problem is they dont even have new hires with their teams because there arent enough seats. You are driving to the office to do remote work, meet and communicate with your team remotely through slack and google meet/zoom, and run meetings with clients remotely. There is no gas reimbursement or extra pay for your commute time, which if you know how bad traffic is throughout tampa bay, is ridiculous. Some people are commuting 1-2 hours each way, and managers or leadership say to move closer...where the pay doesnt make it possible to afford to do. Ultimately this could be a great place to work, could even maybe put up with the commute to be honest, but the company is under paying entry level csm's by 25 to 45 THOUSAND dollars a year. I personally know people that started their entry level csm role at $80k...so while many of us are here, the good thing about being in office is that we are helping each other find and apply elsewhere after we get through venting to one another about our commutes and how we are struggling to pay bills.

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KnowBe4 Response
1y
Hello Knowster. If you read our CSM job description and compare it to other companies, they are vastly different. Our pay ranges are in line with the local market. Our compensation is competitive for the Tampa market, as evidenced by the salary section on Glassdoor. We do not influence Glassdoor salary responses, and as of 1/17/25, it is showing the following: $95k median pay for CSM, Account Manager $96k, Regional Account Manager $154k. Our turnover rate improved by 4% in 2024 as people aren’t leaving rapidly. If you can find an entry level CSM position that is paying $80k, you should take it, as it is well above the norm for the Tampa market.

Explore other reviews about KnowBe4

5.0
22 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

A welcoming and inclusive environment with a patient onboarding team. Work is always fun and collaborative!

Cons

Training and onboarding process is thorough but only to ensure all employees are keeping themselves and the companies information safe online!

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KnowBe4 Response
2w
We’re glad to hear you feel supported! Open communication is a huge priority for us — and feedback like yours keeps us motivated. 🤗
1.0
8 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Great office snacks, free ev charging, cool coworkers

Cons

Out of about 100 AE's only 10 hit Quota, OTE is a joke there. It's possible to hit quota if you are lucky with your inbound leads, but if you want to hit quota every month you have to do something moreso out of the box. I was trained by hard closers and have a lot of expierence with cold calls so i came up with my own script and was getting a demo a day, and was doing a demo a day. The demos did lead to sales as well, so it wasn't a waste of time. I got fired because of a "lack of professionalism" I spoke off script all the time because speaking on script leads you in to the Kool-aid drinkers club, aka not hitting quota consistently. I was fired without warning, even though I was told I had an incredible work ethic and was exceeding the ramp-up numbers. I just didnt match their sales style, they are not looking for salespeople, they are looking for sales associates. They make you work 9-hour days, 1 hour mandatory lunch that has to be taken in the middle of the day. 9-6pm. Their handbook even says you are allowed to take this lunch at 5 pm to go home sooner, but the managers never let that happen. DO NOT BE CREATIVE AT THIS JOB, DRINK THE JUICE.

3
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