Thomas Berkley is an entrepreneur and business builder based in Cleveland, Ohio, whose career has been shaped by military service, business development, sales, and a strong focus on client retention. As the founder of CSM Collective, he has built his current work around a business function that is often overlooked: helping companies retain clients and improve the results those clients receive.
His professional journey began well before CSM Collective. After joining the United States Air Force at 18, Berkley spent a decade in military service while developing his knowledge of business, sales, and marketing. The discipline and accountability associated with his military background later became central to the way he approached entrepreneurship.
From Military Service to Entrepreneurship
Berkley’s early career provided a foundation that extended beyond his military responsibilities. According to his website, he began studying business, sales, and marketing while still serving in the Air Force. Rather than waiting until his military career ended to pursue entrepreneurship, he started developing business knowledge and testing his understanding of what makes companies succeed.
After leaving active service, Berkley focused more heavily on building companies. Since 2018, he says he has built and scaled multiple businesses that collectively generated more than $10 million in sales. His entrepreneurial track record has also included recognition from ClickFunnels, including the Two Comma Club Award and the 10X Award.
His experience also brought him into direct work with Kevin Harrington, the original Shark Tank investor and a prominent figure in direct-response marketing. Berkley managed marketing campaigns for Harrington’s clients in the home-services sector, adding another dimension to his experience in sales and business growth.
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Building a Business Around Client Retention
The idea behind Thomas Berkley CSM Collective emerged from a recurring issue Berkley observed while building and consulting with businesses.
Companies often devote significant resources to acquiring customers but pay less attention to what happens after the sale. Client onboarding, engagement, communication, and long-term results can determine whether a customer remains with a company or eventually leaves.
Berkley identified client success as a dedicated function capable of addressing that gap. His approach places retention alongside acquisition as a core business consideration.
The philosophy is reflected throughout his personal website. Berkley describes retention as a central business metric and argues that disciplined systems are more dependable than relying on motivation or short-term bursts of effort.
The Creation of CSM Collective
CSM Collective represents the current focus of Berkley’s entrepreneurial work. The company operates as a training and placement program for Client Success Managers, commonly known as CSMs.
A Client Success Manager works with paying customers after they have joined a business. The role can include onboarding, maintaining engagement, helping clients reach agreed goals, monitoring progress, and addressing issues that could otherwise lead to cancellation.
CSM Collective is designed around two sides of that relationship. Businesses can gain access to trained client success professionals, while individuals can develop skills for remote Client Success Manager roles.
According to Berkley’s website, the program has trained, certified, and placed more than 100 professionals. The company focuses particularly on online businesses, including coaches, consultants, agencies, and similar service-based companies.
A Different Perspective on Business Growth
Berkley’s approach to entrepreneurship is closely tied to the economics of retaining customers.
Acquiring a customer is only one part of building a sustainable company. Once someone becomes a customer, the business still has to deliver the promised experience and create enough value for that relationship to continue.
This perspective influences how Berkley describes the role of a CSM. Instead of treating client success as an administrative position, CSM Collective positions it as a function connected to retention, customer outcomes, and lifetime value.
For business owners, this means paying attention to what happens after a contract is signed. For professionals, it creates a career path centered on relationship management and customer outcomes rather than traditional sales.
Experience Reflected in His Business Philosophy
Berkley’s military background remains a visible part of his professional philosophy. He credits his ten years in the Air Force with teaching him the value of structure, consistency, clear responsibilities, and accountability.
Those principles have carried into his approach to business building. His website describes a belief that disciplined execution creates stronger foundations than relying solely on enthusiasm or hustle.
Another recurring theme is accessibility. Berkley believes people do not necessarily need conventional business backgrounds to develop valuable professional skills. CSM Collective reflects that idea by providing training for individuals interested in Client Success Manager positions, including people without previous client-success experience.
Recognition for Business Results
Thomas Berkley entrepreneur career includes several milestones that help explain the scale of his previous business activity.
He is listed as a recipient of the ClickFunnels Two Comma Club Award, which recognizes businesses that generate more than $1 million through a single funnel. He also received the ClickFunnels 10X Award after surpassing $10 million in total sales across his companies.
These achievements are part of a broader period of business building that began while Berkley was still serving in the military and continued after his transition into full-time entrepreneurship.
Rather than presenting the awards as isolated accomplishments, his current work connects them to a broader lesson about business operations: generating revenue is only one part of maintaining a healthy company. Retention and customer outcomes can have an equally significant effect on long-term performance.
Thomas Berkley’s Current Focus
Today, Berkley’s work centers on CSM Collective and the development of client success professionals.
The company’s model addresses a practical need among growing online businesses. As customer numbers increase, founders and sales teams can struggle to maintain the same level of attention across every client. A dedicated Client Success Manager can take responsibility for that ongoing relationship.
For professionals, the opportunity lies on the other side of the equation. Client success provides a role that combines communication, organization, problem-solving, and relationship management. CSM Collective’s training and placement model is intended to help candidates develop those skills and connect with businesses that need them.
Berkley’s stated focus is therefore broader than simply building another company. His work brings together two needs: businesses seeking stronger client retention and professionals seeking a specialized remote career path.
What Defines Berkley’s Entrepreneurial Approach
Several themes stand out across Berkley’s professional story.
Discipline: His decade in the Air Force shaped his emphasis on consistency, accountability, and structured execution.
Business experience: Since 2018, he has built and scaled companies while generating more than $10 million in reported sales.
Customer retention: His experience led him to focus heavily on the gap between acquiring customers and retaining them.
Professional development: Through CSM Collective, he has created a training and placement model for Client Success Managers.
Practical execution: His career has centered on applying business systems rather than relying solely on theory.
These themes provide context for why CSM Collective became the focus of his current entrepreneurial work.
Looking at the Road Ahead
Thomas Berkley’s career has moved through several distinct stages: military service, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, business growth, and eventually a concentrated focus on client success.
CSM Collective brings those experiences together. The company reflects Berkley’s view that sustainable growth depends not only on bringing customers through the front door but also on helping them achieve meaningful results after they arrive.
For Berkley, client success has become both a business discipline and a professional opportunity. His work continues to focus on building systems around that idea while connecting trained professionals with companies that need dedicated support for their clients.
Author Bio
A Professional business and entrepreneurship writer who covers founders, business leaders, company growth, and emerging career opportunities. With a focus on research-driven storytelling, the author explores the experiences, strategies, and ideas that shape modern entrepreneurs and the businesses they build.
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